special educational needs in canada
 

Hi my name is Debra and my husband Ollie is currently seeking a job trucking in Canada, Ontario or Alberta, we definately intend to re-locate.

I am looking for some positive advice, with regard to special schools within Ontario or Alberta.

I have researched a little and find that integration is the policy in Canada.

My daughter has significant global delay and speech and language problems, she has never been actually diagnosed with anything in England. She has trouble forming social relationships with other children and is prone to tantrums at 8 years old if she feels anxious.

I feel that she would be better off in a special school, but I cant seem to find any info on special schools in either area. Is integration the only policy.

Does any one know any further information on this subject.

I would be really grateful.

Re: special educational needs in canada
 

What route are you intending to use? You should be aware that if your daughter requires special education this may mean you will be ineligible for pr, as your daughter may be refused entry at the medical point as a 'burden on the state'. It may not preclude you from temporary work permit, but will almost certainly rely on a specialist medical opinion...
You say your daughter does not currently have a dx other than global delay - the 'global delay' dx in itself will be enough to refer for spec med opinion.
There is no way of telling which way the decision will go until the medical point however, impossible to predict.
Sorry - I know this wasn't the point of your post, but just wanted to check that you knew the risks involved - best not to put all your eggs into one basket etc etc...
(We are in the same position btw - my youngest daughter was originally diagnosed gdd and subsequently cerebral palsy. She does not require special schooling nor SS, but the jury is still out on whether we will eventually make it into Canada...)
Have you found the Alberta Education site? Lots of useful information about SEN. Having spoken to some elementary schools the system does seem much better and easier to access than here - all the information about assessment etc is on the website.

Re: special educational needs in canada
 

Hi debbie and thanks for your response,

I get the feeling that there may be difficulty involved in moving my daughter to Canada

I want to stay really positive because I dont believe that anyone in the world should be prevented from doing what they want to simply because they have a special needs child.

I expect difficulties, I have experienced great difficulties in England, would you believe that my local primary school did not have the funds for a special needs child and she was actually not allowed into any school for the first 6 months after she was of school age....which is supposed to be illegal....

Anyway thats a whole other story.

My daughter has one to one in the class room here. This obviously means extra funding from the state.

I would be prepared to teach her at home myself if it meant we were not excluded from life choices.

We will go ahead with the re location process and see what happens.

I would not say that she has "medical problems" she does not need to be seen by medical people on a regular basis , but yes she does have global delay and speech and language problems.

There is no professional diagnosis from anyone at all, just school reports which state these issues. I myself have a psychology degree and it is clear that she does have these problems.

I suppose if I declared that she would not be a burden to the state it may help.

please keep in touch and let us know how you get on

thanks for your help

deb xxx

Re: special educational needs in canada
 

deb0102

Our experience is that of integration of children with special needs into mainstream schooling. We lived both in rural Alberta and rural Ontario and I can remember my son (age 10) say 8 children of his class are special needs kids (a third of the class). My son said it was quite disruptive with children in class who needed extra help or had problems. A positive outcome is that he treats children who have disabilities or problems no different to other kids.

We had Canadian friends who lived in England and there son went to special needs school in Northampton, but had to home school him when they returned to Canada.

I would look to move to a major city if you looking for assistance with special needs. Rural area/small town Canada could be a struggle for your daughters schooling. I believe that there are private schools that support special needs kids.

My niece in Folkestone is in a special needs school, with 4-6 children teachers, so she get the maximum attention to help her learn.

I can remember when we lived in Canada it was reported on the TV news that parent trying to force the issue of special needs schooling and schools(2005).

This is an article from Ontario

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl..._gam_mostemail

Hope your move goes well

hudd

Re: special educational needs in canada
 

Hi deb, I found the following links of special ed schools in Alberta.

