Homeschooling a Neurodivergent Child-But First, What Is A Neurodivergent Brain?

If you are homeschooling a neurodivergent child and looking for homeschool resources for struggling learners you’ve come to a good place to start! I’ve got a few gems for you today. Please be sure to SAVE this post to Pinterest, or wherever you like to save resources because I’ll be updating this post with more information regularly!

Today’s post is all about Homeschooling a Neurodivergent Child-But First, What Is A Neurodivergent Brain?

But first, What Is A Neurodivergent Brain Anyways?

Let’s begin with clarifying some terms that I’ll be using in this post. Neurotypical refers to a typical brain that learns easily. Neurodivergent refers to brain function that deters from what is considered typical, and can range from a drastic detour (severe autism) to mild (ADHD) but neurodivergent even includes gifted learners as well.

Homeschooling a Neurodivergent Child Is A GREAT Choice, BUT….

Before I get into the resources I would like to express something. I know sometimes homeschooling parents may wonder if home truly is the best place for their neurodivergent child/children, especially if they are struggling to learn and we are struggling to find how they best learn. Believe me, I know how this can cause a parent to second guess themselves! What’s worse is we have the added stress of being a homeschool family, which brings the added pressures that come with it.

In our experience though (and I firmly believe this is true for most families) a home education is not only a superior choice for neurodivergent children, but it’s an option that has far greater potential to create a well balanced child emotionally and intellectually. Many times I’ve expressed concern about issues involving our most neurodivergent child and been told more than once by the counselors and therapists we’ve had that not only is the child doing amazing and going to be just fine, but that there is no way they would be doing near as well as as they are is had they gone to public school, and that we’ve done well.

Because of this and observations I’ve been making through our journey, I believe in general homeschool parents have a tremendous advantage that non homeschool families don’t have (there are always exceptions). With home education one is able to provide a far more positive, loving, supportive environment and tailor their child’s curriculum choices and schedules to meet their neurodivergent children’s very unique needs. They also have the benefit of being able to protect their already struggling learners from additional struggles public school neurodivergent children face daily.

If you are in doubt, I highly recommend that you join some of the Facebook support groups for parents of ADHD/ADD kids and neurodivergent kids who are not home schooling. Spend some time reading through the daily write in’s of parent looking for support and advice, and look at what they and their kids deal with daily.

What parents, teachers, and ADHD kids go through in public education is exhausting, saddening, and often very frustrating for them. The public school system is empirically failing so many neurodivergent and ADHD children and what many parents don’t understand is that often times teachers nor the kids are to blame. It’s the entire public school system itself and environment, and the fact that too many neurodivergent children have needs that aren’t able to be accommodated in a public school setting.

There is no question in my mind that loving parents know their kids best, they instinctively and intuitively know what their child’s needs are and are able to provide individualized care and education in ways their child would not get in a regular public school setting, plus bypass the teacher/parent conflicts and drama.

With that said, homeschooling a neurodivergent child is far from “easy”. The workload for each neurodivergent child can be doubled. If you are home educating your neurodivergent child/children you are probably going to need some help along the way, and that’s what I’m hoping to bring you today with the following resources.

My Favorite Resources for Homeschooling and Raising Neurodivergent Kids

One of our personal top resources was finding a knowledgeable doctor who plugged us in with additional therapy (like speech and counseling for Cognitive Behavior Therapy). This helped the neurodivergent kids we have learn coping skills to help them become more balanced and successful in their daily school and family life. By the end of our children’s counseling and therapy our neurodivergent kids were better communicators than our neurotypical children and had been introduced to essential coping skills. I will be sharing more about out counseling journey in an upcoming article very soon.

Counseling also gave me support that I desperately needed too though. Being on the neurodivergent brain side as well (ADHD), I learned so much to help my kids and myself .

Another resource a therapist gave us was Love and Logic video’s on YouTube. I’ve tried some of the tips and tricks suggested there and they worked for us better than other parenting methods we had tried.

Nicholeen Pecks, Teaching Self Government YouTube Channel and positive parenting resources on her website HERE have been very helpful. She has many videos and materials to help in raising children, using positive discipline and positive parenting techniques and her expertise includes neurodivergent children, including foster parenting to troubled kids. We purchase all four of her children’s books to help our kids learn manners, accept no answers, learn to disagree appropriately and learn better behavior.

