debs1966

Hi Guys

I have been diagnosed that my son has ASD which he currently gets support for here in school in the UK.

We are looking into coming to Perth in the next 3 to 6 months can anybody please advise me how the schools help children who maybe on the autisic sprectum out in Austriala please. Any information would be greatly appreciated on the matter.

Many thanks

Debbie

Dorothy

Do you already have visas? Have they been validated? Those should be your first 2 questions. If you have not got a visa yet his diagnosis may put a bit of a damper on your medicals. If you have a visa but not yet validated you must inform DIAC of the change in circumstances.

Anyway, as for help in schools in Perth...Nil. My Aspergers son gets 0 hours help. He's been left to flounder in primary then high school with teachers constantly complaining to us that he's a behaviour problem. We have found with every school he's been to in Australia they're not interested in helping him learn or control his behaviour; it's easier to suspend him for being naughty. And don't hold out much hope for state funding. It's just not there.

northernbird

It is dependent on the school in my experience. We have a couple of kids at our school and the school psychologist is highly involved in their needs at the school. We have number of teaching assistants who help with their needs in the classroom. Individual eduction plans are set up for each child and they are fully supported. This isn't the case in all schools. Before you enrol him in a school ask the question about other kids in the school and how they are catered for.

Vash the Stampede

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Dorothy

That all sounds really great if your child is diagnosed before age 6. Not all are, and accessing the funding is not easy.

Gems

Dont expect the same care in state schools as you get in the UK.

Hubby is Primary teacher and has had children with special needs in his class.
They only get a small percentage of allocated teaching assistant. In the UK they would have got full time.
An example is last year he had a Downs Syndrome child not fully toilet trained and extensive needs but only got 50-60% teaching assistant
Totally unfair on the child and the rest of the class.

All schools are different but Id also look into Catholic/private education.

Gems

Wilgar

How old is your son Debbie? I would be very, very sure that the schools you are looking at fully understand what they can expect from him and what his needs are .Do not just assume they will know. All staff he comes into contact with need to have full understanding that AS kids percieve the world slightly differently to NT(thats neuro typicls!) and therefore will not punish him for `bad` behaviour. Thes kids are usually ighly intelliegrnt and often need extension classes to keep them from being bored.The school must understand that.
We have found schools here know very little and we have lived through a nightmare trying to get help for our son.

However, strangely, there are fantastic parent run support groups and these have been wonderful for us.
Good Luck.

HelenTD

When we first discovered the issues with our kids, I was surprised how little the teachers and principal knew. When I started looking into it, I found that in a 4 year teaching degree in WA, only one unit deals with special education needs, and that covers ALL special needs. The student teacher I spoke to reported that her student group felt that the unit wasn't much use, but she was in a better situation because she had chosen to do electives in SEN. Over a generation, if teachers who themselves received poor (or no) teaching in SEN, then end up being university lecturers teaching the next generation of teachers, then the rot continues. If the professional development sessions that teachers do afterwards don't properly cover SEN, then a whole load of kids and parents don't get the help they need.

JAJ

Same question was asked a year ago,
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=650228

HelenTD

A recent news story on a Perth private school:
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news...221-19456.html

The mum concerned is also the CEO of a special centre for autism, LEARN, which she might well have set up http://www.learnaustralia.org/dev/. Recently she managed to secure funding through a public appeal to keep the centre going.

hevs

We have the same here in Vic, but its down to THE SCHOOL. Even though our aspergers son has severe problems (bottom 0.8%) in pragmatics and fine motor skills, he is of above average IQ and in verbal skills. This in turn DENIES him funding, even though the educational psychologist says he has a significant disability, because he is able to articulate, gets no funding...I ranted that he cant do his year 12 exams orally can he? to no avail. However the school he goes to are just simply fantastic and they have everything in place for him. OK not every teacher "gets it" but a quick phone call from me to the intergration team gets it sorted immediately.

So yes, its down to the school.

The funding Vash is talking about isnt for school. Its for OT/ auditory processing/ pshycology etc, and yes you can get it, but its not easy. My son also has a health care card, but this only really helps with prescriptions so not much help really, but better than nowt!

quoll

There is a state wide provision of funding for kids who fit into the "disability" criteria and, often, children with Aspergers Syndrome do not fit into this category so it will be up to the school to work out what accommodations they can make for such a student. Those accommodations can vary hugely but it is easier if they are things like having a scribe or additional time for exams rather than a 1:1 person sitting beside them because of behaviour problems (not likely within a school budget, hence multiple suspensions).

If a child is to "fit" the disability criteria then you are going to need a more definitive definition than "ASD" (which is still technically called Pervasive Developmental Disorders in dsmiv) but a diagnosis of Autism or CDD or Aspergers (PDD NOS doesnt usually get a guernsey) and then see whether the impact of that disability, as assessed through a range of psychometric assessments, is significant enough to warrant additional support through disability programs in which case you would be lucky to get an IEP and a few hours of teacher aide time.

People do suggest private schools and whilst they are unable to overtly reject a child with a "disability" because of the DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) they do tend to find that they dont have too many places for kids with disabilities! (especially those with behavioural challenges)

Bottom line is (if, as has been said above, you still have your visa) dont expect much support anywhere (all states differ)

debs1966

Thank you for all your advice I really would have thought that Australia would have been a little more advance in terms of helping children with SEN. Especially since reading recently a book by Tony Attwood who is from Australia.

In reply to your questions yes we have our 136 skilled visa and have already validated it a fews ago when Kian who is now 7 at that point hadn't been diagnosed thankfully.

He his aware of the move and has been for sometime because has you can appreciate children with ASD are not very good in terms of change. It would be good to meet with other parents in a similar position when we get out there we are hoping to go NOR Perth. I go to a support group here in the UK and find it invaluable.

I guess the best thing for me to do is just check out the provision in the schools once I have an idea where we hope to be.

I really appreciate your valuable comments on the subject and I am so surprised that we get more support for this here in the UK.

Many thanks

Debbie

jad n rich

Similar problems for kids with Dyslexia, funding and lack of recognition.

We paid for two more tests last year, grade 11 and the final exam problems looms LARGE. $1800 for the 2 tests, no rebates, not recognised by private heath or medicare. But he know gets extra time in exams.

26 half hour sessions of help granted in 10 years, mostly in groups with volunteers. And that was after me fighting tooth and nail to get help, he simply was way down the list, so little funding.

itigo

I am an SEN teacher and have been so shocked at SEN provision out here, especially for those children who are borderline, or Aspergers, or with dyslexia (my biggest interest). There are very strict cut off points and criteria and it seems very black and white for support given.

I would say that Australia is about 10 years (being kind) behind the UK in its understanding and provision for children/adults with dyslexia. As the OP says, testing costs $600+ and many just can't afford that. Many are slipping through the net....