
Speaking Life Into Motherhood ~ Holistic Health, Self Care, Resources, & Support for Christian Moms of Children With Special Needs & Disabilities
Do you often feel overwhelmed by your child’s medical needs or special circumstances?
Are you searching for ways to nurture your family while caring for your own spiritual health and remaining anchored in your faith?
Are you ready to learn balance by improving self-care and growing spiritually within the demands of motherhood?
Speaking Life Into Motherhood is a podcast for Christian mothers of children with special needs and disabilities hosted by Elyse Scheeler, a wife, mama, speech-language pathologist, and wellness coach. Through candid conversations with other moms and professionals, we explore holistic, faith-based strategies to help you find the confidence to advocate for your child, prioritize wellness and self-care, and nurture relationships.
Each episode brings you practical tips and resources, along with a refreshing reminder that your motherhood journey is full of beauty and purpose. Join us as we challenge the norms, embrace the struggles, and find joy in raising children with special needs, all through the lens of faith.
You don’t have to just survive mama- you can thrive!
Speaking Life Into Motherhood ~ Holistic Health, Self Care, Resources, & Support for Christian Moms of Children With Special Needs & Disabilities
12 How to Homeschool a Child with Special Needs: Navigating Life Skills & Academics When Thinking, "I Didn't Sign Up For This!"
Are you wondering how to homeschool a child with special needs? Curious about balancing therapy with education? Looking for encouragement in your unexpected parenting journey?
In this heartfelt episode of the podcast, host I welcome Sarah Frazer, author of "I Didn't Sign Up for This," to discuss her experience homeschooling her nonverbal daughter with special needs. Sarah opens up about adopting her daughter from China, discovering her daughter's significant special needs were more complex than initially understood, and how she navigated the grief and acceptance process.
Sarah shares practical wisdom about:
- Finding peace in the unexpected twists of parenthood
- The benefits of one-on-one instruction for her nonverbal daughter
- How she manages weekly therapy sessions alongside homeschooling
- Making educational decisions based on individual progress rather than age
- Balancing the needs of all five of her children
This conversation offers both practical advice and emotional support for parents considering homeschooling their special needs child. Sarah emphasizes the importance of looking for small victories, setting realistic expectations, and remembering that you're not alone in feeling overwhelmed. Her message of "progress over perfection" provides hope for parents on similar journeys.
Connect with Sarah:
Website: https://sarahefrazer.com/
Book: I Didn't Sign Up For This
Podcast: Psalms to Help You Sleep
Need prayers? Have a topic you'd like to be discussed? Send us a text!
While you're here, please leave a quick rating or review! I pray this episode blesses you! Remember, you don't just have to survive mama- you can thrive!
Connect with the host: Elyse Scheeler
- Subscribe: Speaking Life Into Motherhood
- Website: www.speakinglife.co/motherhood
- Email: hello@speakinglife.co
- Facebook Group: Speaking Life Into Motherhood
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- Essential Oils: my.doterra.com/speakinglife
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the guests and hosts and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Speaking Life Into Motherhood. None of the advice or discussion on the podcast is medical advice. Always consult with your medical provider before using any supplements, essential oils, or therapy methods.
Sarah Frazer (00:00)
Should I put her in school with all the services? Should I hire a tutor? But I have a lot of teacher friends.
And then I also, my aunt, she's been a teacher in first grade for a long time. I would talk to her a lot and say, are my struggles, and she was really sweet. And, you know, she's been a public school teacher all her life.
but she was like, she's not gonna ever get what you can give her.
Elyse Scheeler (00:26)
That one on one.
Sarah Frazer (00:26)
And so,
and it's the one-on-one. And that kind of helps us make the decision every year.
