Getting your Children Enrolled in School & Assisting Children with Special Needs

Hello, everyone welcome to the Lefora Talk Show, Season 5 episode 6. We're glad you're joining us today, and hope that you'll find our session today to be very helpful for you. We've got a couple of experts in topics to share things that may be relevant, and we also would encourage you to ask questions in the chat. If it's something we can't answer, we will certainly get back to you with that information as quickly as possible. Let's see for just a minute who is signed on today. Melanes is watching from the Philippines, Leah from Saudi and Gladys from the Philippines as well. So please jump on and tell us where you're signing in from. We're glad that you're here with us today, and in just a moment, I'm going to introduce the guests, but I'll start by introducing myself. So my name is Holly Musselwhite I am a senior clinical manager for AMN Healthcare International side with direct hire. And I've been a nurse for 24 years, so I've seen a lot and done a lot, but one of my passions is helping international healthcare professionals to make that leap, fulfill those American dreams. We understand it's a lot of hard work. And actually, when you get here, that's not the end of your journey.  

That's really, truly only the beginning. So you may feel like right now, oh my goodness, once I finally get there, that'll be it. There's still things to do and still things to learn. And so part of why we do some of the topics that we do is we see nurses who are going through some of the challenges of the adjustment. It may not be clinical in nature, it may be more life adjustments. And so with some of these topics, there are things that our nurses and other healthcare professionals that we work with have run into, and we figure the more information we can share, the more we can debunk some of the myths and misunderstandings, the better for anyone who's coming here in the near future, or even if it's going to be a little while. So I see, let's see. We have a few more patients from Dubai, Amber from Qatar, and Muhammad from Oman, Ivy from Ghana. So great to see so many different locations represented. And we'll get started with the topic.  

But I think the next thing we want to do is introduce the guest for today, Maggie and Crystal. So hi, ladies, good morning. It's morning for us anyway, good morning Maggie and Crystal, how are you doing good? How are y'all doing this morning? Good are we all wearing green? Did we all do that? No, I wear black, but we can pretend it's dark green, alright? Green? Yes I was just like, wait a minute, green's a great color anyway. And I see a couple more people joining us. Mary Den from Uganda, the pearl of Africa. I did not know it was called that. So that's kind of cool. And Jean Murto from the Philippines. So I wanted to give you ladies just a moment to quickly introduce yourselves, and we'll dive more into your roles and kind of your professional things that you do in just a minute. But if you'll tell us, and I'll start with Crystal just really quickly who you are, we'll keep moving from there.  

Hey guys, my name is Crystal as Holly said, I work as an onboarding specialist at AMN International. A little bit about myself. I used to be at the bedside as a registered nurse. I worked at the bedside for about eight years, and I actually worked with internationally trained nurses. It is my absolute pleasure to work with you guys. I know the value of the people we're bringing over because I used to work with the people who preceded you. Um, it brings me great joy to help you get settled, to know that you're getting off started on a right foot and your journey to the US. I am a mom of three elementary school little girls. So this topic today is very near and dear to me. Alright, thanks, Crystal and Maggie. Yes. Hi everyone. My name is Maggie I am a clinical manager with AMN, and my background is in speech language pathology, otherwise known as speech therapy, and the majority of my career, which is going on 20 years now, which is scary, has actually been in the school setting. So I have a lot of experience working under the special ed umbrella, and I just recently had a baby, so I am jumping into motherhood and just know the importance of people and families coming over from different countries.  

I've worked with numerous families that are not from the United States, and learning about just our educational system in general, and how overwhelming it can be. So I am very excited to share some information with all of you, and hopefully can answer some questions for you. Alright, thanks, Maggie. So the topic today is around getting your children into school, and also how we can assist, or what children with special needs might have in addition to just a general enrollment process. And we will, within that topic, talk a little bit about childcare in the US, because it actually all comes together to understand that when you're thinking about getting them enrolled in school, what schedules will look like and what resources are there. So I am not a parent. So I used to work with physical and occupational and speech therapists who worked within the school systems as well, but it's been a few years, so I'm really glad we have Maggie's expertise to rely on that as well. So let's see Crystal just in general, what are some of the typical things as either a mom or as an onboarding specialist helping moms and dads get their kids enrolled in school.  

What are some general things you would recommend that healthcare professionals immigrating here need to keep in mind and be prepared for just like a few bullet points, that's a really good question. One thing I would say is start looking now. Anytime you are on the verge of maybe interviewing, maybe you are really, really, really there you're about to take that step you applied, they have said, hey, we found you a great employer. There are great employers all across the US, but the schools are not equal, and it is very transparent. I would recommend you looking on great schools ratings other websites. There's ratings of one to 10. There are schools in America that are ones out of 10s. There are schools in America that are 10s out of 10s for your elementary school aged children. The biggest pitfall is not proactively looking those things up. When you're at the beginning of the process, it's too late when you're at the end, when you have already signed an offer letter and you're headed to an area of Arkansas that has one out of 10s only for five hours of a radius, everywhere, it's too late at that point to make sure you're coming to a place where there's going to be a great school.  

