Question: doctor thinking of moving to Adelaide with special needs child
 

Hi everyone,

I am thinking of moving my family to Adelaide in the next few years. Before making the final decision on moving, I would like to gather information about the situation and possibilities for children with intellectual disabilities in Australia, specifically in Adelaide. If there is anybody on this forum who moved there with a child with special needs and would be willing to share their experience with me, it would be much appreciated. I would like to understand how the Australian society views the disabled, specifically Down Syndrome. My daughter is 10 yrs old and she attends a mainstream primary school.
I know that getting a visa might be hard but we will give it a try and see :)

Thank you kindly,
Shan

Re: Question: doctor thinking of moving to Adelaide with special needs child
 

You would be wise to talk to an agent specializing in disabilities - Peter Bollard and George Lombard are the two most usually recommended in this regard.

A doctor did, with the support of the community in which he was working, beat the system and after a high profile appeal got PR for his family and disabled child. However the community were left with a bad taste in their mouth as no sooner had he got what he wanted due to their support and he nicked off.

Either of those agents will give you good advice.

Re: Question: doctor thinking of moving to Adelaide with special needs child
 

I work in an independent school....

All school are under an obligation to take students with special needs.

The school that I teach at has a student with Downs Syndrome. He spends the majority of the the time in the mainstream class. He is in year 9.

Cautionary note though, the funding for special needs is not as good as in the UK. For a school with about 800 students we have for learning support

1 teacher 0.8 (4 days a week)
1 teacher 0.8
1 support worker 0.8
1 teacher - numeracy - 0.3 (1.5 days a week)
1 teacher - gifted and talented (1.5 days a week)

Compared to a school in the UK this is low, considering that across the years there are students with a wide range of learning difficulties.

Re: Question: doctor thinking of moving to Adelaide with special needs child
 

Thanks a lot for your reply. Is the funding the same in all the states for all the schools? My daughter is allocated 2.9 resource hours/week in her present school which focuses mainly on her reading/writing/numeracy skills. All the other resources (speech therapy, physio) we fund privately. Does that student in year 9 have an SNA/TA?

Re: Question: doctor thinking of moving to Adelaide with special needs child
 

Yes, I heard some stories as well, so I am expecting to face difficulties when we apply for a visa. Those agents will come in handy, thank you for the tip.

Re: Question: doctor thinking of moving to Adelaide with special needs child
 

Hi Aity

Not sure about other states, presume that similar though.
The student in year 9, pretty much in the class by himself for majority of the time. The staffing levels that I wrote down is the learning support dept.
Funny, they have qualified teachers for all roles, whereas students would get more support if TA were used, and being a qualified teacher does not make you any better at offering the support.

Re: Question: doctor thinking of moving to Adelaide with special needs child
 

Nope, different states, different eligibility criteria and different needs assessment processes and different resource management. On a temporary visa in some states you will have to pay for anything over a mainstream placement and in some states you have to pay for a mainstream placement.

Re: Question: doctor thinking of moving to Adelaide with special needs child
 

One reason why that guy won in the end was the fact the family had been here several years already on temporary visas (457) and were applying for PR onshore. Thus they could argue that the upset to the child's lifestyle would be detrimental to his development.
Applying offshore for PR wiuld almost certaih be harder. Definitely one for professional advicd and those two are probably the best.

Re: Question: doctor thinking of moving to Adelaide with special needs child
 

In today's news - Immigration Minister Peter Dutton looks set to allow a 10-year-old boy with autism to remain in Australia.

Tyrone Sevilla's condition meant his mother Maria's skilled worker visa was rejected. A 4,000-page petition of more than 122,000 signatures was handed to Mr Dutton's Brisbane office today. The Minister has the power to overturn their deportation to the Philippines.

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Again though the family are already here, on temporary visas.

Re: Question: doctor thinking of moving to Adelaide with special needs child
 

Thank you, Pollyana. Yes, it is clear that it is best if I try to get a skilled worker temporary visa first. It is totally possible that it will be rejected but well, I won't know until I try...with the help of those 'special' agents :)