Homeschooling a Child With Autism or ADHD in Maine

What Maine asks of a homeschool family

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

Getting started (notice)

a written notice of intent sent at the same time to the officials of the administrative unit where the student lives and to the commissioner, within 10 calendar days of starting.

Records you must keep

kept by you, alongside the annual assessment result.

Testing / evaluation

annually, and you pick the form: a standardized achievement test through the administrative unit or another arrangement the commissioner approves, a test written by the unit's officials for your programme, a review by someone holding a current Maine teaching certificate, a portfolio presented to a local homeschooling support group whose membership includes a currently certified Maine teacher or administrator, or a review by a local advisory board chosen by the superintendent.

Special education and your homeschooled child in Maine

We researched this from Maine'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

Maine treats home instruction as its own category under 20-A M.R.S. section 5001-A, and 20-A M.R.S. section 5021(3) says a home-school student is eligible for special education services as provided under federal regulations.

Asking for an evaluation

Chapter 101 (Maine Unified Special Education Regulations), section IV.4.H, requires each school administrative unit to identify, locate and evaluate at public expense all resident children enrolled in home instruction, and Maine DOE's home instruction page repeats that home instruction students are eligible for special education and related services at their resident school unit. If a parent refuses consent, the unit cannot override it.

Services and IEPs

Maine DOE says the public school must provide services only if the student elects to take classes at the school, and only to the extent needed because of the disability; there is no individual right to services otherwise (Chapter 101 section IV.4.H(3)). If the child enrolls in specific day school classes, the IEP team writes an individual service plan under 20-A M.R.S. section 5021.

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

20-A M.R.S. section 5021 says a school unit must make services available to a home instruction student: the student may enroll in specific classes with written superintendent approval (not to be unreasonably withheld) and prior satisfactory academic achievement, and has access to cocurricular activities. Facilities and textbooks are also covered.

Scholarships and funding for a child with a disability

No Maine ESA, voucher or disability-specific scholarship found. As of news reports from June and September 2026, Maine has not opted into the federal tax-credit scholarship (26 U.S.C. 25F), so no state program is available to homeschoolers now.

Less certain: the sources on this were thin or in conflict. Confirm with the state office before relying on it.

Also worth knowing

Home instruction in Maine requires a notice of intent to the superintendent and the commissioner within 10 days, 175 days of instruction, and an annual assessment (standardized test, school test, certified teacher review, portfolio review or advisory board); no disability exception was seen in 20-A M.R.S. section 5001-A. The Chapter 101 text checked here dates from 2017, and a 2024 version and a 2026 emergency-changes copy exist but were not readable, so confirm the wording with Maine DOE.

State office to ask: Maine Department of Education, Special Services and Inclusive 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 Maine, 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 Maine allows.

Records in Maine

Check the records line above for Maine. 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 Maine?

Maine's homeschool rules are summarized on this page. On special education: Maine treats home instruction as its own category under 20-A M.R.S. section 5001-A, and 20-A M.R.S. section 5021(3) says a home-school student is eligible for special education services as provided under federal regulations. Chapter 101 (Maine Unified Special Education Regulations), section IV.4.H, requires each school administrative unit to identify, locate and evaluate at public expense all resident children enrolled in home instruction, and Maine DOE's home instruction page repeats that home instruction students are eligible for special education and related services at their resident school unit. If a parent refuses consent, the unit cannot override it.

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 Maine's testing rules?