What kind of education would have been perfect for you?

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Looking back (or forward or currently, depending on your age) describe what you think would be
the best kind of education for you. What would be/have been ideal for you to learn how to learn, and get what you need(ed) for
success as an adult?

Some ideas:

Homeschool?
A combination homeschool/inclusion program?
A private school for aspies?
Inclusion at public school?
Unschooling with plenty of social opportunities in the community?
Democracy style school like Summerhill?
Waldorf?
Montessori?

Ever since Grade 2 I had been saying that I wanted to be Home-schooled, so I would have to say that.

I think that homeschooling would have been the best, for me. The public school system was a nightmare, for me. Even some of the teachers were bullies.

i think daily whipping would have been in order for me, or barring that, a DO THIS NOT THAT type lecture. 13 years of reading me THE RULES, and maybe i would understand the neurotypical psyche. if i had someone there to literally "beat the aspie out of me" i think that would have worked wonders.


If i ever have kids, they will never set foot in a public school, they will go to a private Christian school that believes in corporal punishment.

A library and free rein.

any of the ones i've put in bold might have been better for me than my public school. i tried to transfer to a really unconventional private school but was unable to afford it. in my case, pulling me out of school - in favor of any alternative - would have been a wise idea.

many years later i read Grace Llewellyn's The Teenage Liberation Handbook ( < link ) and wished i had demanded to be removed from school.

Michael John Carley (author of Asperger's From the Inside Out) finished high school at School One in Providence, RI and loved it. I knew someone who went there who was dyslexic with an unusual array of academic strengths / weaknesses and he also loved it. they allow students to help in designing their own curricula. there's a good example of a private school that is designed for students with differences.

Yeah! That! I learned more during my free periods spent in the library than in all the classes I ever took combined.

a european track system which would have led to a vocational track with job placement.

Self-education has always been the best way for me to learn.

Homeschool, definitely, so that I could learn at my own pace and so that my parents could be aware of how much time I needed to spend on homework and not go nuts about it. I had a tendency to do homework until 4am ensuring it was all perfect. I would have been okay in public school if they could have done something like, "SuperTrouper has spent the agreed-upon 45 minutes on her math homework and completed x problems, and we are signing off that she understands it and will do no more." Oh, yeah, and that whole social thing. I got bullied by people I thought were my friends.

I always wished someone would recognize my abilities and take me on as an apprentice of sorts.

Hi

I am a big fan of homeschooling even though it is a practice that is frowned upon by many people. I had wanted to be homeschooled since before I knew there really is such a thing. I think I can do a better job. So, if I do end up having any children, homeschooling is definitely up there on the to do list. But if I can re-live my childhood again and if there is a law insisting that I should attend a school, I would pick a Montessori school - especially one that stays true to the principles laid down by Maria Montessori. Yes, I am also a big fan of Montessori.

Oh, I also love the structure/routine of a boarding school. It is so comforting to know what is expected of you and what is about to happen next... I don't think boarding schools are bad for children post puberty unless if you happen to pick the wrong one... The one that I attended was pure joy!

Private catholic school was fine. I liked it.

Unlike many aspies, I did very well in the public school setting, at least academically. I had difficulties socializing, and often spaced out in class, but my grades tended to remain high--with a few notable exceptions. Due to my odd behavior and lack of friends, I was the subject of some professional attention in elementary school, but when I was evaluated on what I believe was the WISC test I was determined to be intellectually gifted. This was a mixed blessing, as it stopped the school system from making me jump through any more professional hoops, but it also means that I was never evaluated for Asperger's syndrome (this was also just before AS became part of the DSM-IV), ADHD, or anything else. At this point in my adult life I remain undiagnosed, and my perceived high level of functionality has made it difficult for me to be taken seriously in my requests for an evaluation.

I would have liked very much to remain in a structured school environment with other students, whether spectrum or NT, but with much greater access to advanced material. As it was, the school recognized that I could be doing harder work, but no one wanted to put in the extra time to provide me with it. Since I am not considered disabled (in spite of society's often crippling rejection of my social style), they were under no legal compulsion to accommodate me in any way. I was allowed to skip the 6th grade, for which I am grateful, but I wish that I had been given extra work and personalized instruction so that I could have been even more accelerated.

Some people wonder whether it's write to encourage gifted children to push themselves to their academic limits. I believe that it depends more than anything on the desires of the child. In my case, I know that I would have appreciated it.

Homeschooling using an online high school would have been great.

Homeschooling/group schooling
Private schooling

I homeschooled with what you would probably consider 'inclusion' classes. Other homeschoolers had classes with me (sort of like a group school). Sometimes I would do school with a couple other friends (for an entire year or so), people would host classes in their homes (we would be taught by people that taught in private schools or colleges quite often). That was a good environment for me for a long time. In high school I enjoyed private school because it offered one on one teaching. I especially enjoyed discussion type environments. I did NOT do well in public school environments, due to large size, lack of accommodations, ignorance, and unhelpful/bully teachers.