Most of America does have great schools at least within a few hours radius, and you can commute and make it all work. So I would say the biggest push I have is start looking. Now, you care about your kids more than anybody else does you do. So you need to do the legwork. You need to start looking now at how those structures are, how they are rated. What gives somebody a two out of 10 or a seven out of 10 rating? And start looking into, start familiarizing yourself with the process over here. And we'll, I guess, to piggyback on that you talked about, like looking at the schools in a certain radius and things like that, and we'll delve into it in a minute. But this is also going to be impacted not just where you accept a job, but where you plan to live. So I will tell you, growing up, I actually my parents decided to put me into private school. We'll talk a little bit about that in a minute. But that changed things for my parents, because they actually found a very affordable place to live so that they could afford the private school, but that was an hour away from school, so every day we had an hour drive in and an hour drive out.  

And it was great. I had a great experience. But those are decisions that you have to start to think about much earlier, because when, as Crystal said, when you get here, there's so many other things you're trying to figure out that if you understand the area where you are going to be working, and you look at those factors, what are the schools like? Where are they? If I live in a certain place, am I going to be able to get into that school? It might mean I have to commute. Those are all things that we'll talk about in a minute, but it's stuff that that's why it's valuable to start your research. As soon as you know where you're probably going to go, where you're considering going, look into it. Get to know the area for more than just does it have a great shopping mall? So Maggie, in your experience, what are some of the things that you think in general, healthcare professionals need to consider when they're preparing to bring a family member with special needs here into the US and get them into the school system? Sure great question. So I think any form of documentation that you have on your current child's educational background, developmental progress, really anything from their current school, and also anything from a doctor, you know you're going to be wanting to bring those records over with you anyway.  

So you know, as you during, you know, the annual checkups for your kiddos, you're going to be wanting to share, obviously, background information on your child, but definitely any information that you have previously to be able to share with your child's new teacher the school district, because then it gives them a quick snapshot of where your child is at. And either, you know, they'll be able to place them in an appropriate setting that is most conducive to your child's learning and or maybe they're going to want to go down the path of looking into special education services. Thank you so much so let's talk a little more in depth about school enrollment, and we talked about prior to arrival, what should nurses do to prepare? We're also going to drop a link into the segment in just a minute here. But Crystal tell us a little more about researching schools, if you would. Yeah so there's a couple of different websites that you can use now, as a mom in America, I used a website called great schools.org, it is a nationwide website that rates all of the schools based on very objective criteria, whether the kids are doing well on the standardized test, whether they eventually graduate high school.  

There's a lot of factors that this goes on. So when I moved, my husband was military, so with my children, we moved a lot when we came to the city of Atlanta, my husband had a job waiting for him in the center of Atlanta. It would have been great to live in the downtown and to be able to walk down the strips and to see to really experience city life. But when I looked at great school ratings.com, or it's got a great schools.org I realized that the schools walking distance from my husband's job were one out of 10s and twos out of 10s. What this meant is that the students don't perform well. They don't do well, they don't succeed, they don't graduate, they don't do well in these schools for whatever reason. So instead, we made a very tough decision to go an hour, about 45 minutes to an hour away from Atlanta. My kids are now attending eight out of 10 rated schools.  

They are amazing schools, and as an adult, we take the impact of not living the city life of driving to work pretty far away, so that our kids go to good schools. So I would say that do your research ahead of time, so that when you come you don't look and apply at apartments or places to live and then realize, oh my goodness, this is the school they have to go to. You need to know that ahead of time. Know what places you're looking at, what school is attached to that know everything about that school ahead of time. To save yourself a lot of money, it is very costly to stay in hotels for a long time while you figure these things out that you have access to online, just like I did before I came to Atlanta. And I think that's the other thing Crystal is, you know, you we, I talked about it, you talked about it driving. So when it comes to moving here, plan on driving. Their ride shares are going to be expensive. They're going to add up very quickly.  

And you will find that the benefits of having the freedom to be able to get to and from locations without relying on limited public transportation is actually going to be worth it. In I would say, 99% of the cases we talk about, if you're living in downtown New York City now, it's going to be different. But if you're living in most places, even bigger cities, you're going to want to expect that you're probably going to need to know how to drive, so get your practice in. Now, that's my plug for getting those driving skills underway. And so we talked about location, but what is it? What is it they need as considerations for getting kids enrolled in school, like  why does where they live really matter? So where you live is going to be zoned for a certain school if you are going to be relying on free public education, which the majority of the US does, including me, we rely on that public education. We are paying taxes which pays for the school. So it's not entirely free, but you are forced to pay the taxes that pay for the school. So I do send my children to those schools.  

