Emigrating with children with special needs.
 

Hi I am after some advice if possible, I was planning on potentially moving to Australia in the future with the hope of obtaining PR. I am a registered adult nurse so was planning on bringing myself, husband and two children over based on my skills (my other half works in security). The issue I’m having is I have two children with additional needs, one is ADHD and medicated the other has mild asd. From researching some forums it looks as though this will be a barrier and we would not be able to become permanent residents. Does anyone have any upto information on this? I have not yet started any official checks or applications as I want to make sure it is possible before we all get our hopes up.
Thanks in advance

Re: Emigrating with children with special needs.
 

I would consult with a MARA-registered migration agent - there are some very good ones on this board. George Lombard comes to mind but there are others as well.

Good luck.

Re: Emigrating with children with special needs.
 

ADHD doesn’t get disability support in most states so you wouldn’t expect much special intervention in school and in assessing costs to the tax payer it’s likely to be mainly the medication costs. “Mild ASD” hmm, that would need to be quantified- if it is so mild as not to be noticed, they’re not going to get any support in school but you will need more than the label, you’ll need updated cognitive assessments, adaptive behaviour checklists, current skill functioning and diagnostic assessments that led to the label. Then the Catch 22 is that if the child is needy enough to be eligible for additional support in school they won’t get a visa but if they get a visa they are unlikely to meet the eligibility criteria for support in school. George Lombard or Peter Bollard are the two agents most usually referred to in the case of medical issues.

Re: Emigrating with children with special needs.
 

I note you say moving to Australia in the future with the hope of obtaining PR With the issues your children have, I would suggest ensuring that you get a PR visa from the outset. Many nurses get 457 temporary visas, then get PR onshore. However when there are medical issues involved nothing is certain, and it would be best to apply for PR up front and know where you stand, than get a temp visa and be refused PR later.
I would stress consulting an agent before applying - George Lombard is excellent with medical issues.

Re: Emigrating with children with special needs.
 

Further to this - if you are successful in getting your PR organised - the Education Departments in each state and territory will have a Special Education Needs Policy and Procedures Manual (or something like it, with a similar title) that spells out how they run their programs, and as well what your rights are. These manuals should be freely available for you to download off the Education Department web sites - while it's not a guarantee of quality, which can vary widely between schools, it will at least give you an idea of how Special Education is run in that particular state/territory, and how it is different from your current jurisdiction in the UK. I highly encourage you to become familiar with it.

Good luck.