Elyse Scheeler (01:41)
Welcome back everyone. Today I'm excited to welcome Sarah Fraser to the podcast. Sarah is the author of I Didn't Sign Up for This, which is a book that tells the story of adopting a child with special needs. She hopes to encourage women to discover God's goodness when their stories shift. She and her husband live in West Virginia with their five children and a mini Australian shepherd named Minnie. Her work has been featured in Crosswalk, Proverbs 31 Ministries, U-Version, Gospel Center Discipleship, and Christianity Today.
She recently launched her own podcast, Psalms to Help You Sleep, which is a devotional podcast to listen to at night. You can connect with Sarah by visiting sarahefraser.com. Welcome Sarah. I am so excited to meet you and to chat with you today. If you just want to kind of introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about yourself and your story, that would be great.
Sarah Frazer (02:29)
Thank you so much for having me. I am just honored that you would reach out and want to hear my story and just have me on your podcast. Thank you so much. As you mentioned, we have a husband and I, we have five children. We've been married for this year makes 20 years. And our children ages are 16 is the oldest and nine is the youngest. And so we have all the in-between ages.
So we're in the middle, I call this the middle years of parenting. And it's a great stage. It's a great stage to be in for all those moms with little ones that you have to help get ready to go out the door. Like it's coming, like just wait. It'll be great when they can all just like get their shoes on and their jackets and get their stuff and say, let's go. And everyone can get to the car and buckle their seat belts and it's great. So I do love those little years.
Elyse Scheeler (02:56)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah
Sarah Frazer (03:19)
and then in the middle years. I am a stay at home mom and I have stayed at home all these 16 years since having my son. I have a degree in education. I did teach for a couple of years before having him. My husband is a physician at a local hospital and we have had lots of adventures in our life.
but we are in West Virginia, which we're both from West Virginia. And of course, I love it here. But my children are sort of not all encompassing, but they're the busy part of my life. So when I'm not in the middle of all of that, I love to write and I love to read. Those are some of the things that I just love to do. And so I think I've been writing online for about...
Elyse Scheeler (03:55)
Mm-hmm.
Sarah Frazer (04:07)
10 to 13 years, so started when my oldest were really young and then have just continued. And so the Lord graciously opened up the opportunity for me to write a book a few years ago. And so that's out now. yeah, so that's just a little bit about me.
Elyse Scheeler (04:23)
Well, welcome. So the title of your book is I didn't sign up for this, which I think is probably very relatable for lots of moms who have children with special needs. Can you just share a little bit about how that came to be what prompted you to write the book and your obviously your experiences that led you to write it as well.
Sarah Frazer (04:41)
Yeah, so this book actually began in my mind the year of COVID. So I just remember there's a big long story. We actually lived overseas during COVID. And so our family experienced COVID in a third world country, which was very interesting and different. But I talk a lot about that in the book as well, how your plans just kind of go up.
Elyse Scheeler (05:01)
Wow.
Sarah Frazer (05:04)
and just kind of disappear I think the title of that book came from the idea of thinking to myself, I signed up for this, but I didn't sign up for this. Right? Like I signed up for XYZ, but now I have like ABC or I signed up for ABC and now I have XYZ. during that time of COVID and those feelings.
Elyse Scheeler (05:18)
Mm-hmm.
Sarah Frazer (05:31)
kind of rushing back up about disruption and disillusionment and just disappointment brought back all those memories for when we adopted our daughter. And back in 2015, we brought home a little girl from China. We adopted from China and we were told her special needs were minor and kind of along one path.
and we got her and it was major and it was along a different path. I just remember all those feelings of I signed up for adoption, but I didn't sign up for this. Or I signed up for a minor special needs, but I didn't sign up for this major possibly lifelong care of this daughter. And so just the journey that my own heart took.
is what the book is about. And I center the book around the biblical story of Moses because there's a lot of correlation with, I think, all of our lives and what happened to Moses. And I talked to, I mentioned Mom of Littles, I talk a little bit about what it was like entering motherhood as well, even with having biological children and just that
You can't quite prepare yourself until you actually get into it. And so that's where the book came from. That's where kind of the book evolved from all these experiences that I've had over the past 15, 20 years of my life and those lessons the Lord has taught me, mostly about Himself. That's the spoiler of the book.
