Educating children with special needs
Hi,
My husband is looking at a job in Qatar which would involve moving the family out there, we have 2 children age 9 and 13. The 9 year old has sever verbal dyspraxia and has a full time helper in school and regular speach therapy. OUr 13 year old is high functioning autistic but is integrated into many stream in a school that is very understanding of children on the ASD and Aspergers.
Does anyone have any information on schools and what facilities are available?
thanks
An Anxious Mum
yes.. the waiting list is too long, i talked with one of the professionals there...i hope they can do something about it..
I have heard of Shafallah also.
I did not know about 2 years waiting list.
I was wondering, wouldn't be possible to have the mother working there? could be as a volunteer.. in this case, it will be easier to register the child...
Just wondering...
Hi there, I'm a mom with 2 sons in the ASD spectrum, Aspergers and Autism. We moved here 10 months ago. Before we came here we heard abt shafallah and The Learning Centre and was happy to know that Doha has such facilities. We uprooted (we were in Australia b4 this) and moved to Doha. We did contact the schools and they said OK to apply. But when we came here,they told us Shafallah and the Learning centre both had 2 year waiting list!
Our eldest , 15 yrs old,with Aspergers is like yr son, he has attended mainstream but with support in all his classes. But over here you cannot find such things. Most of the mainstream schools we have approached (that is all the international schools) said they are not open to having an assistant sit in class with the child...in short, mainstream schools with the kind of support your son needs is not available here in Doha. International schools here do not have a special needs unit.
For our other son who has severe autism,12 yrs old, he attends is Sunbeam Centre for Special Needs, Doha. they have speech therapist, Occupational Therapist and Psych. He seems happy there. We have seen improvements with him.
I find here in Doha, there is only a budding awareness and they keep talking abt Shafallah Centre which is good, high tec and modern but sadly with 2 years waiting list and priority to locals. Other than that its quite a nothing in terms of support and resources here.
I am sorry to be so negative but I am here in Doha and I have gone through what your are most concerned about. But at least you still have that choice before moving.
I'd say find out more. If you want to try to get a place for schools, make sure you GET the place first before moving here.
Hope this helps.
Best Regards.
Faith & Love ... the key ingredients in LIFE..
I have to agree with Cuteydog. If you have the services available to you - do not not come to Doha. It is EXTREMELY hard finding a good sppech therapist. I have been here almost two years and I am still trying to find an OT.
Hi Cuteydog,
I have sent you a pm hope you don't mind
Susie
I've gone onto their website and it looks promising, so thank you for that input.
Try the Learning Center School at Qatar Foundation, they help children of average or above average intelligence who have learning difficulties. It is very expensive though ,approx QR 40,000 plus a year but the classes are small, no more than 10 students per class.
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May your dreams take you travelling all through your life.
Thank you for taking the time to help.
You might check into the Shafallah Center for Children with Special Needs. I don't know if it's a residential facility or a medical/PT facility, but it could be a good start.
Generally speaking, I wouldn't put a lot of faith into the facilities here. I know the American school does not have the ability to serve special-needs children, but I don't know about other schools.
I do hope you are able to find what you are looking for.
Best
Expat Sueño