You asked me: "How do you structure the day; in small chunks like maybe an hour at a time? How do you organise the lessons; daily/weekly?"

Answer: Autistic children can vary widely in their abilities. My older son is a high functioning autistic while my younger son is more severe. Neither of them have the attention span to sit for long periods of time for their lessons. So we do it in short bursts throughout the day. Sometimes it's only a few minutes while other times I can get an hour. With my sons it can't be pushed too hard or they will start screaming and continue to do so for what seems like and eternity.

With my older son we pretty much use a pre-packaged curriculum by Alpha Omega (see link below). My younger son has problems talking so we spend most of the time working on trying to get him to understand and speak correctly.

Regarding other home schoolers. In my experience most of the people that home school their children do so for religious reasons. They don't like the public school system and how they have eliminated teaching God and morals. They believe the public school system has failed our children and is a bad environment to send their sons and daughters too. I am a religious person but I don't go to church. Many of the groups for home schoolers center around religion which is a turn off for me. I would rather get together with other parents talk about what works and what doesn't work and just let the kids play together. I have not found such a group in my area but must admit I haven't looked too hard.

It has taken me a long time to get used to the idea of having autistic children. Mentally it is very scary and depressing. You continue to cling on to the hope that they will just grow out of it but they don't. Hard to convey the gambit of emotions involved. I don't know if you have children yourself but consider these things. There are good things and bad things about having children as any parent knows. It's hard to raise kids properly. Takes a lot of work and time. But having autistic children changes everything you thought parenting would be like. This is a little much, but it seems like it takes all of the good things about children away and leaves only the the bad. No father son catches, no happy holidays (kids don't understand Christmas and something always seems to set them off into a screaming fit which seems to never end) no seeing your kids off to college, probably you will never see them get married and settle down, They will probably live with you until you pass away. And then what? What will happen to your autistic children after you and your wife pass away? Very scary thought! I try not to think about it much. Too depressing.

Sorry if I have been to depressing. I rarely get to talk about these things because I avoid them when I'm asked. I guess it's easier to type than to talk face to face. I don't want you to think it's all doom and Gloom either. I love my kids more than I could say. There are fun times and good times as well with autistic children but they are not as freaquent. All I can say is that it has (at times) been almost more than my wife and I could bare. Luckly my wife and I have a very good marriage. I would not have been able to handle this without the support of my wife. She says the same about me. So maybe this is Gods plan for us. Who knows. Things seem to be getting easier now that the children are growing up. We try to keep a positive outlook for the future. I know God will help my children and has already helped my family get through some very tough times.

• http://www.aop.com/lifepac/Subjects_Math.php

Unfortunately I have no family in the area. So we have no real support system at all. Just ourselves.

We live in a suburban area. I would rather not say which state.

We do our lessons in one room usually but sometimes where ever is convenient. This is the kids bedroom where we have charts a desk etc. It is usually a battle to get the kids to do their lessons. Most of the time we have to bribe them with some kind of reward such as getting their favorite lunch etc or playing their favorite playstation game. I try to get most of their lessons done in the mornings but we don't have a specific time set up to do lessons. It usually goes something like this "it's time for lessons. But Dad I'm watching this nick jr cartoon. Ok when that's over we'll start. If I were home schooling normal children I would be much more strict with lesson time etc. But we are just happy to get the kids to do something each day. We work on Sat & Sun. as well as through the summers. I teach the kids separately. First one then the other. When my wife comes home from work she will also work with them if she is not to tired.

You say you are not a believer. I assume you mean in home schooling. Neither was I until we did it. I am very convinced that home schooling was essential for my boys. My son hated school the short 9 months he was in it. He learned nothing. To this day he talks about how the teacher hated him. Now that I have done home schooling I think I would do it even if my sons were "normal". It is very gratifying when they learn something. Plus as I said we can concentrate on doing the work that we feel in important. There is only one draw back that I can see. That is that part of going to public school is meeting and making friends. Now I do converse with people with normal kids that home school. They are constantly going on trips (campouts, museums etc) with many other children so there is much social interaction for normal home schooled children if you choose to participate. This is difficult with my children. My sons don't like going places and usually start screaming after a short time and want to go home. So the bottom line is our sons don't get much social interaction. That said, home schooled children regularly out perform public schools children on standardized tests. I am all for home schooling now. I see the difference it has made in my sons and other peoples kids. Public schools are becoming a poor more and more a poor environment for learning. This is why home schooled children as well as children who attend private schools to so much better than children who are products of the public school system.

Yes, we do have a school in the area that teaches with the Montessori methods. Interesting ideas. But we are happy with our home schooling for now. We will just continue until progress slows or problems arise. I appreciate your comments though.

Thanks

You might be surprised by the number of children being home schooled. I don't know the exact number but it is quite large and growing yearly.