graeme79

Hello,

I'm moving to Barcelona with my family in August. Our son has recently been diagnosed with Autism (something that took us many years to get), and we need to get his diagnosis translated so we can show it to our GP when we get registered, as well as his school when registered there.

Does anyone know of a good translation service, preferably with experience in Medical translations? It's important that it's translated correctly, as any slight misinterpretation could give the reader the wrong impression of his diagnosis.

Additionally, I wondered if anyone here has had experience with how well the primary schools in Spain deal with Autism? It would be good to know in advance if there is anything that we would need to consider, whatever that may be!

Cheers,
Graeme.

Rosemary

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

Mitzyboy

I personally know someone that specialises in medical translations:

Medicine & Pharmacology
Technical
IT & Web
Official documents

That would be
http://www.gctranslations.co.uk/
Grace Carlyle

Catalonian

The issue of medical translations for existing conditions is highly relevant for persons who may suffer medical emergencies when abroad eg cardiac conditions,etc)-in these conditions written notifification of an existing condition may be helpful for medical personnel or pharmacists who might feel entitled to offer treatment or medicaments which they might feel constrained from doing in the absence of such written sanction
However,in the case of your son,the diagnosis is of an immensely complex,multi-factorial ,perhaps long-term, condition,offering the possibility of outcomes varying from very good to reasonably good to unsatisfactory.I would be absolutely astounded (and,in truth,seriously disappointed)if a Catalan GP if adding such a patient to his/her lists would proceed other than on the basis of an exhaustive examination of the patient before proceeding to attach a tentative diagnostic label to patient,and if necessary using all appropriate influence to secure appropriate treatment for patient having regard to his immediate,medium and long-term needs
The quality of medical care in Barcelona is among the highest in the world though there are issues in terms of resources available-a universal problem,I believe
While it might be helpful to you to have available a diagnostic term in Spanish or Catalan(which is the language of currency of Barcelona)I am confident that the the appropriate agencies of Catalunya would be swifttly directed to the short-term and long-term improvement of the condition of your son as resources permit.The starting point for this non-emergency process is the GP("medico de cabecera")

Mitzyboy

The Op just wants to get the diagnosis translated, I'm not sure he expects the Spanish doctors not to form their own opinions

Catalonian

OP stated that he wished to get translation of condition
"so we can show it to our GP when we register""(in Barcelona)
This suggests to me that it is worth cautioning him that any self-respecting medical professionanal will not necessarily accept any past diagnosis but is likely to insist on a personal examination and diagnosis for which the medical professional will ultimately accept responsibility-he will not accept being "shown"anything
But hey!we are all on the same side,your input is helpful,I suppose the ultimate horror for all novice posters is being ignored,there is no real difference between us which should be pursued,I am from a medical family and perhaps am more sensitive to these nuances than others might be.I did not perceive my posting to be in any sense a criticism of your earlier posting

Mitzyboy

Neither did I
I was simply answering one of the OP's requests

Sue

Hi Graeme,

I can't answer your question I'm afraid but I just wanted to welcome you to the BE community.

HBG

Accurate medical translations have been a constant problem for the charitable Help institutions all over expat Spain. When a newly arrived legal expat registers at his local health centre he is allocated a Spanish doctor and the expat because of his many years under the NHS in England will likely have a lengthy medical record, in English.

If the expat merely presents his many pages of English medical notes to the Spanish doctor he will be sent away to return with a Spanish translation. Those proper translations are very difficult to obtain, even when they cost hundreds of pounds.

I've been involved as a volunteer for many years and have seen many such translations which, though honestly drawn up by well-meaning people, can be downright dangerous because of their inaccuracies.

The Spanish doctor will conduct his own examinations and will probably need to ask for consultant advice, but it can be a lengthy process and the time might not be available.

graeme79

Hi guys,

Thanks for the replies.

@Mitzyboy, thanks for the contact, I will get in touch.

I understand the concerns everyone has regarding our new GP wanting to perform their own examination, however it took us 3 years to get to where we are now with a diagnosis. He went to many examinations over this period of time, they also monitored his progress at nursery and school, so this information is invaluable, and the diagnosis allows us to request extra support from school, as well as allow his future teachers to understand his needs in an official capacity, rather than anecdotal evidence from ourselves or through trial and error on the teachers part, which would unnecessarily stunt his progress. He is not on any kind of medication, nor is it required, this is simply a support issue.

