Originally published on Tulsa World – October 12th, 2023
Jake, our middle child, was diagnosed with autism at age 3. He was unable to speak, and we had to guess what he was trying to communicate to us.
When he started at his brick-and-mortar school, he became angry and frustrated because he was more advanced than others in his classroom, yet unable to tell us how education was failing him.
As Jake was finishing his freshman year of high school, we learned about a new communication method called Spelling to Communicate, which uses a special alphabet keyboard to help people communicate through voice modulation. We enrolled Jake in a Spelling to Communicate course and watched in amazement as he quite literally gained his voice.
We discovered that Jake’s challenge was a motor-speech issue, and he was diagnosed with apraxia, meaning there’s a disconnect between his body and his brain.
We realized traditional brick-and-mortar education was not the answer for Jake. We started researching options and discovered other “spellers” like him were benefiting from online education.
I found Oklahoma Virtual Charter Academy, which serves Oklahoma students in grades K-12, and enrolled Jake in his junior year of high school. Jake’s special education math instructor, Cara Bass, has been instrumental in his academic success. She believes in my son’s potential and supports the motherly instinct that told me he could find success with online teaching. He made straight As his spring semester, and we knew virtual education was the answer for us.
Jake now loves learning and going to class, and he’s become a true extrovert. I’ve watched him blossom into an avid FC Tulsa fan who enjoys being part of a group of other “spellers” who call themselves “The Bros.” They get together regularly for outings to ballgames, miniature golf and Dave & Buster’s arcade.
Seeing Jake thrive and gain confidence from his online learning experience has been life-altering for him and our family.
We look forward to watching Jake fulfill his dreams that I couldn’t even imagine two years ago. He’ll graduate with his Oklahoma Virtual Charter Academy class this spring and then head to college, where he hopes to study neuropsychology. He wants to give other kids like him hope, and for me, there’s no greater gift.
I’ve learned that online education is the gold standard for kids like Jake, because schools like Oklahoma Virtual Charter Academy have the ability to personalize a flexible plan suited to each child’s unique needs. Technology has transformed education for students who learn differently.
I’m excited to see what the future holds for my son, and I’ll be forever grateful for the educators who believe in him.
To learn more about Oklahoma Virtual Charter Academy at Hallsville (OVCA), visit https://ovca.k12.com/.
