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| Getting Help |  Homeschoolers can select two main options to receive help: private special needs resources or resources from the public schools through the federal IDEA program. Of course, some homeschoolers could do a combination of them both.
At this time, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) has explain that the IDEA special education resources only have to be made open to students in public schools or private schools. They especially explain homeschool students cannot qualify. This policy letter from the OSEP, however, seems contrary to the purpose of IDEA "to assist States . . . to provide for the education of ALL children with disabilities." 20 USC section 1400(d)(C).
Some states have passed regulations allowing homeschoolers to take part. Also if a homeschooler is in a state that accepts homeschools as private schools, the homeschoolers can usually receive the help.
Nevertheless, when using government special needs services, parents should take into account the possible side effect of loss of freedom. A general saying, that government controls nearly always follow government money, frequently becomes true with homeschoolers getting public school services for their special needs children. Sometimes the controls are not instantly visible, but they normally surface as soon as the parents start to clash with the public school authorities' "advice" for new therapy or a different educational approach. At the very least, homeschoolers getting public school services for their handicapped children put themselves under the jurisdiction of the federal IDEA and local state regulations which perform that act.
The purpose of IDEA is to provide established guidelines for local public schools to make available a free public education to the special needs children. The act is not a compulsory attendance statute for special needs children. It is clearly obvious, consequently, that parents are not mandated to use a free public education for their special needs child, if they do not want to do so. Such a mandate would also infringe upon the parents' fundamental right to control the education of their children, as guaranteed under Pierce v. Society of Sisters.3 In the Pierce case, the U.S. Supreme Court announced parents have the right to select a private educational program for their children, and, as a result, the Court broke an Oregon law that mandated only public school attendance.
There is no need for parents of handicapped children to use any public educational services. It is the parents' choice to privately educate their special needs child. By doing so, they avoid the state's controls pursuant to the IDEA.
Homeschooling special needs students privately brings the least risk for government intervention. Be cautious if you select to work with the public schools for the reasons discussed above. Homeschoolers should also thoroughly watch their legislatures in order to oppose any attempts to create extreme regulations for special needs children being homeschooled. All homeschoolers need to stand together to protect special needs homeschoolers from being separately and profusely regulated.
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