School for a high functioning asd boy | ExpatWoman.com
 

School for a high functioning asd boy

0
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 29 June 2016 - 14:50

Hello all
I would be moving to Dubai mid August with a high functioning 10 year old asd boy who is in a mainstream school here in the uk and will be starting yr 6 in sept . He has a LSA working (25 hrs a week ) with him who supports him at school . He is doing very well and accesses the full national curriculum . He has tools like worry box , talk time and a reward system in place for him especially to navigate the social system and ease his anxiety .
Is there any school here in Dubai which would be able to accommodate him ?
Please ladies do share your advice and experiences . Many thanks

1430
Posts
EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 03 July 2016 - 13:39
Hi, my son has just finished Year 13 and is high functioning autistic - he had a bad two years Year 7&8 at one of the prestigious non-profit schools here who said they were unable to help. He then started at GEMS Silicon Oasis, managed one year then we needed to pay for an LSS - (45,000 AED per year on top of school fees) worth every penny, although the journey was far from smooth he has achieved his IBCP and is now a confident and qualified boy! GEMS WSO is very inclusive, but you may have left it very late in the day to apply and get the support you will need in place for next year. I would apply to GEMS WSO or GEMS First Point - I can't recommend them highly enough. I have also heard there is a great Inclusion team at Kings Al Barsha, but don't have any personal experience of school life. Good luck. Be prepared for a long battle, Dubai is only just getting on the Inclusion Bandwagon!
25
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 01 July 2016 - 05:53
When we arrived our son was in his early teens with mild ADHD and struggled with minor organizational issues. The schools were very unaccommodating. It's been our experience that if your child does not fit into the box they expect, they are just denied a place. One school even went as far as accepting our son, only to decline the place right before the school year started. The only way they would accept him was if we hired a shadow teacher for 8,000 dhs per month (which he absolutely did not need). We did go look into it and interviewed a few "shadow teachers" only to find out they had no qualifications - and these had been people recommended by the school. In the end, we ended up home schooling our son where he excelled. I'm sorry for a doom and gloom outlook but we just had some bad experiences with a few schools here in that regard (British & IB).
 
 

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