Homeschooling a Child With Autism or ADHD in Virginia

What Virginia asks of a homeschool family

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

Getting started (notice)

annual notice of intent to the division superintendent by August 15, listing the subjects you intend to cover and evidence of whichever qualifying option you are using. Move in or start after the year begins and you notify as soon as practicable, then comply within 30 days. Virginia also has a separate religious exemption under section 22.1-254(B)(1), which is a different route with no annual reporting.

Records you must keep

nothing is filed with the state beyond the annual notice and the yearly evidence of progress. What you keep at home is up to you.

Testing / evaluation

by August 1 after each school year, give the superintendent either a composite score at or above the fourth stanine on a nationally normed standardized achievement test (an ACT, SAT or PSAT score also counts), or an evaluation or assessment showing the child is progressing adequately. Provide neither and the program can be placed on probation for one year.

Special education and your homeschooled child in Virginia

We researched this from Virginia'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

Treated like a private school

For special education purposes, Virginia's regulation 8VAC20-81-150(C) applies its parentally placed private school rules to children 'enrolled by their parent in private schools', and 8VAC20-81-10 defines 'private school' to include students who are home-tutored (Va. Code 22.1-254) and students receiving home instruction (Va. Code 22.1-254.1). Home instruction is otherwise its own legal option under 22.1-254.1.

Asking for an evaluation

Under 8VAC20-81-150(C), the school division locates, identifies and evaluates parentally placed children located in the division, and the Virginia Department of Education's 2023 family guide says this includes children who are home-tutored or home-instructed. A parent may refuse consent to an evaluation, and the division cannot override that refusal through due process for a home-schooled child.

Services and IEPs

A home-instructed child has no individual right to special education services; the division decides which services to offer through a services plan after consulting with private school representatives and parents of parentally placed children (8VAC20-81-150(C), mirroring 34 CFR 300.137). The 2023 state guide says a division need not pay for a program a parent chooses if it offered FAPE, and that a child whose parent refuses evaluation cannot receive a services plan. Whether an existing IEP continues after withdrawal for home instruction: not found in primary sources.

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

Va. Code 22.1-254.1(F) requires school boards to make Advanced Placement, PSAT/NMSQT and PreACT exams available to home-instructed students. A general right to take part-time classes, therapies or extracurriculars at the public school was not found in the sources reviewed, so this appears to be left to local school boards, which our check did not confirm.

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

Scholarships and funding for a child with a disability

Virginia's Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits (Va. Code 58.1-439.25 et seq.) let donors fund scholarship foundations that award scholarships for 'qualified educational expenses' (school-related tuition, instructional fees and materials). Eligible students include a student with a disability who has a finalized IEP and meets an income limit, but the article does not say whether a home-instructed child can receive one, so eligibility for homeschoolers is unclear.

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

Also worth knowing

The 2023 VDOE family guide lists a state special education parent ombudsman for non-legal questions (1-800-422-2083, [email protected]). The VDOE website could not be read during our check, so the contact URL is the department's home page and was not opened; the phone and email come from the guide.

State office to ask: Virginia Department of Education, Special Education Parent Ombudsman (1-800-422-2083).

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 Virginia, 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 Virginia allows.

Records in Virginia

Check the records line above for Virginia. 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 Virginia?

Virginia's homeschool rules are summarized on this page. On special education: For special education purposes, Virginia's regulation 8VAC20-81-150(C) applies its parentally placed private school rules to children 'enrolled by their parent in private schools', and 8VAC20-81-10 defines 'private school' to include students who are home-tutored (Va. Code 22.1-254) and students receiving home instruction (Va. Code 22.1-254.1). Home instruction is otherwise its own legal option under 22.1-254.1. Under 8VAC20-81-150(C), the school division locates, identifies and evaluates parentally placed children located in the division, and the Virginia Department of Education's 2023 family guide says this includes children who are home-tutored or home-instructed. A parent may refuse consent to an evaluation, and the division cannot override that refusal through due process for a home-schooled child.

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 Virginia's testing rules?