Homeschooling with Autism: Day 17 Adding service to your homeschool

Community service is an important part of any homeschool.  It helps teach children that the universe doesn't revolve around them.  There are other people in this world whose situations are far worse than anything they have endured.  While it's important to find service opportunites, it is not always easy.

Of course you will have to take into account any accomodations for your child.  I would not help out in a soup kitchen with Logan because the smells and sounds would be too much for him.  He can however deliver food boxes to elderly people once a month.  We have been doing this for about a year with great success. I do have to be viligant in making it work for him.  We only do 10 houses.  We only stay for a few minutes if they want to talk (most of them do).  He gets some down time when we get home to regroup.  This is but one example of service in our homeschool.

But what do you do when there are no service opportunities or you can't make any of them work for your child?  There are going to be times that it won't work no matter what you do.  One time we volunteered at a local homeless shelter helping them sort items for their thrift store.   It could have worked out into a continual service opportunity.  It didn't because the woman in charge was extremely rude to Logan.  She just saw him as a  lazy teenager who talked too much. In reality, he was someone with poor muscle tone who couldn't stand for long periods that talked a lot to help regulate.  Not unlike herself to be brutally honest. Perhaps that's why she didn't like him.

It could be as simple as pointing out different causes while you are out and about.  There is always a cause posted somewhere in the grocery store.  This month, pink is everywhere for breast cancer awareness month.  You could remark at the pink logos and talk about what people with breast cancer have to endure.  My family is much too familiar with cancer having just lost our beloved Grampa to lung cancer and  Aunt Judy to breast and brain cancer .  You could talk about the sacrifices their families are making or how it affects them financially.  You could talk about how you buying that product helps out organizations that help them out.  The list goes on and on.

With that said, how about a giveaway to help you do just that? Sam's Club through My Blog Spark has generously given me a $25 Sam's Club gift card to give to one of my readers.