Moving from Germany to the UK

Im glad to hear things are improving for you. We are just at the start of this thought process. I have no idea what we will do

Good luck!

Hi, 

We are still thinking about it. Looking at job market and housing cost in the UK makes it very difficult to justify the move.

I might be totally wrong here, but I have had a few discussions with professionals over the past few weeks that are based in the UK. Many of them said that we will have the right to services, but realistically will have issues accessing them. Reached out to a few parents too, and heard the same thing. 

At the end of the day, it is a postcode lottery, how many resources the local NHS has and the quality of the personal. 

However, since I posted, our son has achieved a lot in the past 5 months: regular speech in German and English, playing with the different toys for hours, interacting with others, made friends, imaginative play, roleplaying, etc. This is mainly due to the support we received in Germany. 

By any chance is there some sort of comparison website where we could compare different counties? We are currently in Sweden and thinking of returning home. I have family in the Midlands, Staffordshire and Renfrewshire so there's a fair amount of choice! 

Hi.

Did you decide to move in the end? We are considering returning from Sweden. My daughter is 18 now and we are struggling here. It would be nice to not struggle with a second language too!

I don't know what it's like in Germany, but here what support you get is a bit of a postcode lottery, it might be best to think about where in the UK you wish to move too and look up available services in that area and remember that just over the boarder in a different borough or county it may be different.

Yes that's correct because politics are important because they determine how the country is run. The labour government keeps withdrawing funding from services this is my argument for staying in Germany which is a more socialist country. It makes perfect sense to me. I don't know why you were baffled? Do you usually get baffled by people talking sense? I would be worried if I was getting baffled by logical arguments. Wow anyways. 

I was a bit baffled that Politics was the main feature of your guidance to this Gentleman.

As I understand it; the OP Gentleman is a Father worrying about the life choices / decision-making his Family face - which would impact: family life, relationships and the optimal educational, healthcare and other social support services appropriate for his Autistic Son - potentially accompanied by the transition for each of them in moving home, Country, Schooling, language and culture friends, community, environment and workplace(s).

While I personally do not share the sentiments you expressed in your reply (each to their own point of view, live and let live etc.), I would be interested to understand: in which specific topics / applicable age groups of accessibility and service provision / availability in different local regions: you believe Germany would be preferable in best supporting the OP's Autistic Son and Family Members.

I have not lived in Germany, however, I have read a lot of international Autism-related material and my summary is a that there is much commonality between the two Countries (Germany and the United Kingdom) and their approach to Autism support services.

Germany's Autism Achievements:

- made progress in becoming more autism-friendly,

- advancements in relevant healthcare,

- Germany is / will be (launch varies by Country from 2024, or within 3.5 years of 2024) participating in the EU European Disability Card which gives disabled people access to the same special conditions and preferential treatment as residents of the country they visit within the EU (the scheme is designed to serve as a proof of disability status across all EU countries when accessing a wide range of services).

www.consilium.europa.eu/.../

- Among children age 6 - 13 years, over 50% of Autistic children and adolescents attend a special school,

- awareness and inclusion has developed, and

- support services are defined.

Autism Challenges For Germany:

- ensuring more equitable access to diagnosis (currently rather variable (there are no established referral pathways for children and it depends upon where you live),

- employment opportunities need to be further extended to better support Autistic applications and employees, and

- more comprehensive support is needed for Autistic people (to be more equally available across all regions).

- Primary / Elementary / Grade School-age (age 6+) support for Autistic children is more obvious than perhaps it is for pre-school children,

- Support for Autistic students in Secondary / High School and College / University levels needs to be further developed and

- Although Autistic School age children in Germany are likely to have Special Educational Support (SES) parents and carers have been known to feedback that they feel the SES ought to be more personalised to the individual child. 

My thoughts are that when it comes to the pre-school age group; having access to lots of really invested / engaged extended family members - drawn from lots of different age groups is important (supportive of: acquiring vocabulary, language and emotion constructs, opportunity to experience people of different ages, to become accustomed to different environments beyond home and School, exposure to varied humour and body language mannerisms, varied play styles, exposure to motivational encouragement demonstrated by people who are likely to share your family style of communication / culture / heritage / social references / music and nursery rhymes / religious outlook etc.).

While in the UK, your Wife may feel able to ask her family members for in-person pragmatic and emotional support (both in the context of your Son and on her own account too).

(For Autistic Adults): Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Canada and Australia all tend to score more positively in polls about the Autism support and services in different Countries - i e. ahead of both Germany and the United Kingdom.

I think if I were faced with the same life choices decision-making challenge; I would try to speak to - from both Countries:

a) Autism peer support groups,

b) Support lines from National / Regional Autism Organisations,

c) You Son's Doctor, 

d) A mainstream Pre-School / Nursery / Kindergarten, and

e) A Special Education School.

As your Son is now aged 3 1/2 years; his own unique character, level of introvert / extrovert / energy / outgoing-ness, topics of interest and lifestyle preferences wil each likely have started to become identifiable by you and your Wife.  All of that is also an important consideration.

If you were to decide that a move to the UK is preferable for your Family's wellbeing; preparing your Son for that transition is important.  These notes might give you some ideas of approaching the key topics:

https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/transitions

and

www.autism.org.uk/.../starting-or-switching-school

With all good wishes to your Family at this stressful time (I speak as an Autistic person who experienced moving School / Country / Home circa 10 times due to a relative's career etc.).

I personally have no real knowledge of either country's ability to support Autistic people. Though I don't disagree with some of your points re the UK, I don't agree with the use of the word totalitarian? I don't think the UK's government has sunk to this level, this label would be more fitting for China,, Russia or maybe US now?

Germany is better. This country UK hates autistic people. You will find no support here please don't come to this shipwreck disaster of a country. We have a totalitarian leader right now and he is not interested in us common folks. It's a good country if your rich though but failing that yeh I would prefer Germany personally.