Elyse Scheeler (06:49)
Absolutely.
Yeah
Sarah Frazer (07:10)
It's not about my life, it's about Him. And so it's about how to find rest in God's goodness.
Elyse Scheeler (07:17)
So let's say there is a mama who's out there who maybe it's not necessarily just through adoption, but there are definitely women, like you said, in typical biological pregnancies who are then facing one thing or another, whether it's a medical diagnosis, whether it's some additional complications. they're feeling like, I didn't sign up for this. What are some strategies or?
some tips that you could share with them if they're in the beginning stages and just really in that, God, I did not sign up for this. I am not equipped to handle this. Why are you giving this challenge to me? What types of things could you speak life into for them?
Sarah Frazer (07:58)
Well, first of all, I would say you're not alone because I very much felt and I think all parents of special needs children, whether through adoption or biologically circumstance, whatever, thanks to themselves, I'm not equipped for this. So you're not alone in those feelings. And that should bring you comfort because that's not because you're not alone. would also say
That's not a wrong feeling to have that's a natural feeling. That's a normal feelings and I'm constantly telling my children Feelings are not bad or good What we do with those feelings is what matters so feel those feelings I would embrace those feelings and then also In that process
What I wish someone had told me years ago was to take time to grieve. I think there has to be a grieving process and I was very resistant of that. Probably because I felt like, well, we kind of chose this, right? This was always a possibility. Or I felt like if I was upset or angry,
as part of the grieving process, I wasn't trusting God. All of those are very real and hard emotions that I eventually had to work through. And the beautiful thing about it that I learned is that God was not put off by any of that. He actually drew closer to me when I expressed how frustrated I was, even with his plan, right?
got to the point where I said, God, I don't understand and I really don't like this. And I don't like this for her. Why do you have this as her path and why do you have it as my path? Like you could have fixed this, like you can fix this. just a little background about our daughter's special needs. She's nonverbal and she has a muscle sort of weakness.
and she's a mystery. So there's no cure, there's no pill, there's no surgery, there's nothing other than therapy that can improve the quality of her life. And so in my mind at the beginning when that became a reality, when that kind of sunk in, I realized, know, like, God, why can't you just fix this? I mean, I had people tell me.
Well, I'm just going to pray that she speaks and he's going to loosen her tongue and he's going to make her speak. And I thought, you know, and we had a, we had a speech therapist tell us, you know, well, I'm just waiting for her to start speaking. And, and to me, that was frustrating because I was like, I've prayed for that and I've had faith that God can heal her and he's not, and that's not happened. We've had her for 10 years. She's almost 12.
and she still doesn't speak. And so in my mind, I had to work through that grieving process. So I think those are the two things. Know you're not alone and also know that you have to allow yourself to grieve. I call it a death without a funeral. And so.
Elyse Scheeler (11:03)
Absolutely. And I think
that's something that we've talked about on some of my previous episodes as well is just really giving yourself space, whether it be space to, do self care or whether it be space to grieve, to grieve what could have been. And that is okay. And I think a lot of us feel guilty about
that grief like, but you're so blessed to have this child and you know, God gave you this wonderful child because he knew that you could handle all of their challenges. Okay, that's, I hear that. However, I still am grieving what I thought my motherhood journey would look like, or what I thought their life would look like. And we don't know, right? things are always changing. However, we know that things are different now.
Sarah Frazer (11:37)
Hahaha.
Elyse Scheeler (11:51)
than we thought they would be at this point, right? And I think that that's a wonderful, like to give permission and to accept that permission as a mom, it's okay to grieve. And God is not looking at you any worse or harsher because you are grieving this, because maybe you're going, this is really hard, or I'm not sure, you know, all of the things that you just stated. And I think giving ourselves permission to do that is really...
like one of the first steps to be able to then move forward in understanding what progress is going to look like and what that means.
