sce schools cyprus, anyone with special needs help for their child?

[lorry12]

We are currently in Cyprus and DS has ASD, school aren't providing any additional help. I have requested a statement and have been told one will be done prior to us leaving Island in 2 years time! Help! We don't want to rock the boat but obviously want the best outcome for DS.

have you spoken directly to CEAS? (ie not just with the school)

what additional help do you think he needs?

is he on school action/ school action plus and failing to meet his IEP targets?

does he even have an iep?

what are your areas of concern/ specific things he needs help with? (i'm guessing social skills, but could be anything lol... sensory? does he see OT or any other therapy provision?)

in theory SCE has the same staus as an LEA wrt statutory assessment, so if you would be requesting stat assessment in the uk (if, for example he has been consistently failing to meet targets on a SA IEP) then you should be able to request assessment in situ. i'm unsure why they would delay - unless they believe he is getting the support he needs?

but going back a step - have you had regular meetings with his teacher and senco to discuss the additional support he needs? has he been dx during this posting? is it a 'new' or longstanding dx? if he was dx prior to this posting were his needs registered on dh's personal file? (not sure what service lol...) if so then ceas should have negotiated support prior to approving the posting... have the school promised support and then it has not materialised? or do they not agree that additional support is needed?

(not in cyp lol, but have just negotiated an o'seas posting with a statemented child...)

that'll be lots of q's - sorry!

Thank you very much, you have certainly given me a lot to go on. I have contacted CEAS and found them helpful. Many thanks

happy to help - oh, and make sure you also contact the ssafa additional needs advisor and get yourself put on the newsletter list. they hold a conference every two years for parents of children with additional needs - it's really useful to go (the last one was at mod) as it does help you find your way round the service systems! (lots of workshops about service education as well as negotiating postings etc) half of the problem is communication. i think ssafa have the mod guide to special needs available as a download from their web pages as well.... it's around somewhere...

i'm not going to tell you it's easy (have just spent since november organising our next posting in august lol, and we're not there yet...) but the more you know in theory the easier it gets...