Abstract:

Background:
Home education is widely misunderstood as home schooling. Home schooling has its roots in the societal conditioning of a structured curriculum-based approach to education, with defined age-related targets. In contrast, an increasing number of children and young people (CYP) are moving to home education, with a disproportionate number found to have special educational needs and disability (SEND). Home education provides a flexible, child-centred approach to learning that can be adapted according to the rate of development, strengths, and any specific needs of individuals. This paper will describe a personal account of educating an autistic young person at home, guided by a parent with a background in health sciences and the provision of education at undergraduate level.

A move to home education:
In this example, the UK school system and environment were causing the child harm due to unsupported autistic traits with a late diagnosis. Therefore, alternatives were explored. Home education was found to be the best available option for the young person and wider family due to the impact of the school system and environment, declining health, and a lack of specialist school provision within accessible travelling distance. A philosophy was subsequently developed to support this. This took account of skills required for the fourth industrial revolution, the poor health of the child and provision of neuroscience-backed tools to optimise well-being.
A varied and balanced curriculum was developed in consultation with the child, a supportive education advisor, a specialist clinical psychologist and other home-educating parents. This comprised a combination of one-to-one tuition from expert tutors, drama, music and creative writing groups, and social groups with other home educated CYP. The primary focus was on the strengths and assets of the child together with support for recovery from apparent autistic burnout.

Observations and learning:
It was found that there are both advantages and disadvantages to home education. A self-directed approach to learning can help to develop unique strengths and interests, which can be difficult to support within school systems, but there is impact on the lead carer in terms of accessing employment, and a risk of isolation of the child, requiring proactive engagement with group activities. The impact of home educating during the Covid-19 pandemic was also experienced, with home educated CYP initially omitted from lockdown exemptions, increasing isolation, and preventing access to tutors.

Wider social implications:
Learning from this experience can help inform further support for, and development of this approach at a time when the UK SEND system is under review and budgets, both state and family, are under immense pressure. Greater understanding of SEND by school communities is clearly needed to enable adaptations and teaching support to enable more children to remain in the school environment but home education can be considered a viable alternative. In addition to recovery planning, the preparation for support needs of home educated CYP for possible future pandemics is explored. Evidence of the need for early identification of, and support for SEND is clear to enabling neurodiverse children to thrive, access suitable education, and maintain good health.

Keywords:

Home education, SEND, autism, autistic burnout, self-directed learning.