Sarah Frazer (12:27)
And then I would also add after or during that process of grieving, really hang on to the truth. And it kind of goes back to, know, the Lord knew that you could handle this. OK, we don't feel that way. I'll just tell you that right now. We don't feel that we can handle it. But there is this deep seated truth about God's sovereignty that I held on to and I knew.
Elyse Scheeler (12:41)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Sarah Frazer (12:53)
that the Lord had given me this child. And so even though I was not equipped, I wasn't at first. And I still feel like I'm fumbling in the dark a lot of times. But the Lord said, it's not gonna be you that accomplishes this. I'm gonna work through you. And so resting in that God is not ever gonna leave you.
to figure this out on your own. And so that to me was just such a point I had to continually, and I have to continually come back to because this special needs parenting is a journey that I'll always be walking now. So, yeah.
Elyse Scheeler (13:37)
So can you walk me through a little bit? You have chosen to homeschool her. What does that look like? Or what brought you to that decision to be able to provide her education within the home?
Sarah Frazer (13:48)
So I was homeschooled all the way through kindergarten through 12th grade. And then I do have a degree in education and I did teach in the public schools for a couple of years. I have nothing against public schools at all. Currently, four of the five, so she's continuing to be homeschooled, but the other four are in a Christian private school right now. And so what...
How I made that decision was actually because I started homeschooling my oldest when he started kindergarten, actually preschool and then kindergarten. And then every year, my husband and I would just say, is it working? Okay, we'll just keep doing it. And so I was homeschooling the other children. And so she's number four out of the five. So I had homeschooled and taught three others before her. And I felt...
Elyse Scheeler (14:23)
Mm-hmm.
Sarah Frazer (14:36)
very inadequate to start this, but I thought she's really smart. She's very intelligent. She has sort of, her learning process is delayed. And so it's really interesting. She was adopted when she was two. And I feel like she's about two years behind socially, emotionally, academically, which almost like she entered our family and like that was when she was born. And so it's like,
Elyse Scheeler (14:59)
Yeah.
Sarah Frazer (15:00)
It was almost like, okay, I just think of her age as sort of this weird thing. so, so anyway, so I start, held off a year and didn't start her for a year, but she was around all the schooling already. And so I thought, well, I'm just gonna try this and I'm gonna just try to do the preschool program.
and we, and I just started and I just never stopped. And so, every year we evaluate when they all went to school, the others went to school last year for the first time and we prayed and prayed, my husband and I, and we're like, okay, we just knew that she needed me at home with her on one-on-one. And she was probably one of the major reasons why we sent them to school because I was getting so distracted by
You know, I had high schoolers. You know, my son was in ninth grade at the time, the last year that I homeschooled him, and I just felt like he really needs a lot of attention. My other ones were, you know, in elementary and middle, and so we said, let's, you know, hand this over and let, you know, the school, and we ended up moving, and we're really close to a Christian school, so it was very convenient. And then I focused a lot of my time and energy last year for the first time on her.
But previously, the biggest challenge we've had about homeschooling and having that decision was teaching her to read. And so with her being nonverbal, I kept going back and forth. Should I put her in school with all the services? Should I hire a tutor? Like, what should I do? But I have a lot of teacher friends.
And then I also, my aunt, she's been a teacher in first grade for a long time. And she actually was an autism specialist for a long time as well. And so she's been around special needs kids. She started out her education career in the behavioral disorder class. And so, so when I was talking, I would talk to her a lot and say, are my struggles, like, and she was really sweet. And, you know, she's been a public school teacher all her life.
She's getting ready to retire, but she was like, she's not gonna ever get what you can give her.
Elyse Scheeler (17:07)
That one on one.
Sarah Frazer (17:07)
And so,
and it's the one-on-one. And that kind of helps us make the decision every year.
This year I really struggled because I thought socially she would benefit really well. The class she would go into would be actually her brother's class, her younger brother's class. And if she were to go to school and that is just such, he's in such a wonderful group of kids.
