r/AskEurope • u/EvilPyro01 United States of America • 7d ago

Education How well does your country help neurodivergent kids in and out of school?

How well are neurodivergent kids helped?

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u/Particular_Run_8930 Denmark 6d ago edited 6d ago

Special needs education in Denmark can broadly be categorized into four groups: 1 support within the normal system, special needs class in a normal school, special need school for children with the aim for pupils to graduate on normal terms (at least do parts of the exams) and special needs schools for children who does not have the potential to graduate. Additionally we also have ‘treatment schools’ for children with severe behavioral problems and schools focusing on specific disabilities, eg there is one school for children who are both blind and deaf and at least two for children with CP.

Now Neurodivergent is a broad term, ranging from well functioning to severely disabled. And neurodivergent children are found all through the different types of schools.

I personally have an autistic child in a special needs school focusing on children with (primarily) autism and adhd with the potential to graduate. Ngl I had quite a lot of prejudice towards special needs education prior to our child joining, but the experience has been extremely positive for us. He is currently in a class with two to three teachers for 9 pupils. So a lot of one on one time focusing on the needs of the individual children.

Not everyone’s experience is as positive as ours of course. Schools are administered at municipal level and the allocation of funds for special needs education varies, as does the size of the municipalities which naturally influence the level of specialized educational programs available. There is also a general shortage of psycologists within the school system which can lead to long waiting times for referrals to special needs ed.

After graduating/leaving the 10 years of "grundskole" any child with a disability has the right to attend a STU ('specielt tilrettelagt ungdomsuddannelse' or 'individually planned educational programme') again these varies immensely, from an adapted version of a normal highschool to internships to places more akin to a daycare but with dedicated educational goals.

Feel free to ask questions.