Special needs schools

[amjam]

Does anyone know of any special needs schools near Coffs Harbour. Or do you know how the school system works in oz.

Thanks
Steph

[Quoll]

No dont know about special needs in Coffs Harbour but in very general terms, Australia has moved significantly into the inclusion model with many states closing down special schools and those that remain are for students with significant multiple disabilities. The remainder are usually supported within mainstream schools in some way either through special units or through teacher aide time in the classroom.

I know that there are some students in UK who attend special schools who would not get a similar placement here and I have encountered some who are not even eligible for any disability funding (particularly speech language disorders) but fortunately they are rare!

It would be worth an email to the district office for Coffs outlining the special needs that are of concern and to see what they will require by way of assessments in order to determine eligibility for service. Usually that will be IQ, adaptive behaviour, skill level plus any therapy reports which may indicate physical, language or other disabilities.

[amjam]

Thanks for that. Inclusion is the way we want to go . He does a duel placement in the U.K mainstream and special needs. His main disability is speech so that is a concern regarding funding. I will contact them to get more info.

Thanks again

Steph

[Quoll]

I havent been able to track down the disability requirements for NSW but this should bring up some relevant pages - the first one which says cover A4 is a good synopsis of what is available plus a phone number to call for all the regions if you need them.

Usually the language disability requirements are an expressive or receptive language score greater than 2 Standard Deviations below the mean (standard scores <70) - your therapists will know what that means.

Looks like that link isnt working too well - if you press "go" it will bring up a list of documents (I hope!)

[james and dawn]

Hiya!!!

We have just recieved our visa's and are currently in the process of selling the house, however, any information that you find out about special ed schools, please could you share it with us.

I am currently a special ed teacher for PMLD, SLD and ASD children. I have found a cluster of ASD based schools within Sydney, web address http://[URL="http://www.aspect.org.au/"]www.aspect.org.au/[/url] , if thats any use to you. I know that its a little distance from coffs harbour though. I would like to find as much info about special ed and inclusion as possible.

Cheers
Dawn

[Quoll]

Originally Posted by james and dawn

Hiya!!!

We have just recieved our visa's and are currently in the process of selling the house, however, any information that you find out about special ed schools, please could you share it with us.

I am currently a special ed teacher for PMLD, SLD and ASD children. I have found a cluster of ASD based schools within Sydney, web address http://[URL="http://www.aspect.org.au/"]www.aspect.org.au/[/url] , if thats any use to you. I know that its a little distance from coffs harbour though. I would like to find as much info about special ed and inclusion as possible.

Cheers
Dawn

The Autism Association of NSW runs those schools - if you have had training in teaching kids with autism they would probably love to offer you a job! Autism and Aspergers are definitely flavour of the month here these days. The state govt system also has provision for children with autism but it may be in multi-disability units or special schools. There are also a few language disorders classes but generally the thrust is to get kids into mainstream supported by a smidgen of teacher aide time.