You will most likely be reliant on that system too, but where you live is attached. To a school you cannot decide, but that one over there is better. I want to live here and I want to drive my kid over there to the nicer one. You're going to be zoned for a certain school, and you're going to have to choose where you live based on the school that you want. You're going to need to bring over some things from your home country, so any records that you have, they're also going to need immunizations, just like you're going to need in order to start your job. Your kids are going to need immunizations, and I believe most of those are covered in the immunizations they need to immigrate anyways. But you're going to need to show the school that they've had these shots. You're going to need to show the records of the previous schools that they were in. If you have a younger child who's borderline kindergarten age. Look at the website and see the birthday cutoff. In some areas, if your child turns five by September 20, they can start kindergarten. But in some areas, you're going to find they have to turn five by August 1, or they miss it, and they have to wait a whole another year. So if you are relying on the childcare to be at a public school for at least partial time, and you've got a kid right on the cusp. Make sure you're looking at the age the birthday cutoff for my child. The birthday cutoff was too early. 

 My child is October 10, and she missed it by about 10 days, and my child had to wait a whole another year to start kindergarten. So look at making sure you're bringing everything over to show that they've had previous education, or if they're starting kindergarten, make sure their birthday hits. Make sure that you're moving to the area attached to the school. Like Holly said, there is a such thing as private schooling. It is a wonderful option to ensure your kids get an amazing education, but you will pay for that private school on top of the taxes that you already pay for school, it will cost extra so when, when a someone is immigrating, here, is there an expectation as to how quickly they should maybe you recommend they get the child enrolled in school as soon as you have an address, when you apply an apartment and they give you a move in date, go ahead and apply if you're going to be staying somewhere where housing is provided for you.  

Guys will have all different kinds of contracts, offer letters, different things that are going to be available to you if you have 60 days of free housing at a hotel, I would recommend enrolling your child the day you arrive, give them your hotel address. When you get your housing, your child will move on to that next school. But our schools are on a very similar pathway, especially within a state. It is possible for your child to go to school an hour away, and the curriculum lines up nearly perfect. My own children have had to move halfway through a school year because of the military, and it's fine to move 2030, minutes away. So when you get here, if you have a long time at a hotel, enroll immediately. Let them get two months of schooling in don't let them miss that. If you are hopping here for about a week in a hotel and trying to find your apartment and you're applying, then as soon as you have a move in date, go and enroll your child in school so they're not missing any school as little as possible.  

Anyways so Maggie, we're going to get into the special needs support a little bit more in a minute. But is there anything when you are thinking, okay, when these parents are bringing their children with them, is there anything that you would add to the enrollment process that they should be aware of? I think again, just making sure you have all previous documentation, you're sharing that with the school district, and like Crystal said, get them enrolled as soon as possible, because we don't want anybody missing out on education and and that socialization, getting to know their peers, spending time with other children, their age is really, really important. So, yeah, enroll them as soon as possible. 

And if you don't have documentation today, you're like, you know this, my child was diagnosed years ago, and I really haven't gotten anything recent it might be worth before they come in to also get them a checkup and make sure that you do have updated documentation from a physician. Part of the reason, I tell you that, is not just for school, but you have to think about what medical needs they may have, and if you don't have any records, and then you end up needing to seek medical care for that child even before they start school, it's good to have some baseline information from their physician overseas before you have to access some healthcare support here. So always a good idea to make sure you have all that documentation in order. If you don't have copies, try and get them really, really important. 

So what about dress code? Is that like still a thing here for public schools? Crystal Maggie, yes, it is. Some public schools actually do uniforms. I My child was actually in a regular public free school where they did require uniforms, believe it or not, that is actually the cheapest option. It was. The uniforms were so common that the stores around there sold the shirts for $3 at Old Navy and the pants for $3 at Old Navy, which is a store where you can buy back to school clothes, and they have the uniform section. Now, if you don't have a school with a uniform. There's going to be some things that might catch you off guard. My daughters go back to school and it's 110 degrees, but they cannot wear a tank top. A tank top is still a regular shirt. In no way is it revealing or anything like that. But they, like these kids in the picture, have their shoulders covered. So my children, my daughters, have to have their shoulders covered. They cannot wear flip flops or pronged shoes. They have to have toes covered because of the playground and the PE games.  

They have to have real, you know, tied up shoes on their feet. So if you have flip flops that the kids have just had for a while, they've been wearing them all summer. They wore them on the flight the journey, you might find that you're at the store buying a pair of real sneakers, real shoes to put on their feet that are a little more athletic based. But if your child is very young, the dress code is still not too hard. Have their shoulders covered, have their toes covered. You have teenagers. If you have a 16 year old, it gets a little more it can be a little more complicated, just interpersonally. My oldest does not understand why she cannot wear a halter top. She's 12 she's very innocent. The halter tops where they show your tummy are on all the store racks, and she just thinks they're cute. You cannot show your tummy at school. You will be telling your teenager, no, you cannot show your tummy at school. If they're very young and very innocent. They actually don't understand why, but yes, the dress code will be more strictly enforced in the older grades, because they are trying to protect your children.  

