If you've been blessed help out for a few hours or one day a week (think of the benefit to a college student who spends time seeing a special needs child treated like a valuable part of a family instead of as a problem to be remedied).

• Be organized and consistent. All children benefit from consistency, but special needs children more so. If you also have children without special needs, they'll appreciate the consistency and knowing their needs will be met, too.
• While you want to be organized and consistent, don't forget to relax! Sometimes it's more important to play in the leaves than practice counting. Don't forget about life!
• One of the greatest gifts any parent can give a child (any child) is his or her own emotional stability. An emotionally wrought parent will result in an unhappy and unproductive household. An even-tempered, pleasant parent will work wonders on children. Take time to begin each day in a way that promotes your own peace of mind. When you feel overwhelmed, take a short time-out (or even a long time-out) to recoup. When my own children were young, I called for a quiet time almost every day -- 1-3 hours when everyone gathered in one room and spent time playing or reading quietly. Play noises (quiet vroooms) were allowed, but no one was allowed to talk to one another. I took this time for recreational reading. Sometimes, I napped in my bedroom while my children played cars on the bed. Sometimes we did something together, like watch a video.
• A change of scenery can work wonders. Are things getting a bit hairy inside the house? Bundle everyone up and go outside. Go to the park or a playground if necessary -- or just drive around and look at interesting things in your neighborhood.
• Don't take it all so seriously. Try to make learning into a game, into something fun. If the math facts aren't sticking, dig out the noodles or the toy cars, or something more outlandish (or yummy) -- chocolate chips, Q-tips, the flatware...
• Know the things that soothe and calm your child. It's easy to forget whemes, I napped in my bedroom while my children played cars on the bed. Sometimes we did something together, like watch a video.
• A change of scenery can work wonders. Are things getting a bit hairy inside the house? Bundle everyone up and go outside. Go to the park or a playground if necessary -- or just drive around and look at interesting things in your neighborhood.
• Don't take it all so seriously. Try to make learning into a game, into something fun. If the math facts aren't sticking, dig out the noodles or the toy cars, or something more outlandish (or yummy) -- chocolate chips, Q-tips, the flatware...
• Know the things that soothe and calm your child. It's easy to forget when you're in the midst of conflict, so keep a list on the inside of a cabinet door. (You might want to keep a list of things that soothe and calm you, too.)

Resources for Teaching and Raising
your Special Needs Child

Woodbine House. Mega site of books, CDs & resource links related to disabilities. Resources for parents, children, teachers & professionals.

An excellent list of books for parents of special needs children from the HomeSchool Association of California

NATHHAN: National Challenged Homeschoolers Associated Network  This site is rich with advice, resources, helps of all sorts. Take a look at their feature in which parents share their favorite resources for dealing with particular special needs (also, links to everything from legal help to support groups).

Learning Abled Kids  A resource and support site designed to provide families with information, curriculum resources, and tools to help you teach your bright child with learning issues at home. You'll find information about reading disabilities, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD), ADD, ADHD, homeschool curriculum recommendations, tools for teaching and learning, and a whole lot more.

Bay Shore School & Educational Homeschooling the Learning Disabled and Other Special Needs Children. Great links to articles, book recommendations, lots more.

Cope to Hope. "Helping special needs families move from just coping to hoping."

Ten Steps to Successfully Homeschooling Children with Special Needs
"...homeschooling has rapidly become a respected alternative, especially for those children with special needs who are being pushed out of public schools." - Janie Bowman

Nasco Special Education. Supplies and learning aids for a wide variety of special needs situations.

A-Z Home's Cool. Lots of great links to resources, groups, etc. for the special needs homeschooler.

A book that comes up over and over in the "favorite resources" lists of special needs homeschoolers is Luke's List by Joyce Herzog.

Home School Legal Defense Association offers legal opinions, advice and assistance, as well as links to resources and aids for the special needs homeschooling family.

Homeschooling a Struggling Learner. This new (2008) resource from Home School Legal Defense should prove very useful and inspirational to a lot of people. Check lists to see if your child might have a problem, resources, stories, more.

The Advantages of Homeschooling an Autistic Son. A mom and dad share their story.