The Foreign Service Journal, June 2006

80 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U N E 2 0 0 6 S CHOOLS S UPPLEMENT cial needs” is an umbrella term encompassing literally dozens, per- haps hundreds, of very different issues and conditions. What works for one family in one posting will not work for another. Maris Edler Imbrie can attest to that. Her family is posted to Brussels, where the International School of Brussels offers a well-regarded spe- cial education program. Her initial contact with the school was warm and welcoming (which has not always been the case at other schools in the past). But the school’s program, while excellent for children with learning delays or Down’s Syndrome, cannot accommodate Ms. Imbrie’s son Christopher, who is 19 years old, highly intelligent — and autistic. “He needs a tutor for advanced acad- emic subjects,” says Imbrie, “but the tutor also has to have a special appre- ciation for the challenges of autism.” The Imbries spent almost a year try- ing to find the right tutor for Christopher without success. Then, due to a chance encounter with an International School of Brussels guidance counselor who promised to help, they finally found someone who is working out well. But in every new place they live, the process must be started over again, and it changes as Christopher’s needs change with age. Despite the Imbries’ situation, Brussels is considered a dream post- ing for many special needs families, largely due to the fact that there is a huge English-speaking expatriate community there, and more than one school offering specialized programs. Unfortunately, however, Brussels is not the norm. Most FS special needs families say that the greatest challenge they face is finding a good educational program, in a good school overseas, that will work well for their child. Many overseas post- ings will simply not be appropriate for the family with a special needs child. Often, difficult choices con- front both the FS employee and the spouse. “My husband had to change his career path,” says Imbrie. “Here are some realities we must face,” says Rebecca Grappo, the Education and Youth officer in the State Department’s Family Liaison Office. “First of all, even with the best of intentions, it is rare that small schools would be able to offer the spectrum of services in a limited set- ting like the ones we find in American public schools, where the resources for special needs students are often spread throughout the dis- trict in various resource centers, depending on the severity of the needs for the students.” Secondly, reports Grappo, there is a national shortage of special educa- tion teachers: “So why are we sur- prised when a school overseas would have difficulty recruiting special ed teachers for some of the places where we serve?” Add to that the difficulty in convincing many over- seas schools to offer special educa- tion services at all — something both Grappo and the Office of Overseas Schools are constantly working on — and the challenges in educating spe- cial needs children abroad become even clearer. “Special needs” is an umbrella term encompassing perhaps hundreds of different issues and conditions.