# Special education in Switzerland or Germany



## humesy (Nov 23, 2017)

Hi there,
I am contemplating a move to Switzerland or Germany as an international teacher with my family. My 4 year old has quite severe special needs. He is non-verbal, in nappies, requires feeding etc. Can anyone advise if there is special schooling available in government schools in either country? Private schooling might be an option but prohibitively expensive I suspect. Can anyone advise of medical insurance situations in either country for this sort of circumstance? 

Many thanks


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

I've moved your query into the Germany section, as we have a few more "regulars" here - and I know at least one of the mods has done some research into special education in Germany. Let's see who we can flag down.
Cheers,
Bev


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

I can't speak to Switzerland, but from what little I know of Germany, it's not good. Not nearly as far along as the English-speaking world apparently. The German school system does not deal well with square pegs in round holes, as a rule. 

Medical insurance is weird in Germany. If you had a proper job you and your family would be enrolled in one of the public insurance schemes. But how much of your child's needs they would cover is an open question.

The good news, I suppose, is that unlike Canada (and New Zealand as well so presumably Australia too) I've not heard of anyone being denied a work permit because their child is deemed too much of a burden on the health care system. But that could be a concern.


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## Tellus (Nov 24, 2013)

I only can speak for Germany, one important matter here are inclusion in schools or special needs educational center. Often they are integrated at "Lebenshilfe" centres.
https://www.lebenshilfe.de/de/theme...ion-_eine_Herausforderung_fuer.php?listLink=1
It's mainly organised by caritative organisations. Germany has a long tradition of public sponsering by TV lottery called "Aktion Mensch"
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aktion_Mensch
Meanwhile ca. 4 bill. Euro are collected since 1964. In that year a TV moderator reported about a pharma scandal in which pregnant women took sleeping pills and subsequently the kids has been born disabled. He was founder of a new TV show to help disabled people.

People of all ages live and work together in groups, cared by special educated personel.
I know some who live at home and go to school or job like any other without handicap.
Schools are advised to push inclusion in classrooms, helper for coaching shall attend.


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

humesy said:


> Hi there,
> I am contemplating a move to Switzerland or Germany as an international teacher with my family. My 4 year old has quite severe special needs. He is non-verbal, in nappies, requires feeding etc. Can anyone advise if there is special schooling available in government schools in either country? Private schooling might be an option but prohibitively expensive I suspect. Can anyone advise of medical insurance situations in either country for this sort of circumstance?
> 
> Many thanks


Switzerland: No idea about special needs education but Switzerland is a lot more conservative than even Germany when it comes to child care. A non-special needs run-of-the-mill day care place is a coveted treasure. I remember an interview with a government official I watched when I was living in Geneva. They basically said that "If you decide to have children, one parent should be prepared to stay at home for at least ten years to take care of them."

Swiss health insurance is a bit of anomaly within Europe and a little-known risk of financial ruin. Health insurance is generally private and bills have to be paid upfront, to be then forwarded to the health insurance which will decide whether and how much they are going to reimburse. No idea about special terms for chronic/long term conditions. My gut feeling is that it may not be a good idea for you to move to Switzerland. I may be wrong.

Germany: If you are employed, your children would be covered under your statutory health insurance. What kind of therapies/treatments would be covered, I could not guess.

In Germany, education is not a federal matter but organised by the Bundesländer, resulting in 16 different school systems (a fact that makes me angry every time I think about it). So, the question what education for your child would look like exactly could have 16 different answers. In any case, education would be in German - also something to consider.


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