What parents of special needs children need to know about international schools
“Without full disclosure of a disability, a school may accept a child under false pretences only to discover they cannot adequately educate a child”
For many expatriate families, international schools afford the opportunity for their children to be educated their national language with similar standards to their home country’s curriculum. The challenges that many families face is related to finding an international school that can effectively educate their child with special needs, writes Joseph Graybill, school psychologist at the Anglo-American School in Moscow.
As private foreign institutions, international schools are not required to comply with special education laws such as the Individual with Disabilities Act (IDEA). However, in recent years, international schools have adopted special education programming to serve children with disabilities.
The provision of special education services in most international schools does not follow IDEA to the letter of the law but does model its special education services based on American federal guidelines. For example, many international schools provide typical special education services through the adoption of an Individual Education Plan (IEP).