http://www.janusacademy.com/faq.htm

http://www.thirdacademy.com/school/story.htm

Re: special educational needs in canada
 

many thanks for your response and information I will take it all in to account

deb xxx

Re: special educational needs in canada
 

There are a few threads on the difficulties of getting in with a disabled family member - the general rule of thumb for medical inadmissibility is thought to be CDN$5000 per annum - any more than that and in theory you would be ruled inadmissible. Currently unless you are intending to enter by the Investor route, then any funds you have/ alternative plans to cater for your daughter's needs do not have to be taken into account by the authorities. You've probably looked up Hilewitz/ De Jong etc. You are also probably aware of the recent case (Chapmans) which I believe is still ongoing, with them having being refused PR on burden grounds and then travelling on PNP and being refused entry... Were you planning to pay for private SLT as well as home-school? Another BE member is looking at getting formal plans drawn up of his rejoinder to the 'burden' issue - his immigration consultant thinks it may be taken into consideration, but nothing is in the rule book except for Investor/ Business class... not sure which route you are going - certainly if you have the available funds for these classes then you stand a better chance - who says money doesn't talk?!
I admire your tenacity about sticking to your 'life choices' but please bear in mind that it isn't 'our' choice to make as to whether our children are accepted for admission into the country, it is their (ie Govt Canada) choice... We are still giving it a whirl, but we know it's 50/50 whether we get in - and impossible to guess either way. (My daughter walks, talks, is of above average intelligence and attends ms school with 15 hrs 1-1 - she just has motor control issues (is a bit wobbly lol) having sustained brain damage at birth.)
There are a few of us waiting for the magic call forward so that we can really get to the nitty gritty of medical and spec med etc. I have been advised that turning up with a specialist report to the medical may save some time in the long run. I'm also putting a conservative estimate of at least another 6-12 months faffing time on top of everyone else's timescale, for 'lively debate' and a decision lol, notwithstanding right of appeal etc...
I wish you all the luck in the world - we'll both need it ;)
I spoke to the SLT department in the hospital in Calgary btw - they were extremely lovely (as were the various schools I contacted) - so I'm pretty sure if any of us actually manage to get into the country then the children will be fine! I just wish I'd stayed around for another 10 weeks and had her born there like her brother - would have saved us a lot of bother in the long run lol!

Re: special educational needs in canada
 

Ok I hear what you are saying. The route we intend to take (the only route we can take) is my husband getting a job secured with a truck driving company.

Its a comfort to know that everyone is so friendly once you get there.

I cant help but state the obvious here.....is not this a clear case of discrimination?

We are not rich and so would not be able to take any kind of entrepenuer route, but home schoolong my daughter would involve very little cost.

I have seen other threads (not many) where people have got into Canada with SEN children so clearly its not impossible.

Whatever will be will be I suppose

Good Luck to you too:)

Re: special educational needs in canada
 

Of course it's discrimination. I'm sure the situation is very frustrating for you. But a country has the right to admit the people whom it feels will be useful and to preclude the people whom it feels will not be useful. For example, it's virtually impossible for a teacher to immigrate to Canada, because Canada has more than enough teachers. There are even Canadian teachers on waiting lists for fulltime, permanent jobs. So Canada does not feel that foreign teachers are useful to this country, and consequently it discriminates against them. Immigration is a privilege, not a right. And, by the way, when I attempted to immigrate to the UK, I was rejected, and I had to live by that decision.
x

Re: special educational needs in canada
 

I understand the situation and I have no problem accepting it. :)

BUt we are talking about a child who has SEN through no fault of her own.

Just one more question, if my husband is considered to be useful to the economy as a truck driver, is this not taken into consideration or is each SEN child taken on individual circumstances regardless of her parents being useful to the country?

Many thanks for all responses

Re: special educational needs in canada
 

My understanding is that, at the medical exam phase of the application process, the implications of all family members' medical conditions are assessed without reference to the principal applicant's potential contribution to the Canadian economy.

The one exception is what debbiem said about applications that are submitted via the Investor route.

I know it's really tough to wait for the results and chew your nails up to your elbows in the interim. But, if you badly want to move to Canada, I don't think you should lose all hope. For example, there are members of this forum whose children have had Asperger's syndrome and who have obtained permanent residence visas. As debbiem said in different words, it's not over until the fat lady has sung.

You're conscious that you have the Sword of Damocles hanging over you during the application process. But, in reality, all applicants are in the same position. Usually they're just not as aware of it as you are. Although the instances of this have been rare, I've seen forum members who thought they were fine and who discovered that they had serious illnesses during the medical exams they underwent for immigration.

I know it's hard to believe that, whatever the results of your immigration application, the outcome will be in your best interests. But you make things easier on yourself if you can come to believe that. If you don't get into Canada, there may be something better waiting for you elsewhere. And, who knows, you may get into Canada anyway.

All the best on your journey.
x

Re: special educational needs in canada
 

Thank you that is very useful and positive information.

We have nothing to lose by trying. So we will try.:)

I would be interested to read of others experiences. (the lady with Aspergers child)

Does any one happen to have the links?

Cheers

Deb xx

Re: special educational needs in canada
 

Here are some previous discussion threads:
Just to show you how you can do this yourself in future -- which would help you to get information more quickly and not have to wait for someone else to come along and give it to you -- I used the forum's Search function to look for discussion threads with "Asperger" in them.

Hope that helps.
x

Re: special educational needs in canada
 

Much appreciated.....many thanks:)

Re: special educational needs in canada
 

debbiem wrote:
?!

Howmuch money is required to put you into business class?