Sydney - school for child with ADHD and ASD

[LionsTigersBeers]

Hello all.

Early days yet but we may be transferred to Sydney with my husband's job.

We are Aussies but don't know Sydney well and have been expats for 15 years now.

Our 8 year old (who has Oz citizenship) has ADHD and ASD. Also tests with very high IQ (gifted). Currently copes with a 1:1 shadow in mainstream but we were looking to move him to a special School had we stayed in our current spot.

Any recommendations of a suitable special school or nurturing mainstream School gratefully received. Independent/state is fine. We are looking to live in North Sydney (Manly/Fairlight). We have two younger NT children too who will attend local state primary.

Hi to access special school he will have to have an in below 75.
I'm not sure on the uk system, sorry.
Access to special school in Aus is quite strict entry.
There are specialist Autism schools run by Autism qld, so I presume NSW have them too.
I'm not sure 1:1 teacher aides function in the schools system here. That would need to be looked into.
Sounds like you have an amazing school in the uk! I know my uk friends are jealous of my sons support here but it doesn't sound like he gets as much as you are getting.
My son has learning support 4 days a week. McDonalds learning tutor one day a week. Then a teacher aid in the class between 3 of them,
He's at year 2 level academically going into year 4 (age appropriate for year 5)

Chloe, thanks so much for the reply. We're actually in Singapore and pay full fees for the school and then the shadow's fees on top (and then additional therapy on top of THAT)!!! It is killing us.

I am learning that in Aus the state will provide some support through state primaries but it seems to be on a case by case basis. We will need to sort a school and then speak to the principal. There are also some G&T programs at some state schools but I'm unsure if they would cater for kids with additional needs. He's our tough fit our boy.

Glad to hear you have found a good spot for your child. What is a McDonalds tutor?

I'm going to follow this conversation if you don't mind OP! We are in a similar situation (Aussies returning home who have been gone too long to know what's what) and may end up in Sydney at some point in the next few years.

Hi McDonald's pay for kids with complex medical needs who miss school time to have private tutoring. They paid for a years speech therapy too.

When you get to Aus you will get a meeting with the school, they will need to look at his assessments. They write an IEP.. not sure if that's just a US and AUS term.
That outlines what additional needs your child has and how the school can meet them. Of course this is not an exact science. They don't meet all need 100%. Teacher aides are shared etc.
As I said access to special school is tough and it's probably in many cases not somewhere you want to be. Some are great but some are dumping grounds for kids with behavioural issues.
There are funding packages for autism.
I'm not sure that these are available with previous diagnosis.
Certainly if your new migrants a child with any issue that will prevent them from becoming a working contributor to society in the future will be given a very tough ride through immigration.

Thanks again Chloe and welcome aboard CAAKE!

Chloe we're not 'new migrants' as have Australian citizenship but agree with you that Aus does not warmly welcome potentially new migrants with additional needs. It's really disappointing but of course not much about Australia's immigration warms the cockles

Very interesting about McDonald's - will look into that.

About how far in advance would you suggest we need to start talking to a state school to discuss IEPs etc.? Would they require us to reside in the catchment first? I'm concerned we'll be in a catch-20 situation where we need to live there first before the school will start talking to us and then we may lose six months of schooling

IF you are Australian citizens, you will need to access the National Disability insurance scheme....

it will be a total and massive pain, and you may get nothing - ADHD is generally not covered at all and ASD if he is high functioning and high IQ may not either...will depend.

Either way, expect to have to have bucketloads of appointments/reassessments/applications/agony.

If successful (ie his special needs are severe enough to require the assistance of an aide in school, other therapies etc) you will get a package of funding under NDIS that you can use to fund various support/therapies as needed (not entirely simple, but that's the gist).

As a basic rule of thumb (obviously lots of exceptions) you have a choice of public, private and catholic. Within public system, there are some schools with special needs units and a couple of dedicated ones, but v difficult to get a spot at the dedicated ones.

You have automatic enrolment in the state school whose catchment area you are in - request for one out of area is based on space/assessment etc.

Catholic schools are a) bastard hard to get into at the moment, b) throwing all their dosh at funding priestly sex offenders in court and c) extremely bad at managing special needs - the overall view seems to be that most disorders are basically due to a lack of discipline!

Private schools also don't have a fab track record for handling kids with special needs and tend to encourage them to move schools if proving problematic, but you will need to sound out particular schools you are interested in for a better handle on how suitable.

Public schools have some great special needs support, but limited funds, and support unit quality and availability vary widely, so again, you will need to research and if you are set on a school, live in that area.

High schools in sydney are bursting at the seams thanks to consecutive govs selling off land so it is all a bit of a mess.

Education wise - public schools can range from decent to grim. There are a handful of selective public schools too (by entrance exam) - if your boy is bright enough, he will still need at least 3 months of solid exam coaching to stand a chance, as most entrants have spent several years in intensive coaching and extension to gain a place. The difference in public (non selective) and private is pretty wide, both in terms of extras offered and educational outcomes, but as a rule of thumb, the whiter and higher socio-economic the area, the better the public school.

The above is a snapshot with a lot of generalization but gives you the gist. It's all a bit rubbish in Sydney at the moment, are you sure you want to come back?

OP, Essential Baby is the Oz equivalent of Mumsnet. The parents on their boards will be able to help you with tips on funding, schools, developmental paeds, etc.

As others have said, with the NDIS rolling out, it's tricky to negotiate.

