Educating a student with special needs requires special effort, since the student may be facing a handicap with specific adjustment necessities. Most of the time, these needs may not or cannot be properly addressed by the standard school system, so the student may need private and personalized instruction, usually in the form of a homeschooling program. Homeschooling allows a student with learning disabilities to follow through lessons at a comfortable pace, thereby maximizing potential benefits on his or her part. There are several options on how to homeschool people with learning impairments, but their goals are in essence identical: that of bringing out the student’s maximum potential.

One option is to employ the professional services of a special education consultant. A consultant works with the parents of a student with learning difficulties, in an effort to develop an effective instruction method for the student. This may include the selection and adaptation of a curriculum to suit the student’s needs. A consultant may provide a selection of alternative instructional materials and publications for the parent to choose from. Some of these resources are designed specifically for use in homeschooling, while others are similar to those materials used in formal school. More importantly, a consultant provides essential advice concerning teaching techniques. He or she serves a double purpose of assisting the student in the learning process, while guiding the parent as to how the educing of potential can be done to bring out the child’s best potential.

Homeschooling has its own share of legal difficulties concerning the public school system and state regulations. In consideration of these, one way to provide homeschooling opportunities for a student is through an established organization, such as the Home School Legal Defense Association, a national institution which offers legal representation to its members who are facing legal opposition by government or state officials. The HSLDA advocates private instructional assistance due to the conflict which families of students with learning disabilities have had after involvement with the formal public school system. Apart from providing legal help, a representative of the organization can also afford the parent with a thorough list of established professionals who are specialized in the field, and have had extensive experience with children who have such a condition; the representative may also provide resource guides for instruction, as well as advice concerning standardized diagnostical tests for assessing a child’s condition.

Another option which is more conducive for the child and more sensitive to the needs of the family is to bring the child in environment where homeschooling is the norm. An example of this method is found in San Jose, California, in the form of an ‘umbrella’ school, Almaden Valley Christian School. This school is composed of about eighty homeschooling families who have children with learning difficulties. The process for enrolment involves the development of a home education method, in consideration of the child’s diagnosis and other personal needs. The parents then enforce the plan using the prescribed curriculum, and coupled with instruction. Evaluation and adjustment is done on a monthly basis. The school also offers a state-recognize high school diploma.