Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

Hi

I'm looking to move to either Cordoba or Madrid but I have a son who is statemented in the UK. He has a speech and language disorder and Aspergers which means he will find it near impossible to learn another language. I understand there are no schools that specifically cater for special needs in Spain and that they are instead expected to integrate into mainstream schools which I don't see happening with his level of needs. Are there any other alternative schools that would cater for a boy like my son (who can only speak English)? Home schooling is sadly not an option since I'll be working as a school teacher all day and he will need to be somewhere while I'm not at home.
With the option of some schools bringing in a special needs specialist into schools, are parents expected to pay for that service?
I'm quite desperate for some help :unsure:

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

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.

Do you already have a job in a school lined up? How old is your son? In some areas I believe that there are specialist units attached to schools but I believe that these are for teenagers.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

Sounds like your son has very special needs and even if help was readily available and affordable, I´m guessing it would only be in Spanish. You say he will be unable to learn a second language, and with you working all day I foresee a very lonely, difficult path ahead for him. Personally, I wouldn´t even be considering a move, sorry.

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

Thanks for the replies.

Rosemary, my son is 12 years old so he goes to a secondary special high school. I haven't secured a job yet but knowing where to look and what options are attached to these options will help me make an informed decision.

I have another son who is gifted and I would very much like him to learn as many European languages as he can. We've had to make many sacrifices to cater for my eldest son's special needs, but it's also been unfair for my youngest to have to waste his potential to grow. As a parent, of course I'm torn and want to do my best for both my sons, so I'm studying all my options.

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

So difficult for you when your two sons have totally different needs. Unless there is an English school with the ability to offer assistance to your eldest son I am sorry to tell you that everything will indeed be in Spanish so this will be impossible for him. Can I ask you why you have sellected Cordoba or Madrid? I presumed that this was because you had received a couple of job offers but obviously this is not the case. It is always interesting to hear why people have made their choices. I wish you well with your research. Hopefully someone with more knowledge of the education system will be able to give you some good information.

Rosemary

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

I'm sorry I cannot say what sort of special provisions exist, but I'm sure they must. I'll make enquiries.
Our eldest son is 36,with Downs Syndrome & lives with us. We moved here 4 years ago, to "retire", my wife being Basque.
In order to access any disability funding here in Spain, one needs to get what they call a "disability %", something that doesn't exist in UK.
It seemed to take months of paperwork hunting. He needed various tests, such as oral, aural, visual, psychological, medical etc but we finally acquired an 88% disability!
You'll therefore need to begin with a GP at your registered health centre & go from there. They ought to be able to guide you.
Our son gets benefits from UK as well as from Spain now. He attends daily a work centre where he is totally happy. Speaks no Spanish & never will. But people are very considerate & he's thoroughly integrated in village life.
Sorry I cannot be of more help at present.

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

I know, I'm not making it easy on myself. My decision to move to Spain is based on many things. I am doing a PhD in Spanish History which would make it easier if I were living in Spain and speaking fluent Spanish. But also, the lifestyle would be much healthier for my boys than it is at the moment. I'm a single mother and have no family in the UK or like minded friends so life is hard anyway.

I did receive a job offer in Madrid, but ideally I'd love to move to Cordoba. I fell in love with that place last winter. However, I'm open to go wherever I may find help for my son. Finding a job should not be a problem for me.

Thank you so much for your help! I must say your post has given me hope that something must exist. I'm sure my son is not the oddest case in the world!

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

Wherever you go, I assume you will be getting a job in a private school? As the only way you could get a job in a state school is through the British council and it would be temporary (There are other ways, but not very likely)

So in which case, can your son not just go to the private school you will be teaching at? Many profess to be bilingual nowadays anyway, although of course if he doesnt learn any Spanish then he won't be able to pass any exams

Obviously I dont know your finances, but just a warning that the amount of benefits you would receive in Spain will be tiny compared to that in the UK. And of course teacher wages in private schools are much lower (although OK in state schools) so unless you have a lot of savings it is quite a risky move

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

You say you fell in love with Córdoba, what about the boys, what do they think about it? Do they even know what's involved? I agree it's a lovely place, but it can be extremely hot in the summer, 40º, it´s not to everyone´s taste. A Spanish guy I speak with there has a place on the coast where he escapes to in the hottest months, a bit like Madrid and Sevilla, it can be sofocante. I´m all for following your dream, if it was just you I´d say go for it, but it´ll be a difficult one for the boy. A lady I know in UK has a son with special needs, he´s mid 20´s, and she has been trying to find him a special school that would look after his needs. She´s taken him to a few that seemed perfect to her, but the boy never liked any of them, eventually they found one he loved, a long way away, and they are selling up and moving there. If there is anything suitable in Spain (and I have my doubts, as he will never speak Spanish) he might well end up hating it.