Also, they're trying to just make sure your children are learning how to present themselves in public. So you'll just be reading through those making sure your kids are covered, making sure that they've got proper footwear and nothing too distracting. Can't think of anything super distracting, but I know there's certain hats you can't wear, big, showy hats at school, or things that are going to distract other kids, and those are usually pretty easy guidelines to follow. The dress code is not super difficult, but the rules they do have are usually pretty strict, and again, not having kids, I've only heard things, so maybe you can confirm for me, if a child goes to school and they're not wearing the appropriate items to be compliant with the dress code, will they be sent home? Will they be put in like a detention type area. How does that work? They're going to call the parents and allow them to bring the clothes to school, because they also don't want your child to miss school.  

They're going to do the best they can, but the best they can do is bring your child to the office. Your child will sit in the office while either mom or dad or grandma, whoever is available, brings them appropriate clothes to either cover them or get their feet covered, or whatever it is that is wrong, they will sit in the office and wait till you bring them clothes, and that can be a little embarrassing, especially for the older children. If that girl gets called out because her shorts are too short, and you gotta go sit in the office and everybody's like, Where were you? And you have to admit, my shorts were too short, you can actually lead to a little bit of embarrassment for your child. So always follow that dress code strictly, because sometimes it is not so obvious. You don't realize that the shorts were too short, neither did your daughter, but it can be embarrassing later.  

So check that dress code very closely, just to ensure that your daughter or your son, I say daughter, says, I have three daughters, so I don't have a son, but your son can be called out for just inappropriate like I said, maybe a crazy hat or a hoodie that has tassels that are jingling and clat, anything that is distracting. So it can be a little embarrassing if your child gets called to the office and has to wait for a change of clothes and then go back to class, so it you want to send them to school on a good foot, got it. And so last thing would be school supplies. So how is somebody going to know what they need to get for their child to be able to start school with the right supplies? That is an excellent question. The day you go to register your child, they should be able to supply you with a paper list. Now, as the years keep going by year now, in 2024 this was the first year I actually couldn't get my hands on a paper list, but they showed me where the school website was, and they showed me how to find the school list on the school's website.  

So either a paper list can be handed to you, or there's the school website and also at our local Walmart, if you go to customer service and say, My child is going to Pillsbury Elementary, where's the list? What do I need to buy? The Walmart actually is a huge shopping center that almost every town you go to is going to have, and usually the Walmart will have the school supply lists for your child, but they will get you in the right direction. Whether you do or don't have supplies yet, still register your kid. Send them if it takes you a week or two to get to a store or to get that paycheck so you can go buy supplies, they will not send your child home from public school because you don't have supplies. So you do not need to stress about having those supplies up front in the way that you do need to have proper footwear and stuff up send your child to school, you will get the list at some point the teachers are very patient giving you a few weeks to get those supplies that you might need. And it's very basic things like pencils and paper.  

Some of them might require headphones to do the computer work at school, but they'll give you some leeway there. So don't withhold registering your child just because you can't afford supplies. Just yet, that's a really good point, and thank you for bringing that up. Now we're going to move into something that people have a lot of potential assumptions about which is when school closes for the day. What happens with their kids? Do they, you know, if they're five years old, for instance, do they get bused home, and then they can just wait for mom or dad to get home? Or is childcare going to be necessary? So how should a parent plan to address that. So once school is over, the planning is in your hands. You've gotta figure something out. Most schools do have something called like ASP, the after school program. It can be different acronyms that can hold you over till about 6pm almost all elementary schools have some sort of after school program, but you do pay to register your kid for that program, which is one big lump of upfront fee.  

Then you pay by the hour. So you this is not a free service the public education that taxpayers pay for is just during that school day only. Anything after that you're paying by the hour for the child care. So this is a little bit tricky if you're going to be working 12 hour shifts as a nurse, and maybe you're working 7am to 730 but you're not actually finishing your shift till eight, if you're on a med search floor, and then you're getting out of there at 830 Well, that's two and a half hours have gone by if you do not pick up your child from the school by the time that ASP closes, whether it's five or six or 630 every school might vary a little bit differently If you are not there before the school closes, they will call the police to come pick up your child, and then you will have to pick your child up from the police station. They do not make teachers work, you know, 17 hours a day, just because one child does not get picked up, they call the police. The police takes your child. And so you have to have a plan.  

If you work 12 hour shifts, if you are coming with a spouse, you've kind of got a built in plan. So long as he can your spouse, whether it's a male or female, as long as your spouse can get a job that alternates your hours, then one of you should be free, but it will be something you do have to plan for and figure out what to do. You can pay for the after school care program. If you're working 12 hour shifts, you're still going to have a little bit of a puzzle to work with. And Crystal we were talking about this yesterday that you know, if the child is probably like 11 and under, and Maggie chime in here too, if this is something you're aware of from your experience. But if they're 11 and under, they have to be legally. You have to be monitoring them. So you can't say my kid's a very responsible kid, and I'm just, you know, they can stay at home by themselves, and they'll behave and they'll be safe. There are laws here that govern whether you're allowed to leave that child unattended. Yeah, there are laws, and it is not the same law everywhere. So that's what makes it a little tricky. You there's no way for me to say in the US they have to be 11, or there's no number, really. However, you. Your neighbors, your apartment mates, everybody kind of sees you and sees your kid.  

