Moving to Finland with special needs child

[Mollymc]

Hello,

My husband has just been offered a position at Helsinki University so it looks as if we're moving to Finland from Scotland this summer, 2012. We have two sons, 61/2 and 3. Our older son has complex learning needs and attends a special primary school here. We're trying to find out information about special schools in Helsinki and the surrounding area(I guess Espoo) and where might a good special school be for our son to attend. He will be 7 this summer and ready to begin primary school in Finland. As part of their education, are special needs children provided with transportation to and from their school in Finland? We'd also like to find out about any services and extra-curricular activities available to children with disabilities in Finland. Because we're thinking of trying to live in an area with good schools, a good park for our boys, if anyone can also advise us on good areas to choose to live in in and around Helsinki that would be great. They would hopefully also include an English speaking pre-school for our younger son. Anyway, we obviously have a lot of questions! If anyone can send any advice our way, I'd be very grateful!

Molly

[Rosamunda]

There are almost no English-language facilities for special needs children in Finland.

In general, special needs children are accommodated in mainstream schooling, as far as possible.

Tähtiniitty koulu (Olari, Espoo) and Postipuu Koulu (near Leppävaara, Espoo) both have special needs facilities (physically and mentally handicapped children) and both are bilingual (Finnish/English) schools so I suggest you start there. However, AFAIK the special needs sections operate only in Finnish.

Children with less severe problems (eg ADHD, dyslexia, maybe Aspergers) generally go to the regular schools but sometimes an extra budget is given for a teaching assistant in the classroom. One of my kids had a friend with quite severe ADHD in his class (in a bilingual school), with a full-time dedicated teaching assistant... but a year ago the parents (both native English speakers) decided they really had no choice but to leave Finland.

There is also a special school in Kivenlahti, Espoo which helps children with more severe learning difficulties that cannot be accommodated in mainstream schools but IIRC it is all in Finnish. But I don't know much about it.

My advice would be to think hard before you come here. Finland is as cash strapped as everywhere else right now (despite its AAA rating) and quite drastic cutbacks are being made in education. I'm not sure that providing English-language resources to temporary residents is top of the list of priorities (it's the municipalities who have the budgets and make the allocations). Sounds hard but I guess you need to know what to expect.

Yes, special needs children do qualify for transportation (conditions apply) but in some cases some children are not able to use the special transportation (eg if they pose a safety risk to other passengers). So "It depends" is the answer to your question.

I'm sure there are activities for special needs children but they would be in Finnish.

One of my children has (relatively mild) dyslexia and ADHD and merely getting a thorough assessment for him here (in English) was almost impossible. In the end we flew in an educational psychologist to Helsinki from the UK and shared the cost with two other families... for example.


http://www.espoo.fi/fi-FI/Paivahoito_ja ... puu_School
(the headmistress (rehtori, in Finnish) can probably give you some advice on your best options, at least in Espoo. Call the school directly, all the staff speak English)