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

Hello there, I live in Ibiza. I have lived here since I was a child and I have a 15 yr old boy with autism. Where I live there are no special schools, no day centres (for when he leaves school) and he gets a state pension of 55€ a month. The authorities say he has a 33% disability percentage but only me (a single mother) knows that sometimes it seems a 100%. Things are hard and I have often though of going back to the UK but Í can´t take him because the father won´t give me permission to leave.
I wish you all the best of luck in whatever you decide.

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

I don´t know about special needs and what is provided and what is not, but it is worth noting that cuts have been made to disabled peoples benefits recently, not that they were over generous in the first place.

Cuts have been made across the board in carers payments and essentials like pads for adults.

Spanish TV have programmes whereby people in need ask for help, usually financial, when looking after their disabled children/parents etc becomes impossible due to the recent cuts.

They were barely hanging on before but now their situation is desperate.

The best place for you and your family is the UK, as to try and get any help in Spain is a minefield, and there are more cuts in the pipeline.

The case of Susana is very tragic, but also very typical, the task of educating a special needs child is taken on by the parents, with either very minimal help from the state or none at all.

There may be some regions where more help is given but very few and far between.

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

Agree, that's why I said earlier, " Personally, I wouldn´t even be considering a move, sorry."

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

Don't agree. If people want to follow a dream, knowing all the pitfalls, why put them off. They're not children.

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

Whilst I agree with your sentiment in theory, in practice one persons dream is not always felt by the whole family.

I have known numerous Spanish/Italian and mixed (one parent Engilsh and the other not) families in the UK, where one of the couple or both had a dream to return to their home country.

More often that not it ended in tears. It has even happend to many of our own relatives, the word case being that a cousin of JLs coming back to live with us when she was 14, because her parents´ dream turned into her nightmare.

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

I believe in doing the best you can for your children, like my Parents did for me. That means sometimes having to put your dreams on hold.

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

One cannot easily however live with one's regrets "if only I'd done so & so"….etc.
I put my 'dream' on hold once, having been offered a shepherding job in Aragon by an Iranian businessman. Having links in both camps it seemed too good to miss; but we did, because of the schooling for our handicapped son would have meant a 40km daily bus ride for him.
We were adult enough to weigh up the consequences.

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

It is part of the job descrition.

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

Again I agree with your sentiments, but once again in practice reality rears its ugly head.

A great many of us have to live with regrets about what we did not do, mainly because of family issues, and as a family unit, as adults we have to do the best for all those involved.

And the "my dream/if only I had done so and so" etc should be put aside until the other members of the unit do not have to be swept along in said dream to their detriment.

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

Because not all dreams are fulfilled, very very few are, and if it was just a couple of adults, I've said before, go for it. However the main concern here is a child with very special needs, needs that most agree will not be better served by moving to Spain. Personally I couldn't care one way or other whether they go or stay, but for me, my overriding concern would be my child and what's best for them, not what's the best for me.

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

Exactly, that is in the job description of parent.

That is why a large number of expats wait until the young have flown the nest before following their dream.

Returning to Spain was our dream, our children have never had any other interest in Spain, except for seeing family and holidays.

Despite the obvious advantages they would have had here over other children relocating from the uk, so we waited.

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

I waited until the kids were old enough to vote and had partners before following my dream. A couple of them have since licked me off for moving away, and I sometimes regret having done so.

But I can still get back in a couple of hours and there have been many occasions when they've needed me and I've returned to do what I could.

The time may well come when I need them more than they need me, and I dread it. I dread it for a lot of reasons and when I try and analyse my dread the UK weather seems to be near the top of the list.

Strangely enough, and it must be my choice of UK reading material, I also think of being left on a trolley for many hours in some dirty hospital where the survival rates are abominable.