If you have a very responsible 10 year old child, sometimes you can leave them for maybe an hour or two while you go to a doctor's appointment or something like that. And nobody, everybody knows that that 10 year old who is alone, is very responsible and knows the area because they've been there a few weeks. However, if you have a 12 year old who's completely still struggling with maturing, and they're a little bit not dependable, and you leave that child alone, the neighbors are going to call and they're going to say, hey, this child isn't really safe. They shouldn't be unattended. They're not really ready to not have parental guidance around the age of 14 or 15, if you leave your child alone, nobody's going to say anything. It is normal for people to leave a child who is approaching 14 or 15. Again, this is for short periods. Though, if you if it's summertime and there's no school, you don't want to be leaving a 13 or 14 year old at home for 13 or 14 hours all alone. That is not okay. You've got to think forward about parental or adult supervision on your child, who's under the age of 15. You can always do a few hours to your judgment, but you had better. You have to really have good judgment. You can't say my child is 12.  

They're fine by themselves. It needs to kind of, it's very muddy there. So you really want a solid plan for how they're going to have adult supervision. There's murky years between 11 and 13 where some children are okay on their own and some are not. You've gotta navigate that with a lot of it's hard to navigate those waters. It's hard even for us in America to navigate that murky age where they're right in the middle of being okay by themselves, but do not plan to move to another country and just think, well, I'll just leave them. That is my plan. That's if they're in those murky years, that's not a good plan, right? Maggie, before we move a little more into the special needs part of our of our show today, I wanted to ask, in relation to special needs children, can do they? Can they access that after school, program, care, or because of some of their special needs, those resources may be iffy for that, that's a great question, and it will vary, similar to variations between states.  

You know, different programs will provide different services, I guess you could say and be equipped to be able to watch and provide child care for a child with special needs. For some it might not be a big deal, but that is definitely something if you're going to be accessing you know before school or after school care, making sure that they know you know any sort of special needs that your child may have. So they may be able to do a little bit of research before they get here, but then some of the details of what that child needs, again, that's where documentation comes in, and that's where dialog with the school about what resources they may have specific to those needs is going to be really important. So let's talk money for just a minute, because I think sometimes people make plans with assumptions about what things are going to cost here too. So we do have a slide somewhere in there, and I can tell you that one of the things I personally heard some healthcare professionals say when they're moving in is, I plan to have a nanny. And I'm like, That's not typically a thing here for nurses.  

That might be more for a wealthier individual, because of how nannies are compensated here. So be sure that you don't wait until the last minute to make that child care plan. But also be realistic about what it's going to cost. Do your research about that as well. So daycare centers, they also have restrictions on how long they're open. If you're working night shift that may that's, you know, I don't know if many daycare centers, unless they may be attached to the hospital sometimes that will have those kind of odd hours, if you can bring a family member with you, great sometimes churches and other faith based, faith based institutions have preschool programs or after school programs or things like that, and you may find we didn't really talk a whole lot about it, but preschool. Um, may also be an option and even be a way to get some of those special needs addressed prior to them starting kindergarten. So if they're in that preschool age range, that's something that you want to do some research on. You can use websites to find caregivers, or at least get a sense of what those caregivers are qualified to do.  

For instance, there's, I think there's a babysitter website that's kind of national, and when you look up for your area, it will tell you whether that babysitter has, like, done BLS training or something like that. So you can, you know, kind of look at those as well and make friends with the people who are here, not just within your comfort zone, but with you know your community start to network. One of the things that actually makes it the hardest is when you're talking to someone who doesn't know the community, doesn't know the people, doesn't know the neighbors, is keeping to themselves, and therefore there's less options.  

And yet, a lot of times, healthcare professionals come into communities where, if they network a little bit, they find that they can maybe, on their day off, watch their neighbor who's also a nurse or healthcare professional, and then on the day they're off, they watch your kid or pick them up from school or whatever. And so you end up sharing duties. But if you stay in closed and don't network and don't get to know people in your apartment complex and in your community and at work, and not just your preceptor. More than that, then you can actually find some of these alternatives. But in talking about money, take a look at this slide for just a minute. So these are weekly costs, and they're an average. It could be more or slightly less in some locations because of cost of living, but a nanny, on average a week is going to cost you $755 a week. 

A child care center is obviously significantly less than that a family care center maybe a little less. And after school care kind of is on par with a child care center. So again, keep researching and getting to know what's out there so that you budget and you plan ahead for what that's going to look like as a cost for you to make sure that you're meeting your child's needs, not just with school, but also what happens before or after. All right, let's turn to a little more in special needs. So Maggie, can you tell us what is special education in public schools here? Sure, great. And this is kind of a broad definition, but it is essentially a specialized, designed instruction at no cost to parents to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability. So really, what we're saying here is anybody who has a child who is going into the public education school system and is learning differently than, say, a typical peer will have the opportunity to be identified as a child who should have what we call an IEP, an Individualized Education Plan or program, and essentially starting at the beginning. Let's say you come over with documentation, you know, from your child's home school, and we read it here, a special ed team reads it and says okay this is similar to how we provide services.  

