Resources for children with autism
My husband and I are looking to leave the United States. We have started working on our TEFLs and our trying to do research on which countries would be best for our situation.
We have a 3 year old nonverbal (currently working on using an AAC device) daughter who is diagnosed level 3 autistic. She has high support needs and requires multiple therapies a week. Speech, Occupational and Physical.
She is mostly quiet but can have loud outbursts and is an eloper.
I haven’t been able to find much on the resources japan offers or how society as a whole treats children of her caliber so I was hoping someone here would have information or personal experiences they could share.
4 comments
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**Resources for children with autism**
Resources for children with autism
My husband and I are looking to leave the United States. We have started working on our TEFLs and our trying to do research on which countries would be best for our situation.
We have a 3 year old nonverbal (currently working on using an AAC device) daughter who is diagnosed level 3 autistic. She has high support needs and requires multiple therapies a week. Speech, Occupational and Physical.
She is mostly quiet but can have loud outbursts and is an eloper.
I haven’t been able to find much on the resources japan offers or how society as a whole treats children of her caliber so I was hoping someone here would have information or personal experiences they could share.
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First off, a thing unrelated to your actual question:
English teaching in Japan pays terribly. Even on two English teaching salaries you’re going to find it somewhat difficult to raise a family.
Doubly so if said family includes members who need extensive support and potentially caregivers and whatnot.
On to your actual question:
Autism is very misunderstood here, where it’s even really considered at all. While all the support your looking for is nominally available the quality of care varies immensely.
Overall Japan generally treats autism as a mental handicap. When your daughter goes to school she’ll be placed in a special-needs track which again can vary wildly. Some schools/cities have decent-to-do good programs. Most do not. Most special needs programs are just holding pens. The kids end up playing games until they’re old enough to plant potatoes, then they do that until it’s time to graduate.
Frankly, English teaching issues aside, Japan is *not* a place to move with an autistic child if you actually care about that child’s development and well-being.
Frankly Asia as a whole should basically be off the table for you, because she’ll get similar treatment in almost every Asian country.
I used to work at a public kindergarten, and ive also heard stories from others: children with asd are not treated well
I’m here in Japan and my whole family has various neurodiversities. None of us need any specialized therapies or interventions, so we’re all doing fine. I feel like Japan is actually quite tailored to mild autism in a lot of ways. However, I wouldn’t recommend coming if your child needs speech/OT/PT or has high support needs in general. Most schools are not equipped to deal with special needs, and unless you’re fluent in Japanese there will be a significant language barrier when trying to access any therapies or services in most cases.