He may well be required to go through further examinations when we are over there, and we are fine with that, but it is important that his diagnosis is recognised on starting school there, for both his benefit, and his teachers. My major concern is the quality of the translation, which is why I asked the question here in the first instance, rather than going to a service through a google search.

Thanks!
Graeme

Rosemary

Graeme
I know nothing about the area that you are going to but in my area additional support in a school is decided on by an educational psychologist. They do try to provide the most suitable support for each individual child. My understanding is that if a child shows any kind of difficulty they are assessed and then offered either full time in a special class, part time in a special class plus part time in the mainstream or full time in mainstream. In each of these they may also be allocated a permanent member of support staff either for each individual child or for several children according to their needs. My information comes from conversations with an educational psychologist working with young children so I have no information from a families point of view. I feel sure that you having all of the information translated will be extremely useful to all concerned even though they will probably insist on making their own assessment they will have this very useful historical background information.

Good luck with your life in Spain.

Rosemary

graeme79

Hi Rosemary,

Thank you for the insight, that's good to know. He is full-time in a mainstream class, as he is not too badly affected. Mentally he has no problems, he struggles with sensory issues, such as loud noises, busy places etc, however he is capable of dealing with all of these things as long as he isn't under stress at the time. He can be difficult to deal with, if the teacher does not know how to deal with his behaviour, which can snowball into a full on meltdown situation, when it can usually be avoided quite easily by just removing him from a situation for a few minutes. So yes, if they require to examine and assess him, then we are happy to allow that, and prefer it as it just means he is getting the correct attention, but as you say, getting his current notes translated will give his future teachers a good insight into his behaviour and how to deal with it from the start.

Cheers,
Graeme.

two tubes of toothpaste

Hi Graeme,

Would you think it extremely rude of me to ask you if you have employment waiting for you in Spain, and to what level of Spanish language understanding you have ?

I am extremely worried that you are leaving behind the all encompassing British Health Service with its social service back-up and the schools, for the Catalan Health Service which I can testify is excellent, but has very, very few doctors and nurses who can speak English and an education system not really geared-up for immigrants as in Britain, and which you may not be entitled to.

Would you be giving your child the best possible chance ?

Again, apologies if I have offended you by putting these points.

graeme79

No offence taken.

I'm a director of a games company. I'm going to be working remotely from now on, we often use contractors who work remotely anyway, so things won't be that different. I'm going to be setting up an office over there at some point in the future, and plan to employ some local programmers, as we struggle to find staff over here as we're in a small city with a large number of games companies!

I don't speak Spanish yet, I plan on learning while in the thick of it. My wife is bi-lingual though, she speaks fluent Spanish, French, English and German. She doesn't know Catalan yet though, but she was able to communicate fine when we've been over, and she's looking forward to learning. She's the one that deals with everything over here anyway, so it's not a worry.

The move has been on the cards for 5 years, it's just taken a lot of planning in terms of making sure my business was in a good place to allow me to work remotely, and it has been for some time.

Where we live now, isn't great for the kids, it's somewhere I grew up, and I didn't have a good time in the schools. We don't want it for our children, and they're already having problems (there is a lot of bullying going on). And aside from that, there isn't a great deal for them to do. My wife also suffers from a great deal of joint pain during the winters here (Scotland), which does no favours for our children as it is, and moving to a warmer climate will sort that problem (she grew up in France, and these problems began when she moved her to be with me). All in all, we've considered the issue greatly, and the conclusion is, that we do think he'll have some struggles with the change, but overall the quality of life for both our children will increase in the long run. We can always move back if it turns out to be a big problem, but we really don't think it will be, and as I've said before, he's not hugely effected by his condition, it's pretty mild in terms of other children, but I want to make sure we do everything for him that we can in advance.

graeme79

I should also point out we want it translated to catalan, my wife could potentially translate to Spanish, but she isn't comfortable doing so considering its importance, and we think it would be better in Catalan.