Education & support

Is your child signed up for a mainstream school? Or is your child already in school? And does your child need more support? The mainstream school has a duty of care. They have to provide support or find a suitable place for your child. This is stated in the law on inclusive education.

If parents or teachers have concerns, schools can provide extra support. The school makes an individual development plan (in Dutch an OPP) together with the parents. It includes the educational goals for your child. And what extra support your child gets. The additional support comes from the collaboration between mainstream and special education schools in a region. In Dutch, this collaboration is called a samenwerkingsverband.

Special elementary education (in Dutch SBO) is for students with mild problems. For example, behavioural problems or learning problems. SBO has more expertise on these issues than mainstream schools. Classes are smaller than in mainstream education. Are things going well in SBO? The school will consider whether your child can return to a mainstream elementary school.

Good to know:

• You need an eligibility statement from the samenwerkingsverband.
• Your child does not need a DLD diagnosis.
• You can object to a decision made by the samenwerkingsverband.
• An SBO school can also request support from special education for children with DLD.

Your child can receive a support arrangement at every elementary school and every secondary school. Or at secondary vocational education (in Dutch called MBO). An itinerant teacher will then come to school. This support comes from special education. The itinerant teacher has a lot of knowledge about DLD. Itinerant teachers mainly give advice and help to your child’s teacher. But they also help your child with DLD.

Do you want to know more about good support for students with DLD? Take a look at this checklist (in Dutch).

A small proportion of children with DLD attends special education or special secondary education for students with DLD. This used to be called cluster 2 education. These schools have a lot of knowledge about DLD. Teachers and speech and language therapists work there. So, your child attends speech and language therapy during school. Sometimes physiotherapists or occupational therapists also work there. They help children with movement (like writing). The classes are smaller than in mainstream education. Are things going well in special education? The school will consider whether your child can return to a mainstream school.

There is also special education for children with different types of problems. For example, for children with a physical handicap or chronic illness (cluster 3). Or for children with behavioural problems or psychological disorders (cluster 4). These schools fall under the samenwerkingsverband. The samenwerkingsverband determines the best place for a child with these problems.

When does your child with DLD receive a support arrangement or special education? The rules for this are outlined in the eligibility guidelines (in Dutch). In short, the rules are:

• Your child has a DLD diagnosis or a diagnosis of presumed DLD.
• The speech-language problems are severe. That means the language tests scores are low.
• There has already been help for speech-language problems. Such as speech and language therapy or home support.
• Your child has learning needsWhat your child needs to learn well at school. due to the speech-language problems. For this, you need knowledge from special education.
• The school has a support needWhat the school needs to adequately support your child.. For this, they need knowledge from special education.

Does your child have a diagnosis (presumed) DLD? And are there concerns about their academic development? Then you can request additional support from special education for DLD. This must be done through the Aanmeldpunt (an application center) of an organisation that provides special education. They will determine the best placement for your child. And what your child needs in order to learn.

• Is your child already in school or enrolled? Make an appointment with the teacher and/or the school’s internal counselor. Together with you, they will make an individual development plan (OPP). The school will then contact the Aanmeldpunt in the area. For an overview of Aanmeldpunten (application centers), see Special education schools.
• Is your child in a treatment group? The practitioners often help you with the application.

The case manager (in Dutch traject begeleider) of the Aanmeldpunt gathers all reports for the file. Sometimes, further investigation is needed. For example, if the DLD diagnosis is not yet clear. Or if the file is not complete.

• The case manager of the Aanmeldpunt assesses (together with parents and school) the child’s educational needs and the school’s support needs. Sometimes the case manager visits the school to observe inside the classroom.
• The case manager discusses the file with the team at the Aanmeldpunt. The team consists of people with different professions.
• The application center advises the Commissie van Onderzoek (a review committee). The advice states which school or type of support seems necessary.
• The Commissie van Onderzoek reviews the file and decides whether the child is entitled to extra support (support arrangement) or special education.

Good to know

The Commissie van Onderzoek decides whether your child receives an arrangement or can go to special education.

• Your child needs a (presumed) DLD diagnosis.
• An arrangement or placement in special education is not valid forever.
• Support is also available in secondary vocational education (MBO).
• You can appeal against the decision of the Aanmeldpunt or the Commissie van Onderzoek.
• The rules differ for healthcare and education.
  For example: a child may receive after-school treatment for DLD (healthcare). But that child may not be entitled to extra support from special education at school.