Moving to India with a special needs child: schools, support and settling in

The biggest change for most families is who organises the support. A school abroad may have provided a learning support assistant, a resource teacher or therapy on site. Many private schools in India admit a child and then ask the family to arrange what the child needs: a shadow teacher in class, a remedial teacher, a special educator at home and the therapies. Some schools have strong inclusion teams of their own; many rely on the family. Ask each school which applies, because it changes both the cost and the work.

The boards and the classroom change too. Families from the Gulf often know CBSE already, since many schools there follow it, while families from the UK or Singapore may want IGCSE or IB for continuity. Class sizes vary and can be larger than your child is used to, and many schools teach two or three languages, often English, Hindi and the state's language; ask what applies at your child's stage and whether an exemption is possible. Therapy is available in every large Indian city, much of it through private clinics, and the good clinicians often have waiting lists.

Gather every document before you leave, while the people who wrote them are still close at hand. A school in India will write its own plan, and the clinicians here will want the history.

• Diagnostic and assessment reports from the developmental paediatrician, psychologist or psychiatrist, with dates.
• The latest reports and current goals from the speech-language pathologist, occupational therapist and any other therapist.
• The current IEP, support plan or Education, Health and Care Plan, and the one before it, with review notes.
• School reports, samples of work and any record of accommodations in tests and exams.
• Medical records, and a letter from the treating doctor describing any medicine your child takes.

Carry originals in hand luggage and keep scanned copies in two places. If any report is not in English, ask the schools on your list whether they need a translation, and arrange it before you leave. Ask each school which documents it needs for a child joining from abroad, and whether the board asks for anything further at your child's stage. How IEPs work in Indian schools explains how a school here will build its own plan from the old one.

Ask each clinician for a handover letter: what they have been working on, what has worked and what has not, the current goals, and what they would want the next clinician to know. Ask for a home programme too, written for the weeks in between, so that the family or a special educator at home can keep the work going until new therapists are in place.

Book the first appointments in India before you arrive where you can. A video consultation before the move lets a new clinician read the reports early, and some families keep their current therapist online for the first few weeks as a bridge; ask whether yours would, and whether they would speak to their successor. The weeks around a move are when routines break and skills can slip for a while, which is one more reason to keep the home programme simple and daily.

Many families choose the city for work or family reasons, and have more choice over the area. The area decides the commute, and in Mumbai, Delhi NCR or Bengaluru the commute decides a great deal: how tired your child is at the end of the school day, whether therapy fits into the afternoon, and which shadow teachers or special educators can reach you every day. Choose the school first where you can, then a home within a reasonable distance of it and of the therapy clinic.

Visit schools before the move if a trip is possible, and ask for a video call with the inclusion coordinator if it is not. A school that is good at inclusion will talk to a family abroad, share its inclusion policy and answer specific questions about your child. Relatives in India can visit on your behalf; give them your questions and a one-page profile of your child, so that they come back with answers rather than impressions. Choosing a school for a child with special needs in India has the full list of questions.

Most Indian schools start the academic year in April or June, depending on the board and the state, and many international-curriculum schools keep their own calendar. Private schools often open admissions months before the year begins, for nursery in many cities from around October or November, and schools known for good inclusion can fill early. Ask each school on your list when its year starts, when admissions open, and whether it takes children mid-year.

Where you can choose, move during the holidays before the new year, so that your child starts with the rest of the class rather than joining a room of children who already know each other. Arrive a few weeks before school if possible: a child who has recovered from the flight, the heat and the new home is readier for a new classroom. If the move has to be mid-year, ask the school for a phased start, a buddy and a meeting with the class teacher before the first day.

Some things can only be arranged in India. Families often ask about the disability certificate and the UDID card, which some schools and authorities ask to see; our guide to the UDID card and disability certificate explains what they are and who issues them. A diagnosis made abroad is useful to clinicians here, but whether it is accepted for any Indian certificate or exam arrangement is a question for the issuing authority or the board, so ask rather than assume.

If your child may need exam arrangements later, ask the school early what its board requires and from whom. The rules differ between boards and change over time, and families continuing an international curriculum will find a starting point in our guide to IGCSE and IB access arrangements in India.

Children who find change hard cope better when it is shown to them before it happens. Make a simple book of photographs: the new home, the new bedroom, the school gate, the classroom, the school van, the teacher if the school will share a picture, and the relatives they will see more of. Read it together often in the weeks before. A visual schedule for the travel days and the first week turns a blur of airports and new rooms into a sequence your child can follow.

Keep what can be kept: the bedtime routine, favourite foods where they can be found, the familiar blanket, the same words for the same things. Write a short transition plan with your child's current school or therapists: what will change, what will stay the same, how your child will be told, and what helps when it all becomes too much. Share it with the new school and with whoever supports your child at home.

Expect visitors. A returning family is often welcomed by grandparents and relatives who want to meet the child, sometimes all at once. Brief them gently on what helps, keep a quiet room and the routine, and let your child meet people a few at a time, with an agreed way to leave the room when it becomes too much.

Treat the first term as settling in, not catching up. Ask for a meeting with the coordinator in the first two weeks and a review at the end of the first month, and agree how you will hear about the good days and the hard ones. Many children find the first weeks difficult, and sleep, eating or behaviour may change for a while; tell the clinicians and the school what you see before making big changes.

If the school has asked for a shadow teacher, settle the terms with the school before the first day, and consider someone who can also help at home in the afternoons while the family settles. Special Minds is a Dubai-based company serving families in India, and introduces vetted shadow teachers and special educators in Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune and Ahmedabad. The first conversation can happen before you move, and a shadow teacher is placed only with the school's agreement.