They're so kind and loving and we've been able to do field trips and you know stuff like that with the class, but But I just come back to that one-on-one and It that is where my heart is with her and that's what and that's where I can see you know last year was the first year she had me one-on-one and she just excelled and I thought okay
I feel very ill equipped and it's hard and it would be easier on me if she went to school. But I really feel like this is what's best for her. So that's how we make the decision.
Elyse Scheeler (18:01)
Absolutely. I think that there's so, you know, full disclosure, I have worked in the public schools as a speech therapist for the last 12 years. And again, I think that there are many wonderful educators who are there doing the best that they can. But I will say that I struggle if I hear people on maybe an IEP team say, well, you couldn't keep them at home. You wouldn't know what to do. Like,
you are their parent. And it's also very different because no matter what, unless the child has a direct adult support, but even then that person is not a special education teacher, it's not going to be quite the same. I'm not saying that every family should choose to do this and those that are in the public schools, you shouldn't feel bad about it. I think hearing your story should be empowering for those who are thinking about this. have a mom that I spoke to recently.
who is in a similar situation where her daughter has a lot of needs and she's thinking about that same thing and it's just, you well, can I provide them with the same thing? And I love what you said too is that we look at it every year and we decide, right? There's nothing that says that this decision is permanent and
if you are feeling in your heart and you're praying on it and you're asking God what is right for your family in that moment and that's what's coming onto your heart, it's okay. And I also think that just from hearing what you're saying as well, sounds like there's, again, progress over perfection. You're not looking for her to make five years of growth in one year and just having those moms know, to our listeners, if you're thinking about this, again, giving yourself permission,
Sarah Frazer (19:21)
Hahaha.
Elyse Scheeler (19:31)
to prey on it, to talk to your spouse about it, to really look at and talk to those other people, talk to their that child's team of people, if there is a team, you know, about what, what is going to make the most sense for your family? My, I do have a question. So when you are homeschooling, does, does she still again, in my therapist mind, does she still receive those other therapies, like in the home? Does she do private therapy? How does that work as a homeschooled child?
Sarah Frazer (19:45)
Thank
Uh-huh. Yes.
Yes,
so that was actually my next thing I was gonna say because another factor in deciding to homeschool her is because the amount of therapy she gets now is more than what she would get in the public school. And so if we were to put her in school, she would get maybe a half an hour of speech and a week, and then she would probably get maybe some kind of OT-PT.
occupational therapy, physical therapy. Maybe, maybe it depends on the school and it depends on the county. But right now, so we started with our state has what's called Birth to Three, which is in-home services until you're three years old. So we had that for about 10 months. She was right at, we had maybe 10 or 11 months and she was right at two, about two years and one month old when we brought her home.
you know, and it took us a while to get the started. And then we had the in-home therapies. And then they trans and then, you know, as soon as I knew that we were going to be transitioning out of that in less than a year, I said, okay, where's the best place? And so they suggested a couple of different places, one for, it was a separate one for speech and then for occupational and physical therapy, it was a different place. Now we go to the one place for all three things.
And it's about 30 minutes from her house, but it's a private one, but our insurance covers it. Most of it. I still have a copay. But she gets an hour of PT, an hour of OT, and a half hour speech every week. And if I wanted to do more, I'm not sure if my insurance would pay for it, but I could pay for it if I wanted to do more for her. And this...
place that we have we absolutely love. will never leave. Like I was like, I told some of her physical therapists she's had for 10 years, the same one. And so we're not the same, I guess like eight or nine years when we transitioned when we were three. And so I told her she's never allowed to leave. And, and that we've had several different occupational and speech therapists and stuff like that. But the, the, the place there is very special to us. And,
Elyse Scheeler (21:46)
Mm-hmm.
Ha ha ha.