Then your child will essentially be brought into our special education system, if not and you are having concerns maybe about your child's development, like Holly said, as early as preschool age, so before kindergarten, we could identify a child who is learning differently or developing maybe a little slower than a typical peer, and once we identify that there is something different, you know, you can talk to your teacher, or your child's teacher, or, you know, a school counselor, depending upon you know who your contact is at the school, and really partner with them to say these are my concerns, or this is what I see at home. They may also see similar signs of development or difficulties with learning, and say, Yeah, you know what? Let's do some testing. So that would be the next step in special education is completing testing by educational specialists. So what are educational specialists? Yeah, it can be a variety of different types of people, like a speech therapist like myself, occupational therapy.  

There are educational specialists who really specialize in reading and writing and math, along with we have psychologists with school psychologists that specialize in identifying cognitive differences and or just how a child learns. With that testing, then would come, let's identify if they are eligible for special education services, and that's when we would develop a specialized plan that IEP to provide services to a student, and I think you mentioned a little bit earlier, like enrolling them as soon as possible. But the other thing is, we talk a lot in the States about early intervention? Well, interventions, as you know, if you're a clinician, they don't happen until an assessment has happened, so until we've assessed and identified, you're not able to access those things, even if you know this is probably what the issue is, or the challenge that my child is having, and this is what might help clinicians. I mean, we know a lot, but getting that official process underway so that we can properly identify what the concern is, what the problem list is, how that can be addressed, what resources are available, all of those things happen because you start that process in a timely manner.  

And the other thing is, if you're not sure, that's what assessments are for, so maybe you're like, This is not my area of expertise, but I think there's something, then an assessment can be done to help try and identify, yes, this, this is maybe, you know, worthy of an official diagnosis and some interventions being developed in a plan IEP. All of that comes not from you identifying what the problem is, but from you saying there's something different or, you know, something that I'm concerned about, and so I'd like to at least get this looked at and assessed. So Maggie mentioned that those things are free if your child is found to be eligible, but that eligibility doesn't happen based on what happened before it happens, based on what's happening and being assessed now, so bring that documentation, but understand there will still be a process that's completed to make sure that the right things are put in place for your child if that's what's needed.  

So what? When we think about like the types of services Maggie that might be available and the types of settings, is there any information that you can share that might be helpful to the broader group. And then I've got one of our nurses who's watching has a scenario we're going to try and talk through a little bit, maybe see if you have some ideas on might be useful for her as well. Sure so services are provided in a variety of way, and you know, it can really vary depending upon the state you're in and the school district that you're in, but in general, there are, let's say, three different ways that services can be provided. So let's say your child is a typical, you know, first grader. They're enrolled in a first grade classroom, and you know, there have been some special needs that have been identified, and let's pretend I am. There's the speech therapist who is going to be part of your child's special education team.  

I may go into his classroom, work with his teacher and provide some extra supports to your child who is on an IEP plan, along with maybe some other students who are identified, you know, and are requiring some extra support while in that general education setting, another way could be again, as a speech therapist, I might pull them out of that general education classroom and work either one on one or in a small group to really focus on specific skills that we want to help develop or provide strategies. You know, in that pull out model, it is sometimes a little easier, because it is a small group or again, one on 1/3 way. Could it be in a different type of classroom? Let's say a this. Student who is in fourth grade, you know, had been identified back in preschool as needing more support, more educational support, in order to access the curriculum, in order to participate in, you know, what is expected of a you know, typical Elementary School kiddo, they might be in a different classroom, and so I may go into that classroom and support the child in that classroom, as well as pulling them into my speech room. So there are definitely different ways that support can be provided.  

But I you know, I want to remind everyone, you as a parent, are part of a team, the Special Education team. So everybody is working together to support any student who is identified with special needs or, you know, requiring specialized education. It's really a team approach, and we're wanting to best support the student to be able to again, access curriculum and learn. 

So we may not know when the child arrives here, which of those settings and modalities are going to happen, but that's why, you know, the school may reach out to say, okay, we're ready to talk about test results, and we want to come up with plans. So there will be dialog with the parent around what the recommendations are and everything, just like you would do at the bedside in a hospital role, you'll be talking with your patient and your family and explaining and educating and getting their input about what is going to be helpful, and what is the best plan? So it's not like somebody tells you, this is what we're going to do, and you have to just go you also are going to have a voice and advocate for your child. So now to that scenario, I gotta check the details again make sure I'm right. I think Arlene said she has an 18 year old cerebral palsy male child and a 10 year old girl, and she's got a job offer to work in Athens, Georgia.  

So what are some of the things Maggie that you would tell Arlene about, maybe the age of her child, as well as, what are some of the things that she might need to consider for her particular scenario and diagnosis, sure. So again, if you have any documentation from your child's 18 year old their educational progress, you know how they were being educated in your current country, definitely bring that documentation with you. Special education services are provided in the majority of states. Again, this can this can vary by a year or two, but in general, up to 21 years of age, so your 18 year old still will be able to participate in, you know, sometimes they're called like an adult transition program. Again, that name can vary. The acronym can vary from state to state, district to district. However, your child will be able to provide, be provided with services up to about age 21 so again, you know, prior to coming here, doing research on like, what Crystal was saying, the school districts in the area probably, where could your child with CP be able to be provided with the best services possible and from there, again, they you may have to go through a full testing process, assessment process, to see exactly where your child with CP is currently performing, you know, again, get that baseline.  

