Homeschooling a Child With Autism or ADHD in Connecticut

What Connecticut asks of a homeschool family

These are the homeschool rules we have on file for Connecticut, last verified 2026-08. Our Connecticut page has the full list, with sources.

Getting started (notice)

none required by law. The Department of Education publishes an optional notice of intent, filed with your superintendent within 10 days of starting, which creates a presumption that you are providing equivalent instruction. Many families never file one.

Records you must keep

none required. An annual portfolio review by the district is voluntary and can be declined.

Testing / evaluation

none. Homeschooled students are not subject to Connecticut's mastery testing.

Special education and your homeschooled child in Connecticut

We researched this from Connecticut's statutes and administrative code, the state education department and the US Department of Education, last checked October 2026. Where a source was missing, old or in conflict, the line says so instead of guessing. Federal law (IDEA) gives a child placed in private school by a parent no individual right to services, only a share of the district's equitable-services funds, and each state decides how a home school is counted.

How the state counts a home school

Its own category, not a private school

Connecticut regulation 10-76d-6(b) says children educated at home by their parents are not considered parentally placed private school children for special education purposes, and the State Department of Education's procedures manual says the same.

Asking for an evaluation

Regulation 10-76d-6(a) requires each board of education to locate, identify and evaluate children with disabilities, including children who are educated at home, in accordance with the IDEA. The sources do not name which district handles a homeschooled child, but the board's duty is written around children it serves, so the district of residence is the natural place to ask.

Services and IEPs

Because home-educated children are not treated as parentally placed private school children (Reg. 10-76d-6(b)), they are outside the equitable services process, and C.G.S. 10-184a(a) says boards are not required to provide special education to a child whose parent has chosen home or private education and refuses consent to the services. Whether an existing IEP continues after withdrawal was not found in primary sources.

Part-time classes, therapies and activities at the public school

A 2007 Connecticut legislative research report says no state law gives a homeschooled child a right to take part in public school, but nothing prohibits a local or regional board from allowing extracurricular activities or dual enrollment. No newer primary source on this was found, so it is a local board decision.

Scholarships and funding for a child with a disability

No state scholarship, voucher, education savings account or tax credit for children with disabilities that homeschoolers can use was found in the primary sources checked.

Also worth knowing

C.G.S. 10-184a(b) says that if a board does provide special education to a privately educated child, the services must comply with the IDEA. Public Act 26-37 (2026) was checked and does not amend 10-184a or mention disabilities.

State office to ask: Connecticut State Department of Education, Bureau of Special Education.

Sources we read

A plain-language summary of public sources, not legal advice. Scholarship and school-choice programs change often, and we have left dollar amounts out on purpose. Confirm current rules with the state office before you act.

Pace, testing and the plan

Check the testing and evaluation line above for Connecticut, since it can depend on how you homeschool. Where a test or an evaluation applies, remember that Learning Supports change how lessons look and feel while your child learns. They are not part of a test or an evaluation. Whether a child can be given accommodations on the test, or with the evaluator, is something to ask the test provider or evaluator before the day, and we cannot tell you what Connecticut allows.

Records in Connecticut

Check the records line above for Connecticut. Letters & Devotion logs instructional hours automatically while your child works, tracks mastery per skill as a ready-made portfolio record, and prints a transcript in one click. Turning supports on or off does not change that record, and nothing in it names a condition, because Letters & Devotion never stores a diagnosis.

Six Learning Supports you can switch on

A parent ticks what helps, never a condition. Each support is a bundle of single switches, and any switch can be changed on its own. After about three weeks the parent side asks whether a support is helping.

Reading support
Often chosen for dyslexia
Read-aloud with each word highlighted, a clearer font, extra spacing and answer buttons.
Focus support
Often chosen for ADHD
Short pieces, one question on screen and movement breaks.
Predictable routine
Often chosen for autism
The same layout, a heads-up before changes, a calm look and plain wording.
Math support
Often chosen for dyscalculia
Pictures and a calculator, with nothing timed.
Writing support
Often chosen for dysgraphia
Answer out loud, with ideas counted over spelling.
Low-pressure mode
Often chosen for anxiety or perfectionism
No scores, calm feedback and a free second try.

What this is not

It does not diagnose anything or store a diagnosis. Your child never sees a condition name.
It is not special education, therapy or an evaluation, and it is not a substitute for an IEP.
Read-aloud is a computer voice, not a person, and answering out loud needs the microphone switch.
Some lesson rewrites, such as plainer literal wording, are pre-written, so not every lesson has one.

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Questions

Can I homeschool a child with autism or ADHD in Connecticut?

Connecticut's homeschool rules are summarized on this page. On special education: Connecticut regulation 10-76d-6(b) says children educated at home by their parents are not considered parentally placed private school children for special education purposes, and the State Department of Education's procedures manual says the same. Regulation 10-76d-6(a) requires each board of education to locate, identify and evaluate children with disabilities, including children who are educated at home, in accordance with the IDEA. The sources do not name which district handles a homeschooled child, but the board's duty is written around children it serves, so the district of residence is the natural place to ask.

Does Letters & Devotion store my child’s diagnosis?

No. You pick supports, never a condition, nothing stores a diagnosis, and your child never sees a condition name. Support settings are never sent to analytics.

Does this replace an evaluation or an IEP?

No. The setup screen says it plainly: these change how lessons look and feel, and they are not a substitute for an evaluation or an IEP.

Do the supports work with Connecticut's testing rules?