Sarah Frazer (22:05)
So when I, and we go during the day because we, and I don't have to take her out of school. It's just Wednesdays is our therapy day. And, and so, I mean, we make it's a special thing for her. And I mean, for her therapy is like fun playtime. mean, therapy is like the best week. Yes. Yes. And she absolutely loves all three of her therapists. And so,
Elyse Scheeler (22:08)
Mm-hmm.
as it should be. As a therapist, that's what we hope, right? We don't want it to feel like work for those kids.
Sarah Frazer (22:31)
So that was one of the other decisions of why we chose to continue to homeschool even after the other kids were put into school because, well, for one, I would want her to go to the Christian school with her siblings and there's no resources there. She might get speech, but that would be it. And then I don't think that I'd either have to take her out of school and take her down there for the other services or...
you know, she wouldn't get them. And so I think, you know, and then of course, you know, there's a public school that we live very close to and my sister teaches there. She's an art teacher and we love it. It's a great little school. It's big. There's quite a few kids there, but, and she would get an IP and all of that, but I felt like
where we take her to therapy, I'm able to talk to the therapist every week and say, we need to work on this, or this is what we're struggling with, or, I noticed that she's starting to trip with these shoes, or I'm noticing that, she can't unscrew, a cap or whatever. And so I'm able to like kind of give them weekly updates on how she's doing. And then they come back.
every week after therapy, they come back and say, here's what we worked on and this is what she did. And so it's an open communication as far as like, I know exactly what she worked on every week. I know exactly what they talked about and how they're, you know, helping her and I'm able to give my two cents. And then when we come home, like, well, she can pour from a half gallon jug now. So, you know, in the morning for breakfast, I'm like, you go pour your own milk.
because you, you know, the milk is low enough, you can pour your own milk. So I'm able to like, just integrate that therapy at home. And so, I'm teaching her life skills. And I think that's, that was important as well, that she learns how to take care of a house. Well, if she's at school all day and then she has homework at night, I mean, we're just going to be so tired. She's not going to learn to sweep or take out the trash or wash the dishes
she needs more time to learn those things and she needs more time to practice. And so with her home with me, we're able to do that.
Elyse Scheeler (24:37)
Yeah, there's a lot of, I can see where you're finding a lot of different benefits from that. And I think that it's important to know too, as moms who maybe are thinking about this, who are wondering, every state has different regulations. So you, you know, you'd want to look into your state regulations because there are some states where children who are homes who can still receive services through the public school. depends.
Sarah Frazer (24:57)
Yes, yes, we could
if if I wanted to I could our state does provide that and so like I said, we just started when she was three at this one place and we're like we're never leaving because it's a great place to be so.
Elyse Scheeler (25:10)
Well, and sometimes you
can do both, but there's definitely resources. think a lot of times there tend to be some, and I'm not trying to be negative, but I have experienced from talking to other parents, there sometimes are some scare tactics that may be used by people who feel strongly about not doing that. And I think that there may be validity in what they're saying.
Sarah Frazer (25:13)
right.
Elyse Scheeler (25:35)
But it's really important if this is something that is on your heart and mind to look into it, look into what your state regulations are, find out what your insurance, because the services that you're receiving, you're right. As a public school educator therapist, we are legally required to provide the least amount possible in order to make some progress. And I am not saying that we want to do that. I'm saying that legally that is what we are required to do. And so again,
Sarah Frazer (25:54)
I know.
Right.
Yeah.
Elyse Scheeler (26:02)
I work very hard with all of the students that I work with and that I have for a long, time, but understanding the limitations in that and that some of what you're told, well, they're not going to get all of this stuff. Well, how often are they with an educator one-on-one? You know, like asking those questions. And again, I am not saying that they're not, that kids are not getting what they need in the public schools, but just understanding that the parameters are different and it looks different and it feels different. And it's okay to, to maybe have some questions.
