Lara Malina

Hi, Everybody!

We are British-Russian family, living at the moment in Bulgaria, at the seaside. We have got 3 kids 2007 y/b, they all have special needs: one boy is autistic, one is very much delayed in all senses, (in the age of 6 he's maximum 3 years old), the last one needs tremendously serious operation on his back. Germany is one of the best places for this kind of operations and we decided to move there. It'll not be just one-or five operations, it'll be quite a long rehabilitation, we are moving for a few years.

We are doing well and can make our living there without any employment, now it's very important to decide which part of Gernamy\city to aim.

Have you heard anything about special schools, a German city where this kind of children may get the best for their future? Autistic child is very smart, speak&understand 3 languages, we believe he can manage his syndrome.

As for the operation, I heard about several uniclinikums (big hospitals) in Germany, where they can do it. I don't think it's gonna be a problem, to find a correct surgeon for our boy.

Could you please advise: where it's better to live with three special kids. Well, if an IT British guy may get employment it'll be nice as well.

We plan to visit Germany this year and will appreciate your help a lot.

ninaDGBCA

Maybe first look into the health care system. If you are unemployed you will have to get private health insurance which is costly. Regular schools in Germany often don't take special needs kids on but refer them to special needs schools. Maybe decide which area/city you want to go and then contact schools and look into health care.

Lara Malina

Thank you, Nina. How costy is the private health insurance? I was told that when kids get permission to stay we won't pay for their schools. The boys are six this summer and in Germany it's time for school. People advise my husband to work there to get the health insurance for all of us. There are a lot of vacancies for his IT profile, we send his CVs daily. If he's licky by the end of the year, we'll go to where he can get the job.

In this case - if we dont know where it's better to live, we'll look at Karlsrue, there is hospital where they make implants for spine.

Also people say than Koln is a nice place, not that expensive as the South of Germany. We need all information of this kind, I'm reading plenty of forums and Internet pages. Thank you very much for your reply, if you know how much is the private health insurance, that would be very good to know for us.

ninaDGBCA

the problem is that in Germany you get health insurance once you work. Part the employer pays and part is deducted from the employees salary. If your husband doesn't work, you would need private health care. I don't know how much that would be for a family of 5 with the existing health problems but something you should definitely look into before moving. School is free. Do you speak German or your husband? If not then maybe an area where there are more international companies would be good. The South is expensive but the salaries are higher too. The rural areas around Frankfurt are nice too and not too far from Karlsruhe, Heidelberg and Koeln which all have excellent University hospitals.

This might help: http://germany.angloinfo.com/healthc...lth-insurance/

To be honest to move to Germany without having a job with 3 children that need medical treatment is nothing I would recommend. Your husband should try to find a job first then the family would be covered for basic treatment at least, which in Germany is quite good.

Lara Malina

Thank you, Nina. In my ideal world my husband will get employed, his insurance will cover us all, we'll move in and happily set up in Germany for years.

We have got some advantages, my husband is quite demanded IT specialist and he can work for half of the salary, if nesessarily.

The everyday life with our kids is not that bad. None of the children gets day-to -day treatment, the last three years it's enough that we go to Moscow for the full medical check. Now times go worse and the third son needs more serious observations and probably operation.

We are doing our best to get prepared to migration already here, in Bulgaria. I used to learn German and now I take private lessons to start speaking again. I hope I'll be able to pass the test by the end of the year. German will be a problem for my husband. He's a technikal person and he hardly started speaking some Russian after 10 years working in Moscow.

Is Koeln international enough to your mind? I heard so much positive opinions about this city that almost set up my mind. We shall visit Koeln this summer. I've asked other people to tell me what would be the private medical insurance for us.

I'm thinking about three options: Berlin, where everything is definately on the high level and where we can live outside the city, Koeln, and Munich. Munich coz is on the very South we get used here to pretty good climat. Koeln is in the middle: well-developed, close to London (we have grandma there), no disadvantages of the multinational capital. Smaller cities are better for special kids, people get used to them and their life is ten times better without stresses.

aries

There is a marvellous and quite big new school for children with special needs on the corner of Hirschberger Allee and Schriesheimer Straße in the pretty small town of Ladenburg, situated on the River Neckar between Mannheim and Heidelberg, 10 km from each.

http://martinsschule-ladenburg.de/course/view.php?id=53

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/49905866

Ladenburg is about 45 minutes drive from Frankfurt's big international airport, and a shorter distance from Karlsruhe. Ladenburg (which I know well) has a collection of people of all ages and has little crime.

Heidelberg is an attractive cosmopolitan university city with excellent medical facilities, but is second only to Munich for the high cost of living in Germany. Mannheim is better for shopping and has more industry.

There are many small towns in the region for more affordable choices to live.

You certainly need to think hard about private medical insurance, and I agree with ninaDGBCA that it is better for your husband to find work first.

ninaDGBCA

Ladenburg is nice, my aunt lives in Weinheim not far from there and the weather is nice in summer and not too bad in winter.

If your husband finds work you'll all be insured through the "gesetzliche Krankenkasse"

If your husband won't have any income you have to pay private "freiwillig versichert" to get into the same insurance but on your own expenses and with existing medical conditions it might be quite a bit to pay.

Everybody living in Germany has to have insurance and you'll need it for your kids treatment.

If your husband is self employed and I am not sure whether he needs a certain income he could insure you all completely private, but that costs probably even more.

I'd say in your situation with the kids a job is vital. So it might be worth for your husband to settle for a lower income in order to have medical insurance. It's hard if he doesn't speak the language at all. Look at jobs in Frankfurt or Mannheim, it's a nice area around there. I personally don't like Koeln but I was born around Munich and love the South but it is very costly.

The European space agency in Darmstadt, near Frankfurt takes English speakers if they have vacancies, so do some international companies.


Good luck!

Lara Malina

aries, thank you for the links and the information, I'm reading it all. The school seems to be perfect, would be nice to get into it.

Didn't get much about the private insurance, coz it'll be calculated on each case individually, and I have no idea what they think about 100% fisically healthy, smart autistic boy of 6 who never got a tablet in his life. They may say he's still disabled and higher the rate for the insurance. At the same time, if it's possible ( I didn't get it from the article) can we buy a provate insurance for 1 boy, who needs the operations for the sake of having a better choice of the hospitals? I think we'll find it out in Germany.

I agree we shall not live in an expensive place. Some people even here, on the forum, write that they lost their jobs in a year or could not get any in a year, I want to be on a safe side. In principle, I can work, I'll have the same working permits as my husband, but with 3 languages at least, in reality four if anyone needs bulgarian. I'm a B2B sales person, with pretty good records in telecom. But I would rather stay with the kids, their dad is not than sophisticated in their medical problems.

Anyway, point taken, we must get the job offer first. The area is clear as well, where we could live peacefully and get all the help.

Nina, thank you very much for all, very usefull. I'll look at those companies in the net. And yeah, we need some luck )

ninaDGBCA

Unfortunately everyone in Germany needs to be insured either through employment or private. You your husband and all kids from the first day you enter Germany.

http://www.research-in-germany.de/fa...nsurance-.html

Lara Malina

Sure. My husband and one of our sons are British, so they are covered by their EHIC, me and the other two sons are Russian and we'll buy the insurance, we always have to when we go to another country. That's to visit Germany this year. I got that we need something else when we stay there.