Aspect has schools for kids with autism - something you may want to read up on. www.autismspectrum.org.au/content/about-aspect

Our ds has ASD and is in mainstream state school in Sydney. Our experience is that support will be offered to help the child access the curriculum or to ensure they aren't stopping other children in the class learning (eg through disruptive behaviour) but if the child is doing ok academically and isn't disruptive to others there's no support (eg our son does well academically and tends to shut down rather than meltdown so isn't disruptive to the class). The school applies to the department for special funding for the child if they feels it's needed and have to make a very clear case. Our school made 2 applications for our ds in kindergarten and they were both turned down as his needs weren't high enough. As it turned out, he has done fine with adjustments made by the teachers as necessary.

There are autism specific schools run by Aspect and Department of Education special schools/units, but as a pp said the requirements for these are very specific. I have friends whose kids have got aide time but nothing like 1:1 for the whole day. I believe you can self fund an aide at some schools but it's up to the school (our school wouldn't allow it).

For therapies, you will need to apply for him to become a participant in the ndis in order to access funding to help with paying for therapists. An asd level 2 diagnosis makes access much more straightforward than a level 1 or aspergers diagnosis. We've actually found the ndis to be pretty good and definitely worthwhile. Ds is nearly 8 and got more funding for this year for therapies/social skills than we've had in any previous year, including during his preschool years. We got a plan within 2 weeks of our planning meeting and it's easy to use. He doesn't do much therapy (fortnightly OT plus weekly social skills group, plus 1 on 1 special needs swimming lessons) but the funding helps.

You will likely also be eligible for Carers Allowance, which is not means tested and helps with therapy costs. It's different to the means tested Carers Payment.

Rumer, stickyhands and Microwavey, thanks a million. I really really appreciate your comments. At work now but will reply later tonight. Thanks again.

Lol Rumer, no I'm really not sure I want to move to Sydney!!! My family think we are crazy not to be leaping at the opportunity to come home to Oz but I don't think they truly understand our realities. We would be turning down a spot at a great special ed school - it's aimed at kids like our son, on the fringes, can't quite cope with mainstream. Small classes and loads of therapy. I'm going to be so disappointed if we have to walk away from it.

Microwavey, did you approach (or would you suggest I approach) a state mainstream school ahead of application to discuss the needs of your son? It sounds like he is doing really well. Where have you got in mind for high school?

Our son is unfortunately very loud when bothered. We've had a massive year focused on improving his emotional regulation and he's come along so far, I think this would be the worst time to interrupt him and change countries.

Do we need to apply to a state school by a certain date - ie if we want to start January 2019? I will Google.

Thanks all. Still waiting on DH's job. Fingers crossed we can stay where we are and this will be a problem in two year's time.

Hi all.

Relying to my own thread to bump it again. We are now definitely moving to Sydney for 2021. I need to find a year 6 place for my son who has ADHD, level 1 ASD and anxiety. Any suggestions of supportive state schools or private schools would be gratefully received. My preference would be a co-ed private school that we can go into in year six and continue on into high-school (to avoid changing schools twice). Many many thanks for all advice!!

Are you set on a particular area?
Honestly, the problem is not so much primary as most public primaries are able to accomodate these needs. High school is the problem. Not many public high schools can/will accomodate and a lot of private schools don’t want the bother. From what you have written you have Buckley’s of getting into a special ed unit, they are rare as hens teeth and tend to be for severe needs.

NDIS is an option to explore but if they are Level 1 ASD you won’t get anything and ADHD does not qualify, nor most other things in the mental health arena. Also NDIS has nothing to do with schooling so it won’t facilitate aide time or pay school fees.

I have one that sounds as you describe. It took ages to find the right fit for them for high school. Local public high school said ‘we legally HAVE to take you, but we can’t accomodate you so we encourage you to look for other options’. We ended up going to a bespoke private who were well equipped to manage them but were very lucky to get in as full books and it meant moving them near the end of Yr6 when a kid dropped out and no one else above us on the list wanted to move their kid with only a term to go of primary. Otherwise we were too far down the list to get in. Also, the school was a considerable distance away so we had the joy of figuring out logistics with kids at other schools, workplaces etc, complete nightmare. Honestly, if we hadn’t got in we were going to homeschool and wait it out for a place. Luckily, I had options where I could have taken a step back at work and mainly worked weekends and nights to make it work but I realise not everyone has that option. Mine made it through school, was well catered for, the school was a great fit and they are now thriving at uni in a course where most of their peers have a similar neurobiological profile. I honestly believe if they had to attend our local (good school in a good area, just not a fit for such a child), my child probably wouldn’t be here at all today.

Schooling in Sydney for a kid that’s not neurotypical is a tough gig.

Hoppingpavlova (fab name) thank you for replying!! We are looking at living in the North Shore, along the train line. Artarmon is where my DH's will be and I think I will have to find a new job as my office would be difficult to get to.

I'm looking at Northholm Grammar or The Kings School. What do you think?

Please can you tell me about this wonderful school you found for your child? Thanks again

Not sure about one of those, would have to talk with people. I’m hooked in to a huge group of SN mums just due to my kids, no official network so between us and searching for schools there is a lot of knowledge. The other school you mention is an absolute no go for a child like yours. I do know of one that would be very suitable and may well have space if you apply now, it’s also a K-12 which fits well. It’s on North Shore and even if you lived nearby the distance to Artarmon and city would still be pretty good via train.

I can’t work out how to PM on my phone so maybe if you PM me it will give me some route to PM back or otherwise i will need to wait until weekend to figure it out on computer. That way I will give you names. Probably not an issue but I know some Aussie sites prohibit naming publicly, esp if negative for fear of slander or some such rot.

Thanks again HoppingPavlova. Will send you a PM.