Homeschooling a Child With Autism or ADHD in Oregon

What Oregon asks of a homeschool family

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

Getting started (notice)

notify your local Education Service District within 10 days of withdrawing your child or of the start of the school year.

Records you must keep

the test results, kept by you unless the ESD asks.

Testing / evaluation

a nationally normed test approved by the State Board of Education at the end of grades 3, 5, 8 and 10, due by August 15. Families new to homeschooling have an 18 month grace period before the first test. A composite below the 15th percentile means another test within a year, and a lower score on that one lets the ESD superintendent place the child's education under a certified teacher you select and pay for.

Special education and your homeschooled child in Oregon

We researched this from Oregon'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

Oregon treats homeschooling as an exemption from compulsory attendance (ORS 339.030 and 339.035, referenced in OAR 581-021-0029), with its own special education rule, OAR 581-021-0029, for homeschooled children with disabilities. OAR 581-015-2450 expressly excludes children exempt as homeschooled students from the definition of a private school child with a disability.

Asking for an evaluation

Under OAR 581-021-0029, the child's resident school district must obtain parent consent and conduct an initial evaluation if it suspects a homeschooled child has a disability, and the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) says districts must identify all children within their boundaries, including homeschooled children. The rule does not separately describe a parent-initiated request, and if the parent refuses consent the district only documents that it stands ready to evaluate.

Services and IEPs

A homeschooled child is not entitled to FAPE, but the district must offer, and document, an opportunity for an IEP meeting to consider services in conjunction with homeschooling (OAR 581-021-0029(5)); an IEP is written only if the team finds FAPE can be provided alongside homeschooling, and in-home services only to the extent they would be provided at home otherwise. ODE says whether to provide services to homeschooled students is a district decision, and the district must send an annual written notice that it stands ready to provide FAPE if the child enrolls.

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

If a district allows partial enrollment of homeschooled children, OAR 581-021-0029(6) requires it to let children with disabilities take part to the same extent as other children, with IEP or Section 504 accommodations as needed; partial enrollment itself is the district's choice. ODE also says homeschooled students may join interscholastic activities at their resident school (ORS 339.460), with K-8 activities held before or after school and an annual test or work sample required.

Scholarships and funding for a child with a disability

No Oregon scholarship, ESA, voucher or tax-credit program for children with disabilities that homeschoolers can use was found in the primary sources read.

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

Also worth knowing

Parents must notify their Education Service District (ESD) of intent to homeschool within 10 days of withdrawing a child or the start of the school year, and the ESD tells the district if the child has a disability. For testing, OAR 581-021-0029(3) lets progress be measured by the IEP team, a privately developed plan (PDP) written with private providers, or the standard homeschool testing rule, and children with only a Section 504 disability use the PDP or standard testing.

State office to ask: Oregon Department of Education, 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 Oregon, 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 Oregon allows.

Records in Oregon

Check the records line above for Oregon. 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 Oregon?

Oregon's homeschool rules are summarized on this page. On special education: Oregon treats homeschooling as an exemption from compulsory attendance (ORS 339.030 and 339.035, referenced in OAR 581-021-0029), with its own special education rule, OAR 581-021-0029, for homeschooled children with disabilities. OAR 581-015-2450 expressly excludes children exempt as homeschooled students from the definition of a private school child with a disability. Under OAR 581-021-0029, the child's resident school district must obtain parent consent and conduct an initial evaluation if it suspects a homeschooled child has a disability, and the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) says districts must identify all children within their boundaries, including homeschooled children. The rule does not separately describe a parent-initiated request, and if the parent refuses consent the district only documents that it stands ready to evaluate.

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 Oregon's testing rules?