6 Reasons Why Online Education is the Best Choice for Moms and Parents with Special Needs Children

 

After my daughter was born I returned to school, but shortly found it to be overwhelming. Getting up early, preparing breakfast, preparing clothes, dropping my daughter off at day care, completing homework, commuting to school and juggling  other domestic responsibilities were very time consuming and it just felt that there were just not enough hours in the day. At times, my grades were not that great and I had a hard time getting my homework and projects completed. Having all this responsibility on my plate while raising a special needs child made things a bit more challenging. Then I heard about the conveniences and advantages of taking online courses and decided to try the online learning route. I enrolled into the University of Phoenix in the fall of 2008 and never looked back. The option of taking online courses verses traditional is a Godsend for busy moms with special needs children. Below are 5 reasons why online education is the best choice for moms and parents with special needs children:

 

1. The Balance, Convenience and Flexibility: Online education gives moms/parents with special needs child(ren) the ability to work around their hectic family/work schedule. Classes and course material are available 24 hours, 7 days a week. You determine your own schedule. There’s no worry about leaving home early to make it to a class on time or being late for class because there’s not a set schedule. In addition, the student mom can work on assignments and projects in the daytime, late in the evening after work when every one is settled in or late at night after the children are tucked in the bed. For example, I completed my assignments in the daytime while my daughter was in school and sometimes late at night after her bedtime. Furthermore, there will be more opportunities to go on the weekend family outings or have some you time that you may have had to sacrifice in the past.
2. Comfortable Space and Work Environment: Learning online  is more comfortable than learning in an brick and mortor (traditional) environment. You can go to class in your pajamas or nightgown.  You can choose any room in your home (i.e., home office) that’s the most comfortable and noise free to read, complete assignments and projects. You can control the noise level  and don’t have to worry about unnecessary distractions.
3. Save Time and Money That Commuting Costs: Online education eliminates the time and costs that comes along with commuting to a brick and morter building for class. Such as saving on the costs of  fuel, not having to get up early to avoid tardiness, avoid the annoyances that comes along with rush hour morning traffic, and the trouble of not being able to find a parking spot just to name a few. Your computer, tablet or other electronic device is right their at your fingertips or the next room to login to class.
4. Learn New or Improve Upon Computer and Technical Skills: Online learning gives the student mom/parent the opportunity to either learn or improve upon their computer and technical skills. The student mom of special needs child (ren) will learn how to manage various Learning Management Systems (LMS) within the virtual classroom environment.  Responding to and posting answers to instructor academic questions based on the curriculum, uploading and downloading documents, uploading videos and audio, creating, uploading, and downloading documents, access the school’s virtual library, and access academic self-help materials (document and video tutorials) are some of the many computer and technical skills that you will learn. In the future, these skills will help the student mom/parent advance in her or her chosen profession.
5. Lower Costs-Tuition itself for online courses and or degree programs can costs just as much as traditional colleges and universities, however in many ways it is much cheaper such as no commuting costs, low to no costs for online course materials and textbooks, and no college or university dormitory (on campus) living costs. Some online schools are now offering  MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses), which are free unlimited participation online courses available to the public. Other online learning sites, such as Alison offer free certification programs.
6. More Time To Participate in Volunteer/Internship Work- Given the balance, flexibility, and convenience of online learning,  the student mom/parent with special needs child(ren) may find some time to volunteer in their spare time or on the weekends. Volunteering and internship gives the student mom the opportunity to get out the house and volunteer with a company that offers work in her target field. For example, if you are studying to be a IT (Information Technology) consultant you could volunteer or apply for an internship at a IT company.  Volunteering and internship is a great way to get more hands on training and skills, learn new skills and build upon you existing skills, build your resume, build personal and professional networks, and advance your career.

 

Online education gives moms and or parents of special needs children the opportunity to either pursue or continue their education. Raising children in general while working and going to school is challenging, but caring for a special needs child adds an extra challenge to the existing general challenges of parenting  working or attending school. Above is a few reasons of how going the online education route help to make things easier and give student mom/parent of special needs child (ren) more work and life balance.

