Autistic Child with Citizenship

[OzLozz]

Hello All,

I am a newbie to this forum but not a complete newbie to Oz. I was born and raised in NSW until I moved to the UK with my family when I was 15 (dual nationality) I now have a family of my own and we have plans to emigrate to Australia in the very near future.

All three of my children have Australian  citizenship by decent. I am a citizen, so my husband was the only issue. His visa (Partner Subclass 100) has been granted as a PROVISIONAL RESIDENT and and now we all must arrive in Australia before the end of November 2023, otherwise his Visa will expire and we are back to square one.

We have invested a lot of time and money into this process and know wholeheartedly that we want to live and raise our children in Australia, our only concern is our middle son, Elijah. We began my husbands visa application when I was on maternity leave with him.

Elijah is non verbal autistic with global development delay. He is currently 4 years of age and will be 5 at the end of April. After much deliberation and advocacy, Elijah was granted an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and was allocated a place at a Special Needs School in our local area. 
 

if anyone is familiar of the process, getting a place in a special needs school is like gold dust! It took a great deal of work to get our local authority to get to this decision and my biggest fear is that we will be putting all of this at risk when moving to Australia.

I have limited understanding in the Australian education system, even though I did attend primary and high school there myself! 
My understanding is that if we want our son to continue in a similar environment to what he has here in the UK, then we may have to pay privately and this is not really an option for us. We strongly disagree with him attending a mainstream school with an autism hub. He is completely passive and would get lost in the crowd. He has come on leaps and bounds since September and we want him to continue to progress.

Can anyone give me advice on what I can do from here in the UK to help our transition? 
 

He was diagnosed in the UK but does he need to go through the whole process again in Australia? It took us 4 years to get to this stage. 
 

How easy is it to get accepted to a state special school? 
 

thanks in advance. 

 

 

 

[Quoll]

Service provision for children with disabilities varies greatly from state to state so it rather depends where you will be going back to. With respect to diagnosis first, some states will accept a diagnosis from other places but you should get in touch with the receiving state to see what assessment tools and the required qualifications of those making the assessment may be.  If he had been assessed by a multidisciplinary panel then you've got a better chance of assessments being accepted than if it was one paediatrician just doing the eyeball test,

Placement is another vexed question. There was a huge push for mainstreaming from parents here in Australia with the result that special schools weren't much in favour and special classes within mainstream or mainstream with support were promoted. Again, it depends on the state for exactly how resources are allocated and whether there are special schools in the area you will be living. 

Your best bet will be to talk to the special Ed section in the state you plan to move to and ask them what options you may have for placement and whether there is any additional information they may require for assessment.  In general, though, parents of children with disabilities have found a lower level of service here than in UK and I know of several families who have returned because their kids weren't getting the same level of support. However, you won't know what you're facing until you talk to the department and I would be calling them, don't leave it to email.  Get a personal contact and then you can send them assessment data, ieps, teacher reports directly - hopefully you should be able to talk to the person who would manage the placement process. 

As citizens you shouldn't have to pay for additional support in schools although what you are hearing may be that many parents of kids with disabilities, expecially autism, often choose to pay for private education because the schools offer them something different which better meets their child's needs although special schools are rarely private. 

Good luck! 

[OzLozz]

Thank you so much Quoll for taking the time to reply to me, and at such length.

Our plan is to return to Queensland as I have family already living there. I have spent some time googling special needs schools in Qld and came across the website myschool.edu.au which appeared to narrow my search when searching ‘special needs state schools’. When I just searched for special needs schools in Qld, I found some schools suggesting yearly fees are required (some asking for $7,500)

From what I could make out, these are schools that offer the exact same services that my son currently receives for nothing in the UK. Our son was placed in that school by the local authority based on his needs just like any neuro typical child would be at a mainstream school. 
 

In the UK just getting an EHCP is difficult and requires a panel of experts from numerous agencies and a paediatrician. I have some friends that have autistic children and was not granted an EHCP. They then have to attend mainstream school and fight for support and extra support for their children. In our case we are extremely lucky to have got to this stage, and now he attends a class with 5 adults (1 teacher, 4 support teachers) and 9 children. 9 children is their absolute max in the class. He goes swimming each week and has sensory play daily. 
 

I am scared to death that I will be uprooting Elijah out of an environment where he could thrive and develop at his own pace, and into an environment that may not be able to offer him enough support as he needs. 
 

