Here's why I created Nonverbal Autism Homeschool
Katherine W.
The very first week I saw a complete change. My son was interested, challenged and having fun. We finished the Spring semester and are finishing the Summer School program, too. He asks me to do it every day, and he is using what he learns elsewhere.
It gets worse with every IEP meeting.
Your student keeps falling further and further behind. You're desperate and willing to try anything, because they deserve better.
But what's the answer, homeschool? You, a parent with no education background? You're going to teach your nonspeaking or minimally speaking autistic student?
It seems impossible.
It's not.
Time to build a better future
Imagine your child earning a high school diploma. Imagine them communicating their hopes and dreams. Imagine them living independently with a strong support system.
Thanks to technology, those things CAN happen!
But first, they must learn to read, manage money and receive an education.
How does it work?
Our worksheets, task boxes, games and activities are carefully selected because they are easily adapted to meet the needs of students who can't speak or write. Curriculum meets national educational standards and includes subjects required by homeschool laws.
You'll receive instructional videos that review every single piece of curriculum and show you how to teach it to your nonspeaking or minimally speaking student. And, you'll receive live support from Heather and Mr. Sims in live group Q&A video sessions.
Each module is organized into weekly packages and daily lesson plans, saving you time and effort.
Each week, you'll log on to the site to download PDFs and watch instructional videos that last about 10 minutes each. Follow the video and written instructions and work with your child for as long as they can tolerate, increasing your teaching time as you go.
New students are automatically given access to our beginner kindergarten academic level. However, if your student requires 1st, 2nd or 3rd grade materials, please email [email protected] immediately after purchase for correct placement.
Nonverbal Autism Homeschool gives you exactly what you need: organized, proven curriculum, instructional videos and live support.
WITH THIS LEVEL OF SUPPORT, YOU WILL GET RESULTS!
Nonverbal Autism Homeschool is organized into three course modules:
Reading
You'll receive our proven reading system, which has taught more than 1,000 special needs kids how to read. Each weekly curriculum bundle includes lessons in phonics, vocabulary, sentence building, sight words and reading comprehension curriculum tailored for nonverbal students.
You'll also receive instructional videos that show you exactly how to teach your nonverbal student.
AAC
This optional module teaches parents how to model Proloquo2Go. Learn how to format, customize and navigate the app while teaching your student core vocabulary words to support academic learning, and how to navigate the app to find meaningful words that encourage communication. AAC also supports the reading program in kindergarten and first grade.
Math and other subjects
Nonverbal Autism Homeschool Complete also includes hands-on math activities and games that teach counting, place value, adding and subtracting, measurements and geometry. In addition, you'll receive age appropriate curriculum in science, social studies and art that respects your student's intellect, makes learning fun and complies with homeschool regulations.
Choose from two homeschool packages
Summer School available
Choose from kindergarten or 1st grade. This shorter, lighter version of our full homeschool program is great for keeping skills sharp or giving homeschooling a try.
Learn more
Start anytime!
Nonverbal Autism Homeschool is designed to go at your own pace, which means you can begin now. Don't force your student to suffer through the rest of the semester in a dangerous classroom environment or with an online program that isn't a good fit. Make that change today!
Free Zoom consultation
Schedule a free 45-min meeting with Heather to discuss your student, view the materials and answer your questions.
Schedule your meeting
Not ready to "meet" me yet?
I've created a video tour of my program to watch at your convenience. Fill out the form and you'll be automatically redirected to the video, plus I'll send a follow up email so you can watch it later.
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You can do this!
You're already more than qualified to teach your child.
You were their very first teacher and you're going to continue to guide them their entire lives. Nobody knows them as well as you do. You know their special interests. You know when to push and when they're finished. You know when they're being sneaky. You know extremely important things that can make or break any educational attempt regardless of background.
With Nonverbal Autism Homeschool, you also have the right curriculum, a library of instructional videos and schedule that guides you day by day.
Our parent teachers are additionally encouraged to attend weekly live Q&A sessions with Ken Sims, co-creator of Nonverbal Autism Homeschool and a special education teacher who has taught 1,000 special needs kids how to read. No matter what difficulties you're having with your student, after 30 years teaching special needs students, he's seen it all and he has the answer.
