I have had some interesting discussions with parents and professionals recently relating to children with special educational needs.  Whilst some schools can give first class attention and support, there are numerous children that cannot get accepted into such schools and end up either being thrown in at the deep end in a school with no support or being given home schooling.

I came across an interesting ADHD support group (http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/myadhdsupport/) which offers support for parents (Malaysia) but it seems that the problems of effectively accommodating children with special needs in international schools is a common one.  It is inappropriate to lump together all the children (say Down syndrome, deaf, blind with ADHD for example) yet certainly there is a significant cost implication for the school if they are to provide additional staff and support.  Should there be additional fees for such children?  How does one separate EAL needs, which may be temporary, from Learning Support needs which may be throughout a child's schooling?

Having attended the recent FOBISSEA Conference in Phuket, I have to comment that it was a bit weird to have crossed over from being a Head to an Exhibitor.

It was very interesting to be able to network with the Heads (and then the Senior Managers) there and explain a bit more about the Nexus project as well as chatting with the other exhibitors.  All in all a great event (except for a touch of Thai food poisoning!)