Homeschooling a Nonverbal Child: A Comprehensive Guide for Success

 7 Ways to Empower Your Homeschool Journey

Are you considering homeschooling your student but have some apprehension about how to start? We have 7 points to consider that will put your mind at ease:

REMOVE THE PRESSURE OF TIME EXPECTATIONS

Homeschooling progress is gradual, not instantaneous. 

When you start homeschooling, it’s easy to compare your schedule to a traditional school day filled with hours of assignments, activities, lunch, recess, and a few more hours of structured work before the school day is complete. That’s not how your homeschool day needs to look, especially at the beginning!

Your homeschooling schedule is flexible*, and you have control over how you spend your time. If your student can only handle 15 minutes of structured learning each day in the first few weeks or even months, that’s completely fine. With consistency, they’ll become more familiar with the routine and expectations. 

Slowly you can extend learning time, and you’ll discover creative ways to weave academic concepts into everyday activities you might not have thought of as “school” before.

Our mentor, special education teacher Ken Sims always likes to say, “An average parent who follows a program and provides their student with 1:1 support can achieve far more than I can in a classroom with two aides.”

*Some state and Charter school homeschool programs have specific time requirements; if you need help matching the time or academic requirements to our curriculum and your student, please reach out to us, we are here to help!

ESTABLISH A SIMPLE ROUTINE

Start out with a simple routine. Use a visual schedule with icons or images to represent what you’ll be working on. Give your student choices of what they can learn that day; if they’re not ready to make choices yet, you can guide them until they are ready or interested in making the choices themselves. Some examples below: Images to represent academic categories (reading, math, science, etc) and you and your student can move them around on the board; another example - whiteboard with checklist, written details about the work expectations ahead. Adjust as needed by adding or erasing tasks.

DON’T STRESS ABOUT SCHOOL SUPPLIES

Honestly you only need very simple supplies; don’t feel overwhelmed to go financially bankrupt getting materials. Local discount stores like DollarTree have a huge selection of school supplies and other items that can be used in an educational way. 

Crayons, markers, a small whiteboard and dry erase marker, post-it notes, and using your student’s toys (or preferred collections) are simple items you can start with.

Items at DollarTree that have come in handy at my house:

PRESUME COMPETENCE

What does “presume competence” mean? It means starting with the belief that someone is capable of understanding and participating, even if they face challenges or appear to have limitations. It’s about focusing on their potential to learn and grow rather than making assumptions based on appearances or labels. Adopting this mindset is one of the most powerful ways to support your student.

“Presuming competence isn’t about choosing the perfect curriculum or managing dysregulation with flawless precision. It’s about letting go of the belief that outward behaviors define intelligence. It’s about seeing beyond what your eyes tell you.”

We encourage you to read our blog post “Look Beyond Severe Autism to Presume Competence“ written by The Autism Oasis’ founder, Heather Anderson, where she describes the moment everything clicked for her. 

NOT EVERY DAY WILL BE A PERFECT SCHOOL DAY

There will be days your student rejects every attempt at school. Try your best to not feel overwhelmed. Remember, most of our students aren’t able to communicate when they don’t feel well, and many experience nervous system discomfort that we don’t. Their reason for not cooperating probably isn’t personal and it’s definitely not a failure on your part.

Instead, take a break and perhaps incorporate opportunities to teach concepts during outings to the playground, local museum, sensory-friendly movie visit, and more. You do not have to sit at a desk to learn. Many of our students love to do their work on the floor, in the backyard, or simply moving around the room. We’ve heard tremendous success stories of students with 20% success on worksheets while sitting at a desk, quickly transform into students getting 80% to 100% correct after the worksheet was cut into strips and taped to the wall. Sensory seekers enjoy worksheets when they’re turned into a whole house treasure hunt to find the strips.

Are you teaching counting? Bring some toy cars to the playground and send them down the slide, counting out loud each time. Learning letters, or Needs vs Wants? Grocery shopping, if your student enjoys it, can be a great spot to point out items starting with specific letters, or talking about needs and wants. 

INCORPORATE MOVEMENT

Executive functioning and motor planning are key concepts to work on in tandem with academics. Movement helps to improve focus and warm up the brain’s motor messaging. Some popular items that support intentional motor include personal-sized trampolines, yoga balls to roll on (some students can more easily point at the correct multiple choice answer when their bodies are draped over a yoga ball), sensory swivel chairs, throwing bean bags into a laundry basket, rolling giant dice across the floor, and more. 

Sensory walks (or obstacle courses) around a room can be a fun way to incorporate movement as well as other learning like reading, counting, and taking directions. Even without any official equipment you can get creative*:

1. Walk across the room only on throw-pillows. Kick it up a notch and have them take letters across the walk to spell out their name (or sight word of the week) at the end of the path.
2. Toss rolled up socks into a laundry basket (counting!)
3. Build a tunnel with couch cushions and a blanket, fill it with stuffed animals or pillows so your student has to push them out as they go through.
4. Roll a dice or pick a number out of a hat and assign the numbers to movements. Pulled 4? Flap your wings like a bird! 7? Jump up and down!

*These are only examples and the level of difficulty or academic topics can definitely adjust to your student’s knowledge base and educational level.

GIVE YOURSELF GRACE

Not all homeschooling looks the same, especially when it comes to our students. If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed, have questions about the curriculum, or need guidance or tips on how to teach a subject, please email Heather and she will help you out! 

Nonverbal Autism Homeschool hosts weekly live Q&A sessions on Zoom for homeschooling parents and caregivers. Heather and Mr. Sims answer questions and share support and educational tips for students just like yours. That weekly meeting is also a great way to engage with other parents who are having the same severe autism experience as your family. None of our kids just sit down and do the work. None of our kids can speak conversationally or openly write. We learn and share ways to teach them anyway.

Start your journey with us today—click here to explore resources tailored to your student’s needs.

Jennifer Bullock, Contributing Author

Homeschooling-experienced mom to a tween, non-speaking daughter, Jennifer is also Marketing Outreach Coordinator for The Autism Oasis. With 20+ years experience in marketing, advertising, and social media communications, you will see her occasionally supporting the blog and social media channels with various content related to Autism Oasis.