dyslexia extra support at school

[lynne]

Does any know of children who needed any extra support at school. e.g due to dyslexia or because the child has special needs.

How do Aus schools handle these situations. What type of support do they give.

Are the teachers, schools and kids tolerant of children which are different.

Is the attitude and support different in private schools than state schools.

Does anyone on the site have any experience of special schools or special units.

Many thanks


Lynne

[Libby1971]

In the Uk our daughter had support with literacy.

Here one of her teachers told us she was where she should be - others in the class have much worse problems. One of her friends has difficulty reading in a big way.

However at the primary schools there does not seem to be much support, if any, available. I would like to stress that I am not sure on this, just from what I have seen. If anyone knows different then please let me know/ correct me.

At high school there is support available but I haven't had much contact with it.

Libby

[richjop]

This is a very difficult question to answer because all the schools are different. Ben goes to a small private Lutheran school and they have dedicated teachers for children with special needs at either end of the scale. There are 26 children in the class and the bottom 4 get 4 hours of extra help a week in a group and whatever 1 to 1 help they need. As a result of this one child who could not read a word at the beginning of class 1 now reads at a level above his expected age range...As I said each school is different. In my experience you need to ask lots of questions, if possible watch a lesson and find the school that you feel comfortable with.

[Lazy Cow]

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Does anyone on the site have any experience of special schools or special units.
Lynne

Hi Lynne,
I've worked in three special units; two high school and one primary. I'm no expert and I think Richjop gives the best advice in recommending you get a feel for the school yourself and address your questions to them.

However, in my limited experience it seems much the same as the UK. We still fight for funding, 'good' units are still over-subscribed, and the kids react to one another in much the same way. IMHO, primary school kids care much less than high school kids, and I think that probably has something to do with the fact that differences may become more pronounced with age, and that older kids seem to identify themselves as small units/groups within the school. If that makes any sense!

Primary schools seem to integrate the kids fully - not many (and I'm ready to stand corrected!) have separate classes, although some such as Aberfoyle Hub do. At high school, there seem to be three main approaches - there are the kids that continue at a very specialist unit such as Ashford (with profound, multiple disabilities), or attend a unit within a high school (Hamilton, Pasadena), or fully integrate with mainstream but have extra help and Negotiated Education Plans (NEP's).

Don't suppose that helps much, but there you go, I tried!:)
LC