Becoming a Parent (Part 2): Finding a Work/Life Balance

In part 1 of becoming a parent, I discussed my pregnancy, the birth of my daughter, and a little on adjustment to life post-pregnancy. I left off by discussing my return to school, getting a job as a freelance writer, and my first few months of parenting. At first, things got off to a great start, but as I went  along I  realized that juggling school, working, parenting, and other responsibilities are quite overwhelming. Despite all of that responsibility, I continued to push forward.

After five months of working as a freelance writer, I quit and began to focus more on school and parenting. My school schedule consisted of  Monday through Friday beginning at 8:30 a.m. and ending at 11:30 a.m., sometimes I had afternoon or evening classes. It was an early start every morning. I had to awake at 6 a.m. sometimes 5:30 a.m. to get my daughter and I ready for the day and get to class on time. My daughter attended a local daycare during my school hours until 4:30 each afternoon so that I could have some time to study after school.

Everyday I usually arrived home between 11:45 a.m. and 12 noon if I did not have any other stops or errands to do. Although I quit working, just being a student and a parent (including household chores, and extracurricular activities in the church and community ) was still overwhelming with all the responsibilities that I had on my plate. It was just not enough hours in the day to be both and my school work was very hard and time-consuming. In addition, I felt that I was not giving my daughter the time and attention that I needed to. At the time I was attending Francis Marion University, one of the best schools in my area and one of the top schools in the country since 2001.

From 2001 to 2007 I was in and out of school struggling to keep my grades up, parenting, keeping the household afloat, and extracurricular activities in the church and community. School was my biggest stresses and there were many times I just wanted to quit, but I would encourage myself to keep on going because I have come too far to go back.  Some way, somehow I was going to finish school. I have been contemplating an alternative to the brick and mortar classroom, online courses since 2003, but I was hesitant. I was hesitant  because I did not know if I would do well without an instructor in front of me, which is the way most of us  have been  learning if not all most of our lives.

In the late summer early fall of 2008, after much pondering (a few years to be exact) I decided that I would try the online route to completing my degree. Becoming an online student would give me more time and flexibility between being a student and a parent. It would also provide me the opportunity to finish my degree faster than I would have on the traditional route. That fall I transferred from Francis Marion University and  enrolled into the University of Phoenix (UOP) online degree program to finish my degree in Communications which was Mass Communications at my former school.

When I started my first class with UOP I had some anxiety about becoming an online student for the first time. My anxiety  quickly departed when I discovered how easy it was and how the university provided students with many tools to navigate our way through the virtual campus and classroom. The professors were also very helpful by providing contact information along with the syllabus and virtual classroom instructions in case we needed help. We were also required to share contact information with our classmates, especially when working in teams to ask for help when we needed it. Another great part about online schooling is that I could log in at any time all day, all week to work on and complete my assignments.

I completed my Bachelor of Science Communication in 2010. In July 2011, I returned to the online classroom to pursue a Master of Science Psychology and completed that degree in March 2013. I am very proud of myself for accomplishing these two degrees; two of some of the biggest milestones I have reached in my life. I had to do it not only for me but for my daughter; she was my inspiration.

Switching from traditional school to the online school route was one of the best decisions that I made regarding my education. Caring and parenting a special needs child has more challenges because of the amount of care and attention the child (ren) need. Online schooling gave me the work/life balance that I needed as the parent of a special needs child. I am able to spend more time with my daughter giving her the care and attention that she needs while getting my work completed by the deadlines.

If it wasn’t for the option of online school, I don’t know if I would have finished my education given my life situation. It was an arduous journey, but I persevered and was determined to finish and I thank God for it. THANK GOD FOR THE INTERNET!!! So, if you are a mother (or father) of an autistic/special needs child and you want to pursue an education, GO FOR IT! If you choose, go the online route because it is flexible and gives you the work/life balance that is needed for parents of special needs children.

This concludes part 2 of becoming a parent. Thanks for dropping by! Stay posted!

Introduction: Welcome to The Spectrum Advocate Blog!

