Jeddah - Post Report Question and Answers
What accommodations do schools make for special-needs kids?
The international schools I listed above all tend to have some services for special educational needs children, although children with profound disabilities may struggle to find school places and the quality of teaching may not be as high as a competently-managed IEP/504 in the United States. The local "international" schools will have virtually no support. - Oct 2022
The American School likely has the most experience with special needs considerations, but we also saw some strong individualized supports and accommodations offered at BISJ. - Nov 2020
Our son was in learning support all three years. We had a wonderful experience with learning support the first two years. We found the LS staff to be kind and thoughtful, and very, very thorough. They were also very attentive to our son and his needs, and strove to do the best they could for not only him, but every other student. The third year, as said above, was terrible in our opinion. This was partially due to the move and a massive influx of LS students that year and the LS team was stretched thinner than they should have been, which meant services were at times patchy, and communication became much more infrequent, if it existed at all. We also felt like our son's LS assistance wasn't meeting his needs, or helping him keep up with his peers. Despite numerous attempts to discuss this with staff, we felt shut down and disregarded, so we gave up bothering after a while. - Oct 2019
If you have a kid who needs learning support, AISJ has an extensive program (from what I understand, much better than Riyadh's or BISJ's). They work with IEPs and have speech therapy, I think OT is more limited. I know of at least two U.S. children diagnosed with autism who attend AISJ. Regarding physical disabilities I can't say, and I don't know if I've ever seen a kid in a wheelchair at AISJ. I would reach out ahead of time to them if you have physical disabilities to discuss. The nursing staff seems generally squared away. - Mar 2019
I heard that they have help for special kids at the american school, they have extra support with speech therapy in english and some other services. - Oct 2015
None or very basic. - Oct 2015
I haven't heard of any. - Feb 2014
Because there are a lot of family intermarriages among Saudis, there are also a lot of children with special needs. So special programs and schools can be found for special-needs kids, but their quality and quantity can make life hard for an expat. If your child's special needs are mild enough to integrate into a regular classroom, you might be able to find a spot in one of the better international schools. But places for these children are limited and often require extra parental involvement. - May 2013