We had the option to decide to put our son in mainstream and have a leading support assistant working with him, but knew that this would be the wrong decision for him. No one wants to send their child to a special needs school and it was the hardest decision we ever had to make. Now leaving it is the hardest decision.

I will take on your advice and try to get in touch with Queensland Education department and ask what is required of us. I am also thinking that I will need to come out to Queensland and try to speak to someone in person before we emigrate  for sure.

Everything rides on this.

[Marisawright]

25 minutes ago, OzLozz said:

Our plan is to return to Queensland as I have family already living there. I have spent some time googling special needs schools in Qld and came across the website myschool.edu.au which appeared to narrow my search when searching ‘special needs state schools’. When I just searched for special needs schools in Qld, I found some schools suggesting yearly fees are required (some asking for $7,500)

Sounds like they are private schools.  Private schools are not like the UK, only for the wealthy.  They receive government funding (something some of us disapprove of), and then charge the parents fees on top, to provide extra services. Many middle-class families send their kids to private school, it's not seen as unusual.     

With state schooling having chosen the mainstreaming option, private schools have seen an opportunity in the market, and I'm sure middle-class families are putting themselves in debt to send their autistic chlidren there.  It's a shame in a way, because perhaps if they didn't, there would be more pressure on the government to provide the option instead.

[NicF]

I don't know what things are like in Queensland but here in South Australia there are public special schools but there are far more kids trying to get in to them than there are places available.  Places are allocated on a needs basis based on assessments done while children are at Kindy and from what I can gather children need to have an intellectual disability (ie low intelligence) to have a chance of getting a place.  Although my son is autistic he is only level 1 and not in need of that level of help so most of my knowledge is based on what I've read on an Adelaide Autism mums group on Facebook that I'm a member of.  I'd suggest searching Facebook to see if there is a similar group for Brisbane / Queensland as the ladies on there would be the best source of knowledge on the subject - the ladies on the Adelaide group certainly have a lot of knowledge and experience in this area that they are happy to share with other members.

[Quoll]

Queensland was one  state which, at one time, insisted on their own assessments so it would definitely be worthwhile talking to them to see if they will accept a foreign multidisciplinary assessment. Queensland is huge so you'll need to narrow down the area you might be thinking of living in, then I believe they have regional offices which should have a special Ed advisor.  But start with the  special Ed section in central office if you don't know which region you are likely to be heading for - regions here https://education.qld.gov.au/contact-us/region-maps

I doubt you are going to get a 5:9 ratio anywhere, that's very intensive. You're more likely to get 2:6. 

I think you are wise to pay a flying visit if you can because I doubt you are going to get the same level of intervention here. 

[Melbpom]

17 hours ago, OzLozz said:

Elijah is non verbal autistic with global development delay. He is currently 4 years of age and will be 5 at the end of April. After much deliberation and advocacy, Elijah was granted an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and was allocated a place at a Special Needs School in our local area.

 

Your son sounds very similar to my son at that age. He is in his twenties now so my advice may be out of date. However at the time getting a place in a State Special Needs School was easier than for my other son who went to the local Catholic primary school. I chose special school rather than mainstream because of his needs and it was the right decision. I remember having plenty of choice and simply chose the school suited my son best. There were schools that specialise according to need, e.g. autism, physical disabilities, SDS (Special Development Schools). At the time there were no private special needs schools but this might have changed. You might have to apply for NDIS. Google this.

[Paul1Perth]

On 10/02/2021 at 05:37, Marisawright said:

Sounds like they are private schools.  Private schools are not like the UK, only for the wealthy.  They receive government funding (something some of us disapprove of), and then charge the parents fees on top, to provide extra services. Many middle-class families send their kids to private school, it's not seen as unusual.     

With state schooling having chosen the mainstreaming option, private schools have seen an opportunity in the market, and I'm sure middle-class families are putting themselves in debt to send their autistic chlidren there.  It's a shame in a way, because perhaps if they didn't, there would be more pressure on the government to provide the option instead.

Our youngest is autistic and we paid a bit more for him to attend a private school near us. They had a stream for kids with learning difficulties but on top of that stricter uniform wearing, better discipline, more rules, which our youngest needs. He likes it when things are layed out for him.

Best thing was they had the same form teacher all the way through and she was a lovely lady who the kids felt safe with.

Our eldest went to the local state school and did fine. Our youngest would have been in constant trouble there.

