Five tips for home educating your neurodivergent child

If you’re home educating a child who’s neurodivergent, and/or has Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), you’re probably already aware they learn in many different ways.

It can be challenging knowing how best to engage your child with learning, how to boost their confidence and how to support them if they’re feeling tired or stressed.

To give you some tips and insights, BBC Bitesize has been speaking to: Chris Beaumont, Neurodiversity Trainer and Children’s Project Coordinator for The Brain Charity, and education researcher; Sam McFarlane, Education Officer at membership charity National Association for Special Educational Needs (nasen); SEN Tutor Joanna from Great Expectations Education; and Zarah Hill from Enigma, the BBC’s neurodivergent staff network.

They all say one of the best things you can do as a parent is to observe how and when your child learns best, and adapt what you’re doing accordingly…

Create a home learning environment that caters for any sensory processing preferences your child has. Are they sensitive to sights, sounds, smells, noise and touch, or are they sensory seeking?

Chris Beaumont suggests starting with a stripped-back environment, for example, soft lighting, minimal background noise and minimal distractions, and then adding in the things that help your child.

That could mean not sitting near the toilet or kitchen if your child is sensitive to smell but adding in sensory toys, cushions or blankets if they prefer to have something to touch. Joanna’s son is autistic and doesn’t like soft textures, he would prefer to sit on a leather sofa or at the kitchen table. But each child will be different.

Zarah Hill has dyslexia and ADHD. She recommends using a different room or location for each subject. That could mean learning maths in the kitchen, English in the living room and science in the garden or local park. As always, it will depend on what works for your child.

Zarah and her co-workers also suggest trying body doubling, especially if your child is a bit older: you sit in the room with them while they’re learning. You’re not actively teaching them, but it helps the child feel more accountable for their work and not get distracted. It’s also important to know how long a child can focus for, which we’ll come to shortly.

“Use clear and specific language, when giving instructions or guidance.” – Sam McFarlane, Education Officer at nasen

Some neurodivergent children experience challenges with information processing, so be as clear as you can in a way that works for them.

Sam from nasen recommends having a coherent timetable or structure for the day. Use visual aids, pictures and images for their schedule and other learning, like times tables. Use bullet points and highlighters.

Zarah recommends colour coding everything: colour in their timetable and notes, use a different colour for each subject, etc.

Chris recommends giving instructions one at a time and, if you need to repeat them, use the same words again so as not to confuse your child.

If it suits your child, give them choice or agency over what they learn and when, such as ‘would you like to do maths or English this morning?’. Some children prefer to work to a set structure.

If your child finds demands challenging, give them some control by letting them know a task can end when they want, and then switch to another activity.

You can also observe whether they work better in the morning or afternoon, and be led by their interests. Chris’ son is autistic and he loves the story of The Highway Rat, so she lets him learn everything he can about it, and then incorporates related words and sounds into his learning.

It’s also worth observing what kind of learner your child is and then focusing on the ways they learn best:

• visual: use pictures, drawings and writing things down

• auditory: listen to podcasts, programmes, etc, and talk about topics

• reading and writing: read about a topic and take notes

• kinesthetic: use hands-on activities, movement, bricks, model-making, etc.

Sam says: “Consider the use of assistive technology (AT) to support literacy,” such as free dictation software, which converts speech to text, and text-to-speech tools which can be used for reading or browsing the internet.

Use apps like Alexa to help with spelling, and consider having several screens or notebooks available if your child is dyslexic and struggles with working memory. That way they can flit more easily between pieces of information.

“Sensory and attention breaks are really important.” – Chris Beaumont, The Brain Charity

Neurodivergent children can experience attentional differences and their perception of time can vary. Visual aids and colours really help here, like having a clock displayed on the wall and using colour to block out study time, break time, etc.

Build in lots of rest time and space for other activities. Allow your child to concentrate for a small chunk of time, and then let them do another activity which allows them a change or rest. Some children can only focus for five minutes before needing a break, others can go up to 20 minutes.

Your child may respond to timers: some children prefer a timer to count up to the deadline, others prefer a countdown. Other children find timers stressful. If your child prefers to just know when a task is finished, Chris recommends sticking to the same amount of time, “so they get a sense of how long that piece of time is."

Sam from nasen suggests using movement breaks, especially during highly-focused work, as well as ‘refocusing tasks’: “Discuss with your child, if you are able, what kinds of tasks and activities they would like to do: this could be crafts, mindfulness activities, reading, stretching, sorting, anything that your child finds refreshing. Avoid introducing activities which might be difficult to leave or cause tensions when returning to tasks.”

Some neurodivergent children struggle with physical and emotional regulation. Chris recommends learning to notice the signs before they get overwhelmed. for example, their voice getting louder, walking around, etc, and to “identify the activities that deplete their energy."

Build in recovery time and give your child access to whatever calms them, like a fidget toy, weighted blanket, listening to specific songs. Help them learn to understand themselves and how to self-regulate in this way too.

Chris says you can also use three types of physical activity, if appropriate, to calm your child down, depending on how dysregulated they are:

• energising activities like running, jumping, bouncing, etc, that don’t require any thought

• coordinating activities like dancing, climbing, balancing, ball games, etc, where they think about their arms and legs doing things in sequences

• sustained relaxing activities like a big hug, weighted backpack, putty, stretchy tubes, chewing or sucking that involve pressure, weight or being tactile.

Joanna reminds you that the school day is a lot longer than you’ll need for your child at home, if you factor in registration, assembly, breaks, teachers going round the class. Be kind to yourself if you’re only doing a few hours a day compared to the six hours children are in school.

Allowing your child to have quiet and rest time, and to have a proper transition between subjects, benefits their learning.

Remember, children learn through observation too. It’s ok if you make a mistake and then rectify it – you’re modelling that behaviour to your child. Similarly, if they see you making a clear checklist with bullet points and a learning plan broken down into five-minute chunks, that can teach them about how to organise their time.

Finally, give yourself a break, and let go of some expectations. It’s perhaps more important that your child enjoys learning and is able to communicate effectively than that they can spell perfectly.

If your child is dyslexic, read about the five ways to support your child with dyslexia at home.

Moodboosters is a set of resources designed to get children moving for mental health, mindfulness and wellbeing. The ‘Recharge’ video collection may be particularly helpful for sensory and attention breaks.

In the spirit of being kind to yourself, read our five ways to manage your wellbeing as a parent.

The BBC Bitesize home education collection is designed to support you and your child’s learning at home with free resources for early years and foundation stage (EYFS), primary and secondary-age students.

Bitesize Parenting is the go-to place for the whole parenting community to find stories, expert advice and fun activities.

If your child has special educational needs and / or disabilities, be sure to check out the Parenting SEND collection. Bitesize also has a collection of Sensory Stories, an immersive video series that transports you on unique sensory adventures, for children with additional or complex needs.

For more information about home education, these BBC News articles cover the rise in families deciding to educate their children at home and, from 2021, the impact of Covid on home education.