(And I can't imagine being without electricity for a week).

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

A slightly disingenuous post don't you think HBG?

People waiting on trolleys does make headlines, as you say it maybe your choice of reading material.

As regards electricity, are you trying to suggest that there is never any interruption to the supply in Spain.?

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

I personally think this boy with very special needs and his gifted brother will both be better off in the UK to finish their education.

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

I understand what you're saying, and on that score our Downs son is better off here in Spain. There are more facilities here in Euskadi than ever there were in the UK, despite his virtually nil grasp of Spanish.

It depends on the handicap where some countries do it better than others.

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

People waiting on trolleys hit the headlines in Malaga last week but none so blind etc.:lol:

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

Moving to Spain will help your gifted son learn Spanish and only Spanish, if as you say you want him to learn as many European languages as he can, surely it would be better to stay in the UK where this can be done without uprooting the whole family.

Either that or to learn a selection of European languages one would have to move to a different country every couple of years.:confused:

It can be a difficult task to do the best for each and every child in the family and the bigger the family the bigger the task.

I would keep the security that we already have, without venturing to pastures new, which would be a great upheaval for you all.

You gifted son can shine wherever he lives, your other son has so many more disadvantages and more needs, which I would consider more important, I would let my strongest child fend for himself more, as he is able, as the weaker one cannot.

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

I think Spain leads the EU when it comes to power failures! We know a guy that gave up living near Canillas way, he lived on a hill and every time there was a decent wind, the O/H cables touched and plunged him into darkness. Read some of the threads of people having to invest in UPS/backup systems.

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

And a Brit family got around €80-90,000 recently in compensation after doctors failed to detect cancer in a forty odd year old expat that died in Spain.

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

Forgetting about power cuts in UK and Spain for a second, I must say that I find the Spanish plugs horrible.

Give me the big chunky 3 pin UK ones, that when plugged in, you feel it "hitting home".

Instead of the jiggley, wobbly Spanish ones, I don´t know which system is safer, but the outward aspect of the Spanish plugs are really inferior, and especially when considering the child safety point of view.

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

It's true what they say about lurid headlines, you can find them anywhere, but to briefly return to the power cuts - I've experienced quite a few in Spain, but none that ever lasted for more than a few hours.

Forgetting the magic of Google and the news channels who seek out bad news wherever they find it, it's really only personal experience that counts, and personal experience depends on a great deal of straightforward luck.

I've been lucky in that I've never had a week-long power cut, never lain on a hospital trolley, and my longest wait at Gatwick was a couple of hours or so when the toilets were working.

But to add some balance, I've waited for hours at various Spanish offices to get some daft funcionario to stamp some daft piece of paper and I had murder on my mind when it was finally, reluctantly handed over.

And I'm already having nightmares over my next round of negotiations with Spanish tradesmen to repair a serious leak in my swimming pool. And this time I think I know what caused the leak, one of the many minor earthquakes over the past few years.

(I've already spoken to the Spanish insurance broker and the cheeky sod wouldn't stop laughing when I suggested making a claim).

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

i have apartment in fuengirola malaga for rent very cheap only 350 euros amonth

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

my apartment is a 1 bedroom garden apartment in el faro a really nice estate just outside fuengirola malaga 5 min walk to beach
also only 5 minutes in car to central fuengirola town malaga

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

iff anyone needs a 1 bedroom apartment in fuengirola malaga spain
i have a nice one for rent or would consider selling

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

I hope someone can help me out.

Does anyone know where I can rent a 1 bedroom garden apartment in el faro a really nice estate just outside fuengirola malaga 5 min walk to beach
also only 5 minutes in car to central fuengirola town malaga, for 350 a month.

Thanks in advance.

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

Nothing like a bit of spam for the New year.:blink:

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

well needs must mate im providing a service for ex pats or people moving out there,,,,,,,,,,

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

I had no idea you had been affected so badly by the crisis Jacky, bloody hell spam for New Year :eek:, have you tried asking for some corned beef or tinned Ye Olde Yorke ham from the foodbank?

sometimes we have to swallow our pride.

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

LOL LOL LOL

Re: Special Educational Needs in Spain
 

Can I take it that you know of such an apartment?


Could you please post the details, as they don´t come up very often.:lol: