Homeschooling a Child With Autism or ADHD in North Dakota

What North Dakota asks of a homeschool family

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

Getting started (notice)

a statement of intent filed every year for each child with the superintendent of your district, or the county superintendent if the district has none. You may begin five days after filing.

Records you must keep

kept by you, with test results filed as required.

Testing / evaluation

a standardized achievement test in grades 4, 6, 8 and 10, using the test the resident district uses. Score below the 30th percentile and you join a multidisciplinary team to assess for a learning disability and plan remediation. You may opt out of testing on philosophical, moral or religious grounds, filing the opt out with the statement of intent.

Special education and your homeschooled child in North Dakota

We researched this from North Dakota'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

North Dakota regulates "home education" parent-supervised under its own chapter, NDCC 15.1-23, and nothing opened treats it as a private school.

Asking for an evaluation

NDCC 15.1-23-11 requires a multidisciplinary assessment team to assess a home-educated child who scores below the 30th percentile on the required achievement test, and 15.1-23-13 uses that team's finding for disability. The DPI IEP guide (2019) says home-educated children with disabilities "may still be eligible" under IDEA, but a rule on parent-requested evaluations and which district must act was not found in primary sources.

Services and IEPs

If the team finds the child disabled and in need of special education, NDCC 15.1-23-13 lets the parent keep home educating only if a services plan, developed privately or through the district, is filed with the superintendent showing qualified persons address the child's needs; the district superintendent reviews academic progress annually from that plan. No individual entitlement to district-provided services was found, and the DPI paper "Home Education and Children with Disabilities" could not be located.

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

NDCC 15.1-23-02 lets the parent list public school courses on the annual statement of intent, and DPI's guide says home-educated students may take one or more public school courses. NDCC 15.1-23-16 lets them join extracurriculars through the resident district or an approved nonpublic school, under the same standards as full-time students and the activities association transfer rules. Therapies are not mentioned in the sources we read.

Scholarships and funding for a child with a disability

None found. A 2025 education savings account bill (HB 1540) for students not enrolled in public school or a homeschool program was vetoed on 4/24/2025 and is listed as failed; the legislature's page opened shows no disability-specific program.

Also worth knowing

For a child with a developmental disability diagnosed by a licensed psychologist, NDCC 15.1-23-14 and 15.1-23-15 let the parent home educate with a district or parent-selected services plan, filing progress reports by November 1, February 1 and May 1. A parent with a religious, moral or philosophical objection to standardized tests can file an opt-out with the statement of intent, per DPI's guide.

State office to ask: North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, Office of Special Education (701-328-2277).

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 North Dakota, 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 North Dakota allows.

Records in North Dakota

Check the records line above for North Dakota. 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.

Try it with your child in North Dakota

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Questions

Can I homeschool a child with autism or ADHD in North Dakota?

North Dakota's homeschool rules are summarized on this page. On special education: North Dakota regulates "home education" parent-supervised under its own chapter, NDCC 15.1-23, and nothing opened treats it as a private school. NDCC 15.1-23-11 requires a multidisciplinary assessment team to assess a home-educated child who scores below the 30th percentile on the required achievement test, and 15.1-23-13 uses that team's finding for disability. The DPI IEP guide (2019) says home-educated children with disabilities "may still be eligible" under IDEA, but a rule on parent-requested evaluations and which district must act was not found in primary sources.

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 North Dakota's testing rules?