Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi there! I really need your help to gather as much information as possible.
Here is my case
I have an autistic son (7yo), a really heavy ASD case. Almost non-verbal (tens of words, couple of phrases). Can't serve himself. We live in eastern Europe.
We are attending ~15-20hrs of ABA therapy from the age of one and a half. This autumn we planned to try to put our son in a special school near our home, at least for a couple hours per day.
Now I have an offer to London. Really good one. And I have no idea about what I'll be able to provide for my son in the UK.
I've found some information from Google, but it's very fragmented and I can't build the whole picture.
1) As I understood, first of all, we'll need to have a local autism assessment in the UK. And government-based autism assessment could take up to several years.
Is this correct? Is it possible to pay for a private, paid, but fast autism assessment? Will it be equal to the government-based one?
2) After #1, we'll have to get an ECH plan somewhere. At local authority? Does this mean that different London districts or different cities could give very different ECH plans? How long could it take and how difficult is this process?
3) After getting an ECH plan, we can apply to some school or special school. Here is kind of some impenetrable fog for me :) I don't know anything about UK schooling.
- can we apply to any school? Or probably only to the nearest schools in a place where we will rent something?
- are any of the nearest schools obligated to accept our application?
- basically I even don't know what should we look for: special schools, schools with inclusive classes, or anything else
- I've found several really great-looking special schools for autistic children. How can I understand will I be able to put my kid in some of these schools, will they have classes, are they free or paid, etc, etc. No information about such kind of things on any school site :(
- where the situation with such special schools is better: in London itself, or maybe in small cities around London?
Basically, if I understand correctly, I should aim on some school first, and only then select a place to rent something near this school. But how to select something without all this information?
Any advices are very welcome! And thank you in advance :)
Another questions:
- are there enough ABA services in the UK? How much do they cost?
- how much do nanny services cost in London? Are there "special" nannies available? Like, familiar with special needs, with ABA, etc.
^this.... the uk is a bad place to live... thats why my origonal reply was negative. we have alot of issues. its not even a recent thing too as some like to make believe, its been terrible for as long as i have been alive, 32 years at least and longer before that too as entire generations of my family have been effectively pinned down before me and life has always been bad.honestly alot of people come to the uk due to a lie that the grass is greener on this side... that you get free life, free house and its a safe secure first world country.... they come here and they then complain they cant get anything free, they get forced into debt, they cannot leave as once you get here it costs a fortune to leave and they wont let you and no one else will take you anymore as all other countries dont want anyone to leave this rock when they are here. its a prison island when you come here basically... there is no free life, there is only hard work that doesnt even pay anything, you have to decide what to live without, usually your electric and some food cutbacks. you will likely be homeless as theres no houses here and rental places even get take up fast. we have refugees from war torn iraq that claimed the uk is actually worse than their bombed out town in iraq. i hope you like low quality food because microwave food is the norm here, its cold and damp here so you also have to expect every single building to be infested with mould and you will likely get asthma and all your clothes in the wardrobe will be full of mould in 2 weeks and require constant washing even when not using them. i could go on more, this doesnt even scratch the surface! lolid advise to instead look where people from the uk would want to leave and live in which are better... many people from the uk would leave to spain, australia, canada, or new zealand... we consider those better.
Do I detect a political agenda? Whilst what you describe is certainly valid, it is by no means universal. Our public services are underfunded, but they do exist and are free of the petty corruption that one hears about in many places. Of course, there are structural inequalities and bureaucratic stupidity.
I would challenge you on microwave meals ... some are very good, but not cheap. Fresh ingredients are available - what is wrong with basic stews and soups for example? One cheap meal I like involves a bit of meat (one or two sausages and or a rasher of bacon) fried up with onions, potatoes, peppers, mushrooms - anything that is available or leftovers. Add barbecue sauce and a few herbs to taste, and maybe add an egg. Delicious! Or how about a jacket potato with baked beans and some cheese?
I would say the problem is with the bureaucracy and the legal myth that politicians actually control the NHS, Education, and Social Care ... in reality, they are huge bureaucracies that are enmeshed in outdated policies and procedures. A bureaucracy is an organisation that has learnt so much from the past that it is unable to adapt to the future. I can't remember who said that.
We need politicians who will take the long view. It takes at least ten years to train a doctor - we are talking two or three general elections time, and the politicos are looking at next week's by-election and this quarter's economic indices.
As electors, we want "the government" to invest in public services, but vote for the shower that offers us a tax cut. The Romans recognised that the plebs wanted beer and circuses.
The other thing is the pressure for "accountability". The bureaucratic mind likes statistics. The NHS often uses mortality as a measure, because in most cases it is easy to tell if a person is dead or alive. So if you can reduce the number of deaths due to, say, heart attacks by x%, the policy is working. On the other hand, mental illness and chronic pain due to arthritis are not "objective". So the money follows the statistics. The problem, as we all know, is neurotypical linear thinking. It needs a few more of us to get them thinking outside their boxes.
lol your putting her off more than i am with that food :Dour public health is very much more funded than it ever has been and the tories promised and delivered more than corbyn promised in his election. the problem is likely beaurocracy, maybe it is due to the privatised parts pilfering money.... it needs some regulation and oversight so that they can spend the money on things they actually need for good service. you can do alot with a little money, they have alot of money and do little with it.