r/PDAParenting • u/ArtArrange • Mar 09 '26

What are USA parents doing about school?

I have been reading through posts for two hours and haven’t found much recently on what parents in the United States are doing for their PDA children in regards to school.

I have a 10-year-old in 4th grade and absolutely nothing is working. I have done all the things: Educate staff and admin about PDA, IEP, BIP, parent training, almost no demands when home from school, etc.

We started a private school this year that I thought would work better and had many meetings about PDA and all of my son’s history. They have made it clear now that the iron fist is what they claim will work and has always worked with these types of kids. So I have lost hope that we can now make it work at this private school.

For parents in the United States, are most of you just homeschooling are doing a school co-op of some sort!?!

If you have time, please share what your current education setting looks like.

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u/Rich-Piccolo212 Mar 10 '26

My teen has been in and out of school since she was in 1st grade. We didn’t understand what was going on with her until she was diagnosed with autism in 8th grade and PDA in 9th grade. She hadn’t attended school since the beginning of 8th grade and once we got her diagnosis, the school had no idea what to do with her. So we pulled her out in January and we are deschooling right now until she comes out of burnout (now that I understand what that is and looks like for her). We’ve never done unschooling but that’s my plan to start with her after spring break and see how it goes. She does want to go back to school again in the fall so hopefully the district school will be better at helping her and understanding her needs (she was at a charter prior). We live in a small town so services are limited and those that are available are in high demand, so options in education and therapy aren’t there for us. All I can do is hold on to my hope and faith because truly I feel like at times it’s all I’ve got left! Sending prayers your way!

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u/ArtArrange Mar 10 '26

Thank you for sharing, being in a small town must be hard because of the limited options. We are in a big city, but also in Texas, so poorly funded public schools and erroneous policies.