One thing that our youngster struggled with was the amount of homework. It really stressed him as he likes to complete things. It would take him hours to do something his brother would either complete in 10 minutes or just give up and ask at school the next day. We had a period where he was so stressed he was pulling his hair out. 

The state school had virtually no homework. That's what our eldest told us anyway.

The youngest is 25 now and has a job at a local coffee shop by the beach. Been there about 8 years.

[Catbell]

Hi there,

I'm just wondering what you decided to do... I'm in pretty much the same situation now, with my son that is awaiting his diagnosis of ASD in Feb, he has just started attending nursery in a special school.

 

Do diagnosis and educational statements carry over okay? I read as we are part of the commonwealth the diagnosis should but its unclear about educational statements.

Thanks

[Quoll]

2 hours ago, Catbell said:

Hi there,

I'm just wondering what you decided to do... I'm in pretty much the same situation now, with my son that is awaiting his diagnosis of ASD in Feb, he has just started attending nursery in a special school.

 

Do diagnosis and educational statements carry over okay? I read as we are part of the commonwealth the diagnosis should but its unclear about educational statements.

Thanks

It's not about whether you are in the Commonwealth or not, heck, some states dont even trust the assessments of other states!!! Always bring all the objective assessments with you - they are pretty much universal but they may need to be updated, other tests may need to be added to the battery etc. The qualifications of the assessors should be explicit eg registered psychologist, consultant paediatrician, registered speech pathologist.  The best thing to do is to contact the special Ed section of the Dept of Ed you are going to and they will walk you through their process. They may say - "bring what you've got but we need to do the rest" or they may say "get these extra tests done". The states  are all different as to what they accept and what their process is and also what options are available for support. 

[bearbear128]

Hello Ozlozz,

My son is also diagnosed with ASD. We are struggling to lodge 491,190visa application as his diagnosis will definitely affect the chance od getting visa approval.

Amy update about your case would be appreciated.

Cheers 

[Quoll]

2 hours ago, bearbear128 said:

Hello Ozlozz,

My son is also diagnosed with ASD. We are struggling to lodge 491,190visa application as his diagnosis will definitely affect the chance od getting visa approval.

Amy update about your case would be appreciated.

Cheers 

Ozlozz and her children are citizens so the visa isn't an issue for them. I hope you are using an agent who is on top of the medical issues because a child eligible for intervention is likely to lead to a rejection. It's not just the diagnosis which is the issue, it's the level of impairment due to the disability and how much that could potentially cost the tax payer. Some agents are better at medical advice than others. 

[Ken]

On 14/09/2022 at 07:43, Quoll said:

It's not about whether you are in the Commonwealth or not, heck, some states dont even trust the assessments of other states!!! Always bring all the objective assessments with you - they are pretty much universal but they may need to be updated, other tests may need to be added to the battery etc. The qualifications of the assessors should be explicit eg registered psychologist, consultant paediatrician, registered speech pathologist.  The best thing to do is to contact the special Ed section of the Dept of Ed you are going to and they will walk you through their process. They may say - "bring what you've got but we need to do the rest" or they may say "get these extra tests done". The states  are all different as to what they accept and what their process is and also what options are available for support. 

Yes, Queensland officially only accept Queensland assessments. However head teachers have a lot of discretion. We moved to Queensland from Victoria last year were able to get our son a provisional place in Queensland (I think it was for up to 9 nine months) based on their discussion with the Victorian school which then allowed them plenty of time to conduct their own Queensland assessments afterwards. What made it easier is that it was a brand-new special school and not one that was already full.

[Quoll]

5 minutes ago, Ken said:

Yes, Queensland officially only accept Queensland assessments. However head teachers have a lot of discretion. We moved to Queensland from Victoria last year were able to get our son a provisional place in Queensland (I think it was for up to 9 nine months) based on their discussion with the Victorian school which then allowed them plenty of time to conduct their own Queensland assessments afterwards. What made it easier is that it was a brand-new special school and not one that was already full.

I did wonder if they were still doing that.  They started because they were getting some diagnoses from interstate which basically came from  a random selection of paediatricians who said kids were autistic but had no objective data to validate the diagnosis. In some places the diagnosis was given willy nilly just so that parents could claim additional funding to help in schools. The paediatricians thought they were being helpful to their patients' parents.

Victoria has always had a more rigorous definition and actually harder criteria for special ed support than any other state so it's good that you had some reciprocity with Victoria

Edited October 26, 2022 by Quoll