And, you'll receive support from me, a mom who has been there! I'm always here to answer AAC modeling questions, give homeschooling advice, answer tech questions, recommend toys, apps and support products, and even provide a shoulder to cry on if you need it.
This will work even if your child already has a full therapy schedule.
In fact, I recommend including all of your service providers in this program. Additional logins are available for your therapists so they can access weekly lessons. Many of our AAC materials are made for SLPs by SLPs, and can be used in their sessions, too.
This will work even if your child hasn't shown much interest in AAC before.
Our AAC activities are fun and inviting, and most don't require sitting still. Even when we use AAC while we read books, we find ways to make it silly.
"An average parent, who will dedicate a couple of hours per day to their student, can achieve so much more than I can all day long in a group classroom."
- Ken Sims, MA Special Education
Emily K.
I like how there are always options to use a pencil, type, use his talker or just point. Whether he's having a great day or a challenging one, we can always get some school done.
Meet the creators
Heather Anderson
Heather Anderson is a former journalist and creator of The Autism Oasis, a source of information and support to autism families. When she enrolled her nonverbal autistic son in a homeschool program, Mr. Sims was assigned as her son's supervising teacher. Together with the cooperation service providers, they taught him how to read, communicate expressively and enjoy learning.
Ken Sims, MA Special Education
Mr. Sims has been a special education teacher for 30 years. During that time, he has taught more than 1,000 special needs kids to read, and helped many of them continue on to earn high school diplomas. He is a full time special education teacher in Southern California, and is currently credentialed to teach K-12 special education and K-6 general education.
Literacy is a human right
According to CDC estimates, there are nearly 1 million people in the U.S. alone with severe, nonverbal autism. Sadly, many of them are functionally illiterate despite having normal or gifted intelligence.
Most public schools are not structured to teach nonverbal children to read, communicate and reach their academic potential. The reasons for this include:
- Group classrooms are overstimulating and make it difficult for autistic students to focus and sit still, skills that are required in school. However, schools don't have room or funding for 1:1, low sensory learning environments.
- Intelligence tests rely on expressive language to produce answers. This discriminates against students with expressive communication disabilities and produces false intellectual disability diagnoses.
- Expressive communication is required to prove academic mastery in school, and mastery in the form of testing is required to move forward academically. This forces kids with expressive communication disabilities to spend years stuck with age inappropriate curriculum.
- Parents lack the training to model AAC use at home. Many aren't even aware that they need to model.
We believe that every child, regardless of expressive or cognitive ability, can learn. Nearly all can learn to read and communicate.
Yes, education reform is needed. But by the time that happens, it will be too late for your student.
I know this system works: I used it to teach my son how to read!
My son, Tosh, is 12 years old and has nonverbal autism. Six years ago, we met Mr. Sims when he was assigned to be Tosh's academic advisor in our charter's homeschool program
At the time, Tosh couldn't demonstrate the ability to count beyond 7, he couldn't read, and he could barely write his name. He became agitated when asked to do any school work and couldn't attend to a task or listen to a teacher for more than a couple of minutes.
Tosh has made unbelievable progress. He is now reading at a fourth grade level, and is learning multiplication and division, geography, current events, history, science and literature.
The image you see is a screen shot from Tosh's iPad a few years ago, demonstrating one way we used AAC to learn grade-level vocabulary words and context. Mr. Sims allowed me to take a screenshot, print it and turn it in as work.
My son is not a genius. He's bright, but he also has physical, behavioral and learning challenges. I had zero teaching experience. But with Mr. Sims' help, we did it. And so can you!
Mr. Sims and I are very passionate about the rights of nonspeaking and minimally speaking autistic people. We are honored to create this program and look forward to working with you!
- Heather Anderson, Co-Creator
Nonverbal Autism Homeschool
FAQs
Are you a charter school?
Can I share this program with our speech therapist?
Can I just hire Mr. Sims to teach my student??
What if my student can't keep up with the weekly curriculum?
Cayla L.
We are loving this homeschool journey. He has completed more work in these few months than we ever saw evidence of in public school. We are so proud!
