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Exchange abroad

Language Exchange

A 14 -year-old student with high functioning autism is going to participate in a language exchange in Spain. He will be staying with a host family whose son will later come over to Britain. I wonder if the boy's school should provide the Spanish school and the host family with detailed information about the case. Should any kind of extra aid be provided? Must a member of the English school share the household with the student to  guarantee his communication and well being? The boy attends an independent school and is doing well academically but his skills in Spanish are low as he hasn't studied it for long. Will this be a problem considering his host family doesn't speak any English?

What does the UK legislation say about these cases?

Thanks for helping

Parents

  • Well I think it depends on the individual circumstances. I have Asperger's and went on a French exchange when I was 12 years old, and really enjoyed it. My host family had rubbish English, but although my French was fairly rudimentary, I got by through the use of phrase books. I did not have a diagnosis at the time but coped with the whole thing well, and with no individual support. It helped that the days were structured and planned, and also I could socialise better with the French kids precisely because of that language barrier; we just played Hide and Seek and rather childish games, which meant that I was not as disabled by my social impairment as I was at home with my peers.

    Just because someone has autism it does not mean they cannot enjoy these experiences, but each case is unique and support may well be needed in this case- could you provide more information?

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  • Well I think it depends on the individual circumstances. I have Asperger's and went on a French exchange when I was 12 years old, and really enjoyed it. My host family had rubbish English, but although my French was fairly rudimentary, I got by through the use of phrase books. I did not have a diagnosis at the time but coped with the whole thing well, and with no individual support. It helped that the days were structured and planned, and also I could socialise better with the French kids precisely because of that language barrier; we just played Hide and Seek and rather childish games, which meant that I was not as disabled by my social impairment as I was at home with my peers.

    Just because someone has autism it does not mean they cannot enjoy these experiences, but each case is unique and support may well be needed in this case- could you provide more information?

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