Finding a school for special-needs kids

Published: March 30, 2007

BERLIN: It started with Simon. At four years old, Simon was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism. It was mild, however, and his mother, Julia Jefferson, a teacher, saw no reason why he shouldn't do well in school with extra help. But the two English language schools in Riyadh, where the family was posted 10 years ago, wanted nothing to do with Simon.

"None of the schools would take any child with any disability," Julia Jefferson recalled. "I was shocked."

Suggestions were made that the family return home to New Zealand to school their son, as many other expatriate families in Riyadh had done for their special-needs children. But Jefferson had other ideas.

Many international schools have no provision for children with physical handicaps or mental disabilities like Down syndrome, attention deficit disorder or autism. Finding the right support for these children in a foreign country is an exhausting, expensive and sometimes heartbreaking struggle, and yet more and more international families are taking on the challenge and demanding a good education for their special-needs children.

Although precise figures are difficult to come by, educators say that the number of expatriate families with special-needs children is rising, in part because the diagnosis of learning disabilities like dyslexia and attention deficit disorder is on the rise. In the United States, for example, 17 percent of children have some type of learning disability, and the number of children identified as having some form of autism has risen sixfold since 1994, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While families with special-needs children are often reluctant to accept a foreign posting, they may not have much of a choice when it comes to career advancement.

"Families whose main financial support comes from employment in international companies can become vulnerable to discrimination in the job market if they don't accept overseas assignments," wrote Susan van Alsenoy, author of "Students Who Learn Differently," a study of the needs of special learners abroad.

And while some families do not discover that a child has special needs until after the move abroad, others leave home thinking they will be able to find support in their new posting. That often turns out to be optimistic, at best.

Kirstina Bouwmans and her family left Florida in 2005 for an assignment in Berlin. Her younger son, Alex, 7, had been diagnosed with speech and motor delays when he was 5, so Bouwmans and her husband decided to enroll Alex in one of the many Berlin international schools after administrators assured them Alex would be able to get speech and physical therapy at school.

Four months after enrolling, no therapist had been provided, and the family was told that private therapists were not allowed at school. Alex struggled without the support he needed until his parents found another school, at a cost of almost $8,000 in new registration fees.

"I should have interviewed other parents and the therapists personally," Bouwmans said.

Many international schools are prepared for special-needs students. The Berlin Brandenburg International School, where Alex Bouwmans was finally enrolled, has three special education teachers and a psychologist on staff. But other schools, which tend to be privately funded from tuition and donations, may not be able to afford specialist help. They may also have other spending priorities.

"A new gym benefits all the children," van Alsenoy said. "Special-needs teachers are not as impressive."

National schools, by contrast, are often legally mandated to provide support for special-needs children, and they receive financial support from the government. But they may not be suitable for a special-needs child who does not speak the local language.

All of this means that expatriate parents of special-needs children need to be creative and persistent.

Many international schools allow parents to bring in learning support assistants to work alongside children in the classroom. Parents have to pay for the specialists themselves, though sometimes insurance or an employer will help cover the costs, which can be high. The Internet can help connect parents to support groups in their area and help them find teachers and therapists.

Some parents choose to school their special-needs children at home - an option also made easier by the Internet, where lesson plans from many countries are easily accessible. Others choose to send special-needs children to a specialized boarding school while the rest of the family remains abroad.

And then there is the option Julia Jefferson chose: Since there was no school for Simon, she opened one.

Ten years ago, working with diplomats and business people with their own learning-disabled children, Jefferson applied for a license to open a school for special-needs children in Riyadh. Today the Riyadh Multinational School has 400 students, more than 25 percent of whom use learning support for a wide range of disabilities. Jefferson, as principal, heads a staff of 70, half of whom are involved in learning support.

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