Ausländerzentralregister parents’ experiences of SEN diagnosis and support in international and local schools in Germany

Drawing on more extensive work carried out for a Master’s thesis (Holmes, 2022), this article will focus on the experience of non-German parents whose children have been diagnosed with Special and/or additional Educational Needs (SEN) whilst living in Bavaria, Germany. The rationale for this research is the lived experience within the researcher’s own expatriate community, where children with SEN can be actively excluded from their local primary and secondary schools or international schools. The researcher wished to bring the frontline reality of these families into focus and give a voice to this minority group. Twenty-eight participants responded to a mixed methods online questionnaire, giving information pertaining to the experience of the SEN diagnostic process, the support offered to the child and their parents both in school and via other agencies, and the educational, social and emotional outcomes. Both quantitative and thematic analysis were employed to explore the data. The findings show that SEN diagnosis is not easy for Ausländerzentralregister (AZR; register of foreigners) families, they felt unsupported and found it challenging to understand the process. Intervention following diagnosis was reported to be somewhat successful, but was, often, not comprised of in-class support or differentiation. Suggestions for improvement include better staff and teacher training, having access to English-speaking professionals, a case manager, information in English, more positive communication and English-speaking parent support groups.