steve_kelly_and_boys

our son also has learning difficulties and we are heading to melbourne ( hopefully mornington peninsula ) at the start of april
he is 8 and over here in the u.k he has his own teacher for 20 hrs a week with a statement , he has sotos syndrome and has been diagnosed with it from great ormand street hospital .
i am not expecting to get off a plane and start jumping up and down that we want this and that for him but that is the only thing that we are worried about with the move , will he just get left behind without any help.
we are coming over on 176 visa and he was given the all clear after we had done the medicals and had another assessment done by an independent phycologist.
what i would like to know is where / who can you contact prior to coming over so that we can find a school that will suit his needs either state or private.
we are not tied to where we want to live in any way but as i say that is the only thing we are worried about his education and his needs
has anyone any ideas who to email or ring with regards to this any help / information would be greatly appreciated.

kooga

As you will already know here in the UK its a legal right for a child with SEN's to be intergrated into mainstream schools and be offered additional support. Have you looked at the Childrens act of Australia? that will determine if your child has a legal right to support

HelenTD

I just did a quick search for Sotos Syndrom and found an article written about it by 2 doctors at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, so it would be worth looking at their website. I know that they have a very strong early childhood unit.

http://www.rch.org.au/rch/index.cfm?doc_id=1495

There's an organisation called the Activ Foundation - their parent portal has various useful-looking links:

http://parentportal.activ.asn.au/general_guide.cfm

Very tough for you dealing with this condition, which I saw described as rare. Two points about rare conditions: the much higher population in the UK means that you're much more likely to find other affected children, and more likely to find medical experts and health professionals who know what it is and how to manage it. In Australia, there will probably be far few children with the condition, as the population is less than a third of the UK's. However, if there is someone here with an interest in the rare condition, it can be easier to get a medical researcher interested and to access help. Of all the cities in Australia, Melbourne might be just the place. I'm in Perth, so know nothing about the education system in Victoria and children's rights.

HelenTD

For Debs, I also found Aspergers Support WA in Perth:

http://aspergerssupport.wordpress.com/

quoll

Victoria has a strong inclusion philosophy but I wouldnt expect anything like a 20 hour a week teacher - if you are lucky you may get a little bit of teacher aide support. It isnt so much the label as the impact of the disability upon the child's capacity to function in the education system.

If he has an intellectual disability you will need to bring all the assessments that have been done on him - IQ, adaptive behaviour, skills level etc. If it is just his physical capacity which is impacted then bring with you physio and O/t assessments.

http://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibr...book_FINAL.pdf this is the handbook for kids with disabilities in Vic for last year - cant imagine it will have changed much.

There is no legislation in Australia about the need for additional support as there is with statementing in UK other than the Disability Discrimination Act and the Disability Standards and all states have different eligibility. Victoria is known to have one of the toughest eligibility criteria to access Disability support.

Unless he needs modifications to the physical environment the usual rule is to rock up to your local school and work from there. They will be aware of the Disabilities eligibility and needs assessment

Jane and Jason

We have a son with learning difficulties and had a psychologist's report done on him with an IQ test, which described his condition as 'mild learning difficulties', but have had an email to say that he has failed to meet the medical criteria under clause 4005. Obviously we are devastated as we never imagined that he would fail, as we think he does not need that much extra help, but the MOC have decided that he would need 'moderate' one to one help in school and that would cost too much.

We are not giving up and are trying to prepare more paperwork in time for the 28 days appeal deadline. The main problem seems to be the fact that we have been home schooling him for the last 3 years so don't have any up to date school reports/learning plans to prove what help he would need.

I think part of it also depends on who you have looking at your file, one doctor may approve you, yet another won't.

Josieanne

Do not expect anything like 20 hours a week one on one teaching for students with a disability. It simply does not exist. I am a primary school teacher and, although I have never taught in the UK, from what I understand there is a vast difference in the levels of the support given.

In my small school (200 students) (rural Queensland) we have a Special Education teacher whose main job is to support the classroom teachers to plan and prepare for those students. We do not have a Special Ed class so all studnets are mainstreamed. The Spec Ed teacher may have saw the student I had last year for a maximum of 2 hours a week. But, if she had to prepare reports for him or have meetings with me, that time was used up. He did have the support of a Teacher Aide for about 4 hours a week. All other times he was just another student in my classroom that I tried to ensure had learning outcomes like the other 27 students in my class.

The school is funded on the number of Special Need students that are enrolled during the second week of school. That funding is also dependent on the level of disability a student displays and how it affects their learning. Then that money/teacher aide time/ teacher time is divided among the students. If their is a very high needs student they will get most of the money. Also, if a student enrols at the school and has high needs that money then has to be split amongst them. The money/time only gets adjusted twice a year.