Sarah Frazer (26:16)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Elyse Scheeler (26:30)
it sounds like you're really utilizing all of those resources, which I think is wonderful. Can you tell us a little bit about have you had any like small victories or you know,
I know it's not all sunshine and roses, right? And so maybe there's a mom right now who is in it. Like they've made this decision, they have a child who has additional circumstances, they're trying to homeschool and they're feeling exhausted. They're not feeling adequate. could you maybe inspire them or give them some advice as to how they can keep going and feel like they are making a difference.
Sarah Frazer (26:43)
Yeah.
I think, I don't know, you said this earlier, I don't know if we were recording or not when you said this, but you were like, I don't think we were, but you said progress over perfection. And one of the best advices I got early on, it was probably with one of the therapists that came into our home, was instead of trying to get her to where you think age appropriately she should be, just figure out what's her next step. And so that freed me up.
Elyse Scheeler (27:11)
Mm-hmm.
Sarah Frazer (27:32)
and I apply that to my homeschooling with her. So people are like, well, what grade is she in? know, she'll be 12 soon. And I'm like, well, it's kind of complicated because she's in probably fifth and she could probably do sixth grade math. She's really good in math and spelling. She's a genius in spelling. Reading is probably like a third or fourth grade level. Science and social studies, because of the reading, it requires a lot of reading. You read the textbooks, that sort of thing.
Elyse Scheeler (27:41)
Yeah
Sarah Frazer (27:58)
She's still about a third or fourth grade level. So it really, in English and writing, is like we're really at a first or second grade level because of fine motor skills and because of idea formation is very complicated when we're nonverbal. when we're nonverbal, we don't think in sentences and we don't tell stories the same way. When we communicate with concepts and not, you know, whole sentences and all those little words.
So what I'm trying to say is, I would encourage you to figure out where they are in every subject and just say, hey, let's just keep making progress. Like, let's just see what you need to do. And that is why I love homeschooling her because
in homeschooling embrace that. we use the same curriculum for all of her subjects, but she's in different grade levels. but you can do that when you homeschool. And so she feels a lot of success when she does math. And so we do that first thing. And she feels a lot of success when, it's just videos and she just has to fill out a little worksheet.
Do that first, do the hard stuff, know, intermingle it with the hard stuff. She has learned to read, which has been a huge progress. And, you know, it's just been amazing to watch her blossom. But just remember, what is the next step? Like, what is the next skill? Really don't just look at it as catching up. Look at it as...
just a long journey. And if she graduates high school, I will rejoice and be so glad. I don't know how old she'll be, but that's our goal. Like I see that you could have a goal, like have a dream, have a goal for what you want for them, but realize that it's, you just have to get down and do the next thing. And all those little things are so encouraging when you can see that. And also,
what can really encourage you is look back. Look back at where they were. And I look back at videos and pictures of her when we first brought her home. She could barely sit. And she had never eaten solid foods. And it just like, it just amazes me where she is now. And so I think looking back, remembering the progress, and then just kind of doing those little steps.
Elyse Scheeler (30:14)
Absolutely, absolutely. Well, Sarah, thank you so much for joining us today. I think that you hopefully inspired some mamas that are maybe thinking about homeschooling those children with special needs and also just, being able to work through that whole idea of I didn't sign up for this because that's hard. And I think that many, if not most, moms who are dealing with these, you know, extenuating circumstances feel that at some point. Can you remind our listeners where they can find you on the socials?
Sarah Frazer (30:40)
Yes, so just search Sarah E. Fraser and it's F-R-A-Z-E-R, no I, and then you can also find my website sarahefraser.com and reach out to me. I wanna encourage you if you're interested in homeschooling, if you're interested in special needs homeschooling, I respond to emails, maybe not the same day or week, but eventually I will. I do check my emails regularly, so either send me an email, you can find that on my website.
Elyse Scheeler (30:59)
You
Sarah Frazer (31:06)
contact me through social media wherever you want to private message me I'd be happy to talk through and continue this conversation.
Elyse Scheeler (31:15)
Well, thank you so much for your time.
Sarah Frazer (31:17)
Thank you.