Welcome! My name is The Spectrum Advocate. I am the mother of a child (now a teen) on the autism spectrum and her number 1 advocate. I will share  my experiences, joys, and struggles with parenting on the spectrum. I will also share parenting tips and ways to improve your quality of life for you and your child. I am looking forward to interacting  with other parents or family members raising children who are on the autism spectrum and sharing their experiences, joys, and struggles with me.

Becoming a Parent (Part 1)

I became pregnant with my daughter the summer prior to my second semester of my college freshmen year. I was scared to tell my parents, worried whether she will be healthy, and afraid of becoming a parent. It was the start of my freshman year and I struggled to make it through the fall semester because of morning sickness coupled with the adjustments that come with getting use to college work and life. Somehow I managed to get up every  morning to make it to class. I had a lot to deal with. Needless to say, my grades suffered, although some were average, some were failing.

Unlike some women, my morning sickness lasted through my entire pregnancy, which was PURE HELL. The only time I had any relief was when I was asleep. I didn’t know what to do to relieve my sickness and I was not about to ask my mom so I suffered. My daughter’s father manage to get me to prenatal care without my parents knowing, but I knew at some point I would not be able to hide it from them anymore. All the while, I was thinking about when, where, and how I would tell my parents.

It was before the Thanksgiving holidays that I decided to tell my mom.  I made the decision to no longer hide the fact that I was pregnant because she asked me if I was pregnant one morning after noticing the bump in my belly. I  told her yes I was. She then asked me questions such as: Who’s the father? How far along was I? Have I been getting prenatal care? Next, I had to tell my father who was sitting by the kitchen window. I told him with a tear coming down my right eye. He gave a surprised look. I kept my pregnancy a secret as long as I could because I was afraid of how my parents would react. Not saying that they weren’t upset, but they reacted more calmly than I thought they would. I recall my mom saying that my paternal grandmother asked them not be angry at me and to support me, in which they did.

During this time, I continued to get prenatal care, enrolled in a local childbirth class, baby shop, and other baby preparation tasks. I remember my dad making a cute comment, “Our daughter brought us home a Christmas present”, referring to my at the time unborn daughter. Now, I thought what my dad said was sooo darn cute. That comment continues to make me smile to this day.

The following April on a Sunday, my daughter was born and we were soooo happy to welcome our baby daughter and granddaughter into the world and our lives. She was born at 8:45 p.m. and weighed 6 lbs. 8.5 ounces. I was happy that there were no complications during the pregnancy and that she came out beautiful, healthy, strong….and hungry. Lol. I was eager to put the parenting techniques I read about in practice, buy cute little outfits and toys, and receive visits and gifts from family members and friends.

After my daughter was born I stayed in the hospital until the Wednesday following her birth. I was eager to leave the hospital to bring her home and continue physically healing. Her first day at home was wonderful, but she had a hard time that night. She cried most of the  night and would not go to sleep. I learned that it probably was because she had become adjusted to the hospital environment and had to get adjusted to being home. Once she got adjusted to home, she slept both day and night. She also had a good appetite. I decided to try breastfeeding; I did, but I found that it was rough starting off and was concerned as to how I would continue to do so once I started back to school. I ditched the breastfeeding and bottle feed instead.

I spent the rest of that spring and summer up until mid-August preparing to return to school.  I have also gotten hired as a freelance writer at a local newspaper in June to get some  practice and experience as a Mass Communication major. I decided that I would continue work as a freelance writer while attending school and raising my daughter. Things have gotten off to a great start!

After some time of working, attending school, and raising my daughter on top of that other duties and responsibilities at home, I found that juggling all four was quite overwhelming, so I quit my job at the newspaper and just concentrated on school and raising my daughter. Time management was a big issue because there was just not enough hours in the day. It drove me crazy. Lol. I couldn’t image how much of a job it was to raise a child while working and attending school.

This concludes the first part of my story on becoming a parent and juggling school and a job. I will continue my story on becoming a parent, part 2 in my next post. Thank you for dropping by! Stay posted!