The case for home-school: autism

Married mother-of-two Carole Rutherford, 50, withdrew her autistic children from school amid fears the state system could not offer them support.

"The decision to home educate was taken for us when our eldest son James - then aged 11 - had a breakdown after being hit by a car while on his way to school.

James was finally diagnosed with autism two years after the accident. He never returned to school. Spending eight years in the school system unsupported and without having his needs met was just too much for him.

We had been raising concerns about James for all of those years and were ignored. James received his diagnosis six weeks after our youngest son Hew was diagnosed with autism aged three.

We felt sure that because Hew had been diagnosed so young that he would receive the support and resources that James had never been able to access in school.

I was actually chair of governors at Hew's school when he received his diagnosis and so I was not unfamiliar with the system and how it worked.

Hew managed nursery without too many problems but when he went into reception the cracks were already beginning to show.

Hew was becoming very distressed mainly because of his literal interpretation of the school rules and his ongoing problems in comprehending much of what was being asked of him.

We asked about a statement of special educational needs but were told that it was much too soon to be thinking about a statement, and anyway he was far too intelligent to need a statement.

A high IQ does not diminish the level of autism. When Hew went into year one he developed something called cyclical vomiting syndrome which can often be as a result of extreme stress. Within weeks of going into year one Hew was off school more than he was there.

Because of my involvement in internet based groups for autism I was aware that parents often had to fight the system for years before managing to get a statement for their children, if in fact they ever won the fight.

All of the time you fight your child is the meat in the sandwich. Having seen one son crash and burn we did not want this happening to another, so we made the decision to home educate Hew along with James.

Home education has allowed us to teach our son about themselves which we believe is very important. How can you ever hope to make sense of other people and the world around you if you can not make sense of yourself?

We are sometimes accused of isolating our sons when in fact this could not be further from the truth. Both of our sons are active members of our local community with the youngest being a member of St John's Ambulance Brigade and a local football group.

We are giving our sons an education fit for life and the mainstream world in which we live. At the moment only 12 per cent of adults with autism are in some kind of employment.

Maybe part of the reason is because these adults were never given the effective communication and socialisation skills required to hold down a job.

Since we took our leap into the wonderful world of home education nine years ago many families who have autistic children have also taken that leap. Numbers of parents' home educating children with autism is rising steadily."

Parents who want more information on educating autistic children at home can email support group Aim1Voice by clicking here.

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