And then from there, they'll make recommendations on goals to address and that sort of thing, like service delivery, and again, come up with a plan that will be reviewed on an annual basis. And then go from there, and we do have a link we're all we're going to drop into the chat as well. That kind of is just a general overview of some of the steps of the process for special needs children being enrolled and getting access to those programs. And what are some of the expectations around timelines so schools, once they're made aware of a concern Maggie, do they do have, like, a certain amount of time in which to get that assessment underway and start figuring out what's happening, right, correct? Yes. So there is, there could be a screening process that that occurs, and that is generally a smaller window if a request for a screen is made by a parent.  

But then if a parent requests an evaluation from the time, or even, let's say, a team decides yes, the student should be evaluated from the time that paperwork is signed, so you as the parent or you know guardian, will have to sign documentation stating, yes, I am okay with the school district performing these evaluations, and they'll have like a list of what evaluations are recommended once that is signed and you return that to the designated person, there is a 60 day, which all of the evaluations or testing by each specialist has to be completed and a meeting has to occur. So they'll the district will be reaching out to you as parents, or again, as caregivers guardians, to establish a meeting, and that all has to occur within 60 days. So when you're thinking something might happen like immediately, 60 days may seem like a long time, but again, there's a process, and they have set a maximum amount of time in which certain things will need to be started once that process is underway, to get that evaluation, and I heard you mentioned screening. S 

o again, this sounds a lot like clinical, bedside and acute care we may have like, especially with PTE OET speech, they do a quick screen. That's not a full on evaluation, but it's just kind of to test for those basic things and then decide, do we need that full on, extensive evaluation, and then proceed from there. So I'm hearing something similar on the school side, Yes, yep, correct. And let's say it doesn't warrant a full evaluation. That doesn't mean that recommendations could still be made from that screening. You know, again, as a speech therapist, I may make recommendations to the general education teacher and say, you know, when you're working with this student, you're may want to modify the way in which you present your information, or the way a test is presented, just different ways in which, you know, maybe I saw a student will perform To the best of their abilities, or access again curriculum as best as possible.  

Alright, so we have another scenario that just popped up here. I'm going to make sure I get this nurse. Jane has three kids. The eldest is turning five, October, 19. So we talked about that cut off that, you know that might be a bit of a challenge for at least kindergarten, not necessarily for preschool. Has been diagnosed with ASD moderate level second is turning three, October 16, and the youngest is a year old on September 25 that's close to my birthday. Congrats my question is about my eldest daughter, can she enter school with special needs at her age as soon as we get to the US, or will we have to wait so again, I think maybe pre, pre kindergarten services. But ladies, what do you know about this? Maggie, yes, yeah, there are definitely programs on that preschool level, typically. So as Holly was saying, there is the early intervention age that's birth to three years, and let's say a child has been diagnosed with ASD at age two, early intervention services are provided again, actually, that's a free service as well. Federally mandated, those services can be provided in many different ways, through your community.  

Once a child turns three years of age, the school district is expected to continue those services. So again, if a child has a diagnosis of ASD, or really anything else that states, you know, services are required in order to help a child, you know, acquire skills on a developmental pathway, then the district has preschool programs to support their learning and development. So yes, as soon as I would start researching now, similar to what Crystal was saying, identify a school district, you could even reach out to their special education department and find out exactly what their process would be once you are in that area. Once you move here again, any documentation that you have, please bring it with you. It will be super helpful for that. Special Education Department and team to see what has already been you know, what evaluations have been completed, what goals are recommended, what type of service delivery, that sort of thing. But we do have special education programs starting at the preschool level. Awesome, good to know. So I see a couple more comments here. I'm going to try and address I think we can do them kind of quickly. What about schools for exceptional students and pupils? So ladies, anybody have any information on that that you would like to share sure our public schools are actually wonderful for exceptional students and pupils.  

Two of my three kids are in something called a target program. It's talented and something gifted education, something and I am their mom, and I still get mixed up on what the acronym fully stands for, but it is like a talented and gifted program. They pull my daughters out of their math class because they are actually ahead in math, and so they actually continue to challenge them. They take the schools actually take great pride in being able to challenge the children when they seem a little bit ahead of the class, but they keep them with their peers, which is keeping them socially developing appropriately. Also, it's not good to take a fourth grader and put them in a sixth grade class with sixth graders. There's just developmentally different things going on. So for the exceptional children, if it's for if it's math, if my husband is an engineer, I'm not. I think they got that math from my husband. They're just really good at math.  

