OK here is the situation. We are thinking to move one day (soon I hope) to Spain, probably around the Costa Blanca. Our son has special need (quite moderate) and so far has been attending a mainstream schook in the UK. He has an helper most of the day to help him with his work and make sure that he is all right. Now my question is what sort of facilities can we expect in Spain for our son (he is 10 by the way) regarding his education. Does Spain has a programme for children with special need, can they receive that 1-to-1 help in the class room? If anybody has been in this situation we would really appreciate some tips. We will relocate to an area that special needs provisions if needed. Many thanks in advance. JC
Posts: 7 | Location: UK | Registered: 15 September 2004
Well, I know that my former boss, when we got relocated from Miami to Madrid, decided not to come here in large part due to the lack of support for these kind of needs. So I guess that is not too encouraging news for you.
I have a good friend however in Barcelona who has a brother with Down Syndrome. I will ask him to get in touch with you in the next few days.
I believe, though I am hardly knowledgable on the subject, that at a public level catering to these needs in Spain leaves a lot to desire. At a private level, though very expensive, the major cities have good centers.
I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.
Posts: 652 | Location: Mostly from Miami, FL. - Born in San Remo, Italy | Registered: 30 April 2004
Thanks Rule #23, like you have said not very encouraging, which really surprises me whan I know that Spaniards love children. We don't know what to do at this stage, obviously we could wait for my son to finish his education but it would be a minimum of 6 years (probably more), and the way the things are looking here in the UK I don't really want to stay that long. Anyway thanks for your reply and I look forward to receive some more information from your friend and other people. JC
Posts: 7 | Location: UK | Registered: 15 September 2004
Hi Blanca, thanks for the link but I am not sure I can find my way around, some of the links asked me for login name and password but I can't find nowhere to register. JC
Posts: 7 | Location: UK | Registered: 15 September 2004
It amazes me what "rule#23" says, but I cannot really confirm nor deny it, since, luckily enough, I haven't had to face this kind of situation. Anyway, I thought that you could find some sort of schools catering for these needs in big cities. At least, I had that opinion since I lived for 22 years in front of one of them in Madrid.
Anyhow, as you would be relocating to the South of Spain, I guess that information about that school would not be relevant.
Nevertheless, I hope you can read Spanish and find these two links interesting:
I am sure you could find the second link in the first site, but just in case. In this second web page, I would recommend you to click on the "imagina" link, which is full of other links. I think that some navigation around all this information may help you. Good luck!
Posts: 399 | Location: Madrid | Registered: 05 July 2001
Hi Shiquilla, thanks very much for this URL, it contains tonns of stuff. I think I will start by calling the Ministerio de Educaci�n y Cultura and see what they tell me about that. The task ahead is huge in the way that my son does not speak Spanish. But anyway worth the try, thanks again. JC
Posts: 7 | Location: UK | Registered: 15 September 2004
I'm not sure about the rest of Spain, but here in Madrid, there are special classes for foreign kids who don't speak Spanish. As I remember, they go to language immersion classes for several months before joining a "regular" class. I'll see if I can dig up more info for you on this.
Posts: 1070 | Location: Madrid | Registered: 10 December 2002
OK thanks again for that, I am trying to teach some Spanish every day, but it is not an easy task. The other solution (but very expensive of course) would be to put him in a private school and pay for his education. But not so good for an immersion in the Spanish life. Our son is our main priority and we want above all him to be happy. I believe that life in Spain would be very good for him and his sister but it would be very selfish at this stage to drop him at the deep end. Regards JC and muchas gracios por todo
Posts: 7 | Location: UK | Registered: 15 September 2004
I know there are schools giving bilingual education (English and Spanish). If you know what city you will be moving you can ask the Educational department if any public school in that area has this option. This may be a good choice for you.