Also remember that Primary school classes do not have permanent Teacher Aides like they do in the UK. For most of the time, unless their is a severe disability, your child will be looked after by one adult in a room with up to 28 children.

Jo

viviennef

I haven't experienced the british assistance program and my daughter is just going into the first year of primary school here. To date, in my experience, you have to push to get things but they are available. The school Poppy will go to has a special ed unit and she is signed up for speech therapy weekly, physiotherapy weekly, additional assistance in reading/lessons if required, horse riding lessons, sailing, surfing and a place to spend lunch times. We have been allocated a mentor type person who supposedly will monitor her progress and then offer intervention/additional help as required.

I am hoping that the support is available through the school system as she gets older but am also prepared to work more to pay for any private intervention needed. I think its hard for the state to support every child in their own unique way and am not going to leave it to chance or someone elses assessment as I am sure that I will think her minor requirements are more important.

Poppy has mild cerebral palsy (left sided hemiplegia), no learning difficulties identified and asd. In the last 2 years I have paid about 50k on treatments that were not available through medicare. Now most of these treatments are being funded ongoing as I have got to know the doctors and got on the lists.

For us medicare funded initial assessment and 5 of speech/physio appointments. HCF pay most of the other weekly costs with a shortfall of $20 physio and $25 speech. I get $50 a week carers allowance that I use to pay for these shortfalls (not included in amounts specified above). I also get 10 free sessions per condition from the Cerebral Palsy League. So although I pay money upfront I am not now left with any significant cost on the weekly therapies.

You also get a tax break on medical costs over $1500 and a higher percentage paid. You also get a tax break on cost of private health cover.

I am finding that here the costs are covered pretty well but its not obvious that they are. Its like childcare people say its expensive but you do get the 50% back so its not as expensive and hten you get a tax break.

Dorothy

And let me just add to this that once your child reaches high school the funding is even less and you have to fight twice as hard to get any help.

LouB

Hi,
Our son has a receptive speach and language disorder and was classed as having mild autism in the UK. He had an individual education plan, some 1 to 1 and small group work often. He required extra medicals for him to get his visa. We see a paediatric consultant tomorrow as these documents are NOT enough to get him funding in his present school. As Josieann says, on day 8 of the school term the school is given funding for those children who require it and they are not provided for individually after. The school will have to share the funding of other children after Alex gets his reports here.
We are in QLD and Alex is presently enrolled in the State School. We visited them soon after arrival and had a long chat and showed his records and all school reports and he met a special education needs teacher. After attending it was evident that he received no help at all and the class teacher knew nothing of his diagnosis when we talked to her. She thought all children had aspergers and was honest and open that she had little understanding of special needs children.She found it hard to deal with him being teased by other kids for a visible 'tremour' when he becomes nervous or excited. The system in state schools is not in my opinion as good as the British school he went to. The reason we did not visit a consultant on arrival is because the school only requested it/ informed us we would need further certification after 2 further visits.
This is our opinion / experience only. Alex settled towards the end of term and the teacher is kind. The school is obviously pushed and ther are 50 children in 1 class room with 2 qualified teachers. Alex finds the noise disturbing and the teachers describe this as not ideal and organised chaos - their exact words. My husband has now got a job and we will have to relocate soon so Alex will be going to a private school after a lot of research.We are also signed up to a learning programme through the internet and will give him extra support at home.
On the good side, Alex trains weekly with the 'special olympics' training team. It's free and the team are wonderful. He can swim fantastically and is in a swimming carnival Feb. He has learned to ride a bike and his scooter and he gets to walk on the beach every day. Today we went to Bris and he loved swimming at South Bank. He loves the parks and asks to go out. In the UK? Swimming cost a fortune and he couldnt swim a width because he had to have 1 to 1 in the public pool. He also spent far too much time on computers my fault I know.
Do your research and give it a go. Dont compare it if you come over here to the UK, deal with it and see the good things first. If like me you will be working less hours and stressing less you can sign up to the internet and do some homework yourself.
Hope it all works out for you!

Gems

My hubby is a WA primary teacher and has special needs kids in his class.

Basically you will not get the amount of one to one care you get back in the UK. Some of the kids with severe education needs only get a few hours per week with an assistant. Hubby has to do the rest by himself.
This is in the state system.

Sadly WA state education is also lagging behind the UK in giving the % of help your child may need. They will be assessed but it may fall way short of what your child actually needs.

Gems

viviennef

reading this, I am not even sure I would choose to come here if my child had a serious disorder. I am not sure yet of our needs but it sounds like perhaps the uk may be a better option for us long term.

Weird Fish

Only you can tell how serious you feel his ASD is. Many kids with ASD go through public schooling with no additional support (which can be a stigma in some cases). I wouldn't rule out Australia just because of this diagnosis, have you any guarantees that he would get additional support in the UK?