Recently, we`ve been having to think of Gabe`s near future, which is Primary school, when he turns 6. Here in Japan, the new term starts in April and your age during this month will determine if you are eligible for primary school. Gabriel will be 6 next year, however, as he is a June baby, he will not have had turn 6 yet in April 2017. Therefore, he has to wait another year which is April 2018 for him to be eligible.
And of course, it gets even more complicated because he has Down Syndrome. So, he probably will not be able to go to a normal primary school. And, in Japan, the local council decides where he SHOULD go. So next year in April 2017, we will need to start the process and do the necessary paperworks, then they will interview both Gabe & us. During this interview, they will observe and probably ask him questions and from there, they decide whether Gabriel goes to the following:
Option A
Normal Japanese School system, within a special class. This is a small class, probably about 15-20 students, but it`s part of a typical Japanese primary school.
Option B
A special education school, where all the kids have some form of disability.
Now, where we stay, in Setagaya-ku, there are only 2 special schools. both are to us, very far, it would take me about an hour in morning traffic to reach. The bright side is that there is a school bus, but that means Gabe would need to wake up at a very very disturbing time of maybe 6am! Anyway, we had the opportunity to visit both these schools. One is very new and impressive. The building I mean. The facilities seem top notch too, with a hall, gym, pool, etc. Huge compound. teachers, well at first glance seems friendly. The other, rather run down, but I heard they are upgrading with the building next door, so it will be spankingly impressive too when finished.
Quite frankly, you can`t be sure how Gabe will fit in or whether the teachers are good or nice. Just once visit will not give you that idea. It`s more for you to see the school facilities and a glimpse into the students` daily routine. For us I`m sure Gabriel will be looked after well there. But as parents, I`m not sure if this is the right path for Gabe.
You see, previously before I visited, I had a very very bleak image in my head and I was so so sure I wouldn`t want Gabe to be part of this life. I had imagined severely disabled kids here who would ultimately slow down Gabe`s progress. I know, what a bitch I am. But I couldn't help it. I wanted so much more for Gabe and thought he could go so much further if he mixed with normal kids in a typical environment.
However, after my visits, I`m kinda on a different tune, perhaps more confused than ever, but my attitude toward these schools have changed. I can see, that many of these kids are able to learn and most of them are ADHD, Down Syndrome and Autistic. And with the care of the special teachers, perhaps they will flourish better than being in a normal school special class, where the teacher probably will not be able to focus much on Gabe. In a special school, there probably will be 2 teachers to 3-4 students. More attention, more focus.
But I know that for a lot of parents of special kids, they probably want their kids to be in a normal school because of the stigma attached being that if your child needs to go to a special school, it would mean that he or she is really really slow in learning and cannot belong to a normal environment. I don`t feel ashamed, I would never feel that way. For me, it`s more to Gabe`s capability in my eyes, yes I`m biased.
The decision isn`t entirely in our hands. If they do decide that Gabe belongs to a special school environment, we can choose to agree or appeal the decision. I`m not sure what we`ll do at this moment, but we still have time. I need to think about this.
So, that`s that. Wait n See...