An additional resource that we have started using and are finding helpful is Brain Integration Therapy by Dianne Craft. I had the opportunity to see Dianne speak at the Kansas City Homeschool Convention several years back and was very impressed with her. Dianne has a lot of help and information for neurodivergent people, she also has a YOUTUBE CHANNEL HERE. Another helpful resource she has is a questionnaire that can help you decipher exactly where your child struggles most, FIND IT HERE. Not only does Dianne Craft tackle neurodivergency from a therapeutic and educational angle, but she also addresses the nutritional aspect which is very important. Her nutritional program is similar to the GAPS Protocol. Crafts programs are quite extensive, and require time to put into practice and learn, but the reviews are unlike any other I’ve seen. I’ll keep everyone posted as we continue learning and using the program.

If you are trying to decipher what curriculum to use for your neurodivergent learner, I highly recommend Christian Liberty Academy’s CAT testing service-but be sure to purchase their Recommendation Service when you are checking out! Once they grade your child’s test someone will call you and be able to give you curriculum suggestions and teaching tips specific to your child’s unique needs.

Amanda Weeden, a homeschool mom and Special Needs Homeschooling Advocate in New Hampshire, has put together a special needs curriculum list for neurodivergent learners, FIND IT HERE. You can find her on YouTube HERE.

For some hand’s on activity cards, we have found cards by CalmeKidsCo helpful.

To Conclude-My Two Biggest Mistakes

Next week, I’ll be sharing 16 of helpful things that I’ve been picking up over the years when it comes to neurodiverse homeschooling, but I want to share one of the tips from that upcoming article with you today and it has to do with two of the biggest mistakes I’ve made in this journey.

The first mistake I’ve made in this journey has been comparing my neurodiverse homeschool mom job to neurotypical homeschool mom’s jobs, and believing I could do all the things regular, neurotypical family mama’s could plus manage the neurodivergent needs of my family. It took me so many years to learn a. that I couldn’t swing all the things other’s could because my workload was greater and b. that I needed more and even specific support.

I my case this even included forgoing a part in community and regular church activities, and I had to take comfort in the fact that caring for the needs of my neurodiverse family was my ministry.

This leads me to my second biggest mistake, which was not being assertive enough at communicating and finding the RIGHT support sooner (I kept trying to explain to family, friends, and church what I was needing and going through but they didn’t get it and instead of moving on I kept trying).

Once I finally found good support I learned one of the secrets to a successful neurodiverse homeschool journey (I believe this actually goes for big homeschool families as well though) is that it requires much more of both parents involvement. It’s not a one parent job. Spouse support and understanding is CRITICAL. I’ve been learning lately how in neurodiverse homeschool families how important it is for “main” homeschool parents to be very communicative with the secondary homeschool parent.

I know a lot of homeschool families (like ours) have one spouse that works full time, so it can take some work and a lot of communication and trial and error to figure out how to effectively tackle homeschooling a neurodiverse group of children together.

Something our family does that makes it easier on everybody is to have checklists for each child, the neurotypical and neurodivergent. Everybody has certain subjects they do with me, but then they can do what they are able to independently. We tackle the hard brain stuff before noon. When my husband get’s home he changes, get’s comfortable and then looks at the checklists and picks up whatever he can that is left. Each family is different with different needs, though and so it can take awhile to find your groove.

If it’s not possible for both parents to be involved I highly recommend hiring tutoring help in order to meet the educational needs of your neurodiverse homeschool family. Our family is bigger, so in our home it requires both parents involvement plus hiring tutoring help.

It may also be helpful to look into other area’s one can budget in additional help, such as with laundry, housecleaning, etc…

Please subscribe to my newsletters and YouTube channel because I have more posts and videos, including 16 Easy Tips To Help You Homeschool an ADHD Child and Homeschooling Neurodivergent Kids + 7 Ways Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Can Help (both publishing over the next two weeks).

Be sure to check out my other NERUODIVERGENT LEARNERS related posts HERE.

Are there resources not mentioned here that you have come across? Drop them in the comments below!