Choosing between public, private or home schooling.

What type of schooling is best for your aspie or autistic child.  Between public, private and home schooling I believe that private schooling would be the least effective due to the fact that most of the children come from the same walk of life.  However, no matter which choice you make in schooling it is only as effective as the teachers and parents make it, and it is very important that the teachers and parents work together to implement the best game plan for that student.  I have met quite a few people that say "the school is not doing enough for my child."  Well it is not completely the schools responsibility for that, it is mostly up to the parent because the school and the teachers are not going to go out of their way to help a child unless it is pushed upon them and that is mainly due to class size and budgeting.  If your child is struggling in school in may be due to his lack of concentration and may need a quiet setting for testing and school work however a teacher will not go out of their way if the parent doesn't stress it.  David has problems with the lighting in the class rooms which makes it hard for him to concentrate but due to our interventions with the school and pushing for an Individualize Education Program (IEP) they are able to give him occupational therapy once a month, speech therapy, and a special room where there are only a few other children in it for testing.  There are also other occasions in which he knows all the answers but he has a hard time getting them from his brain to the paper so they will allow him to answer the questions orally while someone writes the answers for him.  I'm not sure all the criteria and laws wrapped around the IEP throughout the United States and the rest of the world but in Ohio the parent has the right to request the IEP as long as a doctor states that they have aspergers or autism or any other type of delay in learning in which case the school has 60 days to complete testing of the child to see if an IEP needs to be put in place and 30 days from the completion of testing to implement the IEP.  However like I said the school will not test the child based on what they think because of the time and cost of the testing so it is up to the parent to push that issue.  Once the IEP is in place the school must abide by it and it will remain in place for three years with possible adjusting over the course of time and then at that point they will re-test you.  Once you have this measure put in place it is very easy for the child to maintain his work at his pace without getting left behind the rest of the class.  Most aspies and children with autism retain much information and for the most part are more advanced in most subjects than their peers.  David just finished third grade and his reading level is at a 6.8 which is sixth grade eight month and he was on the honor roll all four nine weeks.  We send David to public school because I believe that is the best route for him because one of the biggest downfalls for aspies is the ability to socialize with others and by going to public school that allows him to interact with more children from many different walks of life and through the help of occupational therapy and behavioral modification therapy hopefully that will get him more comfortable with opening up as he gets older.  I did not receive that kind of treatment as a child because my parents never had me tested and to this day I still have problems socializing with co-workers which makes it hard to maintain a job in the workforce.  I still have problems socializing with my own family too and many times at family events you will see me in the corner by myself rather than socializing with the rest of the family other than my wife and children.  Home schooling is another option and is effective as the parent makes it.  The only thing is that there are no other children to mingle with and interact with unless you take them to special events in which there are many groups that you can join that host events to get the children to interact with each other and learn how to socialize.  Private schooling is a possibility for some however they are not required to meet certain state or federal criteria and at times a student may be able to get left behind the class or the other way around be so far ahead of the class and get bored with it.  If a child starts to get bored with school they then tend to fall behind so it is up to the parent to make sure that doesn't happen.  Also with most private schools the students usually come from the same walk of life of each other so you may be able to interact with them because they can understand you but when you meet people from other paths that don't understand you it then becomes tough to adapt to them.  In my opinion I believe that public school offers the best success for your child however I'm not saying that it's the only option as all options are as effective learning tools as the parent, teacher and child make it.  I hope this can help you out.