So they pull them out, they give them very challenging math homework while the teacher does the math. Home the math lesson with the other students in the class. Then our kids go back to their class and meet up for the other things, like social studies and things that aren't necessarily you know that they're going to be ahead in they do have science clubs. My children join the science clubs, where they get extra challenges in science and technology and engineering and math. They really do. It's not just a do a volcano and have a competition. It's a really challenging science program that they're in where they work with robotics and learning how to code. So public schools are well geared towards exceptional students, the whole gamut from helping with children with disabilities to children that are exceptional. They are equipped to do all of it. If you really want your child to maybe begin Harvard at the age of 13, you're going to have to go the private school route, and you're going to pay a lot of money to do that, but you're going to have to really think through what is your end goal for the child being in a very expensive school.  

I will brag that as long as you have done your research and your school is at least a six out of 10, not a one out of 10, then you're going to have a school that is well equipped to challenge your child at the level that they're at. And I've heard that like a lot of high schools now, have certain focuses for their students as well. If they're interested in looking like maybe they want to go into healthcare at in their high school age, there may be a program that they can join that actually focuses more on those topics. May even give them some exposure to clinical settings and things like that same thing with science and math and engineering and all of that. So when you're doing your research and it's high school age, and you're thinking, maybe my child isn't gifted, but they already show an affinity towards a certain career path, there are also tests that are done to kind of determine what their natural inclinations and interests might be in certain careers, and so you know, just be aware there's probably a lot more than you know.  

You just don't want to assume. You want to do your research. The other one, it was a quick question about, do private schools have uniform requirements that's going to vary? Just like public schools, everybody's going to have a dress code, but not everybody's going to require uniform. Some private schools do, and some don't. So again, check out their website, and you know if you need to give them a phone call, but you can usually glean a lot of information just from looking on the web at the school's information to determine what their academic focus is, what their resources are, and things like that. I have personal connections who because their children had special needs, developmental challenges, or maybe I know one struggled with speech, actually, and I forget the condition, but ended up it was actually better for her to leave private school and enroll in a public school where those resources were provided, and she's been able to get past most of that.  

Through the techniques and education that were provided in the public school system. But you know, that was, you know, a tough decision at first, but then her family obviously realized this is what's needed to help her excel and meet her best potential. That's really what we're looking at, is, what is that potential and how do we help that child need it just going to close out. I know we're kind of a little past time here. So is there any, maybe last thought Maggie, that you would share with those who are watching today? Sure, I would say, you know, I feel as though a lot of people think or assume that special education is a negative thing or a bad thing, and you may be scared or nervous to bring up any concerns that you have about your child's educational progress or development. Please, don't be it really is meant to support children and their educational growth. We, those of us who have worked in the special education we want to help just like nurses want to help people in a hospital or medical setting. We as educators, want to really help students meet their potential. And that's really all it is. And, you know, work as a team member with your child and, yeah, so it's all positive. Doesn't have a negative connotation. 

And again, that's always about meeting their best potential, and sometimes that may mean a very minimal amount of adjustment to the approach that's being used, or there may be a significant amount of resources that can be put into use for that purpose. Crystal, anything you would like to share, well, it's like, there's a song called a baby changes everything. It's true for everybody around the world, a baby changes everything. If you're on this journey to get a visa through your nursing career and come to the US, these programs that I work for that many, there's several available. They're geared towards your education, your pathway, your specialty, your everything but a baby changes everything.  

You have to consider that when you're about to go to a new country, you care more about your kid, like I said before, than anybody else. Put the work in on your side. These pathways that our companies have laid out are geared towards employers and employee relationships. They are not geared towards your children always. So you are going to have to be the one who makes the who makes the research happen, who makes everything fall into place for your kid. You have to be the one to ensure is school even an option if you've got a three year old, preschool is not a public school. Preschool is not free preschool is something you will pay for, so just keep everything in mind about your child's needs when they are coming to the US.  

Also make sure that you are interviewing with a place that you're going to be proud to raise your family in, because these are long term commitments in these areas. So be sure that you have a place where you're going to later on, be glad that you had your kids in that particular school or area. From school age on, you kid, your kids will have access to public education. Prior to that, you are going to need another adult, whether it is a spouse or a person who comes with you. There is no free childcare for babies, two year olds, three year olds, so you are going to need to have a plan. So we just want you to have the best transition to America that you can have. And if you have kids that involves planning out their pathway along with yours, alright? Great advice, ladies.  

Thank you so much for joining us and sharing all this great information, and to those of you who are watching, I appreciate everybody who signed off. We ran a little tight on time, obviously, so I didn't get a shout out to a lot of you who shared where you're watching from, but we know you're all over the world and that you're from all different walks of life and interests, and we are all in this together to help give you the tools and information to have a successful transition to the US. So for now, that's it we hope to see you next time on Lefora talk show, join us for our AMN academies, as I think happened on Mondays, and we are also going to share some retrogression stories on our AMN International onwards and upwards show coming August 30. We hope you'll tune in for that. I'll be back on that show, I believe, to cover some clinical corner segment. And here are our AMN Academy shows that are coming up. So we hope you'll join us and on that note, Goodbye everyone. Have a great rest.