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In 1995, the local school district's revered evaluating team labeled five-year-old Alex as autistic-impaired, with a borderline mentally-handicapped IQ. In their collective, professional opinion, the Pre-Primary Impaired Program was perfect for my son. In my opinion, homeschooling is perfect.

I first had to deal with the red tape of the IEPC meetings. Supposedly, I was the first parent in our district to refuse special services for a handicapped child. The pervasive mood of these meetings felt hostile, while I dodged friendly fire. How dare I think I know more than this fine group of professionals? For starters, I prefer to think of Alex as gifted - not handicapped.

Our Kindergarten year proved challenging, no doubt. But I thrive on challenge. Before school started, Alex would not duplicate a line drawn for him. He now draws pictures and writes words. He may be a little behind in fine motor skills, but by whose standards? He is halfway through his second first-grade reader, and we just started first grade.

A little over a year and half ago, this child had no concept of reciprocal conversation. He spoke almost exclusively in quotes (technical term: delayed echolalia). He spoke his lines, then told his partner how to respond. I finally laid down the law and told Alex, "No more 'old stuff.' I only want to hear new stuff." Poor kid. He did not understand why I didn't want him to repeat the same things over and over, or tell people their lines. He resisted for a month, then began to work with me. Today I hear very little echolalia.
As a typical homeschooler he walks right up to adults and immediately relates on their level. This from a child who used to scream if someone simply made eye contact!

Let's see... he danced in his dance recital last spring... he volunteered to go up on stage and make faces at a musical performance... he now introduces himself to kids at the park instead of lashing out. He blends imperceptibly in dance class and art class, and gives his undivided attention to his violin teacher.

When I had the opportunity to speak with the Director of Special Services recently, I told her I no longer consider my son autistic. Her look said it all: You poor, delusional woman. She went one better, though, and enlightened me with this little morsel: "Once a child is autistic, he's always autistic."

Darn. She should have told me that sooner. And to think I could have placed this precious child in their hands and watched him stay the same. Or regress.

Alex now says things like, "Mom, will I ever go back to being autistic?" He emerges from his world daily because he finally feels safe doing so. Would public school - or special education - have fostered that feeling? If they truly believe once autistic, always autistic, would he thrive so? I think not. Public school could never duplicate my love for my child, my passion, my belief that he would recover.

I will never entrust my son - or my two-year-old daughter (also with autistic tendencies) - to professional educators. I can't imagine how one does that. I've watched, in awe, as my son miraculously unfolds before my eyes. No drugs, no therapy - literally no professional help. I believed, I loved, I allowed, and I believed some more. I will never question whether a child benefits more from homeschooling or the educational system. Moms know best.

Peter R. Breggin, M.D., author of Talking Back to Ritalin
Blaming the distress and misconduct of children on mental disorders recently reached a boiling point when the federal mental-health establishment claimed that inner-city children suffer from genetic and biochemical defects that predispose them to violence. In 1992 and 1993 proposals were made to focus federal research on finding supposed biological markers for violence with the aim of treating inner-city children with drugs. Ginger Ross Breggin and I sounded an alarm about these plans, creating a national controversy. We described this in our book, The War Against Children, resulting in the government withdrawing its overall plan.

While working with parents from the inner city, we found that most of them rejected the medical diagnosis and drugging of their difficult or disturbed children. Unhappily, we discovered a far different attitude among mainstream Americans, including parents and teachers in the affluent suburbs of Washington. Conditioned intellectually to accept the modern psychiatric viewpoint, they often embraced the idea that a large proportion of their children are inherently incorrigible and hence in need of drug treatment.
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