Elias Steiner

Elias’ reintegration process

Elias has an emotional developmental disorder.
Since the first year of his life, he has struggled to filter impressions from his surroundings.
At the same time, Elias also takes a lot on board, which is exhausting for him.
This is also known as having a sensory deprivation barrier.

At the age of four, Elias received support from a special education teacher.
The special education teacher visited the family back home. This is known as early years special education.
The special education teacher realised that it might be difficult for Elias to get along in a large group.

Elias attended a forest kindergarten for a year.
He attended kindergarten part-time.
In other words, for only a few hours a day.
Over time, the hours increased.
The special education teacher continues to support him.

Elias’ behaviour at kindergarten was unremarkable.
But at home, he exploded.

«He came home after being absolutely unremarkable at kindergarten. They sometimes forgot him because he only spoke very little or not at all, and was very well adjusted. Once he got home, he exploded completely.»

The parents are not sure whether he should attend 1st grade in mainstream school.
Is this the right setting for Elias?
The parents wanted him to go to a special school.
The special education teacher and school psychology service (SPD) supported the parents’ wish.

Elias attended 1st and 2nd grade at a special school.

«I still remember this start very well. A fine little boy. Very well-adjusted, everything done correctly. And if you hadn’t known his background, you would have had the feeling: ‹Why is this boy in special school?› (laughs). I remember very, very well.»

Elias felt very comfortable at the special school.
He quickly made friends and made great progress at school.
This was helpful for the family.
As Elias’ mother was seriously ill, the special school provided welcome relief.
The family had more time for Elias’ sibling.
That, too, was a relief.

«For us, these two years were the most carefree time since Elias went to school. […] It was a very enjoyable time for us.»

After two years, attendance at special school was over.
The canton no longer approved the separative special school education.
Elias had to switch to mainstream school, although the parents didn’t want this.

Elias switched to mainstream school.
He was reintegrated into a 2nd grade class.
This should have given him more time to make friends.
Elias made a new start with the new class.
This meant children he used to go to kindergarten with were not in his class.
This was important.
Some parents of these children did not want Elias to attend mainstream school.
They are against an integrative school.

Elias spent two weeks trying out the new mainstream class.
From the outset, he was accompanied by a social educator.
The social educator helps Elias inside and outside school.
This was helpful for Elias.

Elias struggles with change.
Moving to mainstream school was not easy for Elias.
To make reintegration easier, the teacher at the special school passed on important tips to the teachers at the mainstream school.
For example: What does Elias need in order to learn well?

Elias started in 2nd grade at mainstream school.
It was clear to the school psychologist that Elias needed a lot of support.
After all, a transition is challenging.
In eight lessons per week, Elias was supported by a social educator.
These lessons not only involved the teaching aspect, but also the support of Elias and his family.

These eight lessons were usually guaranteed for one year.
Every year, they had to make a new application and ask for support.
This is because an assessment is made by the school psychology service (SPD) every year.

The social educator discussed the application with Elias’ parents.
The social educator and the school management submitted the application.
The canton’s primary education authority decides how many lessons are available to support Elias and his family.

Elias has new teachers in 3rd and 4th grade.
This change was also very challenging for Elias.
It took a while for the teachers to know how they could offer the best support for Elias.
The social educator, Ms Nowak, continued to support Elias in eight lessons.
She informs the teachers on what they have to look out for with Elias.

«After two years with the same teachers, things start to settle down. The teachers start to know what is important and what they need to pay attention to. And then there is a change and you have to start all over again.»

In 5th grade, Elias entered a mixed-age learning (AdL) class with 40 children.
This means there are 5th and 6th grade children in this class.
There were also three teachers and one special education teacher, Ms Roth. This wasn’t easy for Elias.
He had many people as contact partners.
And he was less able to concentrate.

«There are quite a lot of children and it gets louder. Then I can’t concentrate as much.»

In 5th grade, Elias and his parents were supported in six lessons by social educator Ms Nowak.
Ms Moser, one of the teachers, and Ms Roth, the special education teacher, explained that Elias opened up more and more during 5th grade.
Elias flourished and increasingly stood up for himself.
At school, it was never apparent that he had special school status.
After all, Elias’ behaviour at school was unremarkable.
He only exhibits challenging behaviour at home.

«We thought Elias was a completely normal student when he came to us. In discussions with Ms Nowak and Elias’ mother, we found out what we needed to look out for in order to get off to a successful start. But if we as teachers hadn’t known anything, we wouldn’t have noticed anything.»

The interviews took place during the 2023 summer holidays.
After the 2023 summer holidays, Elias started 6th grade.
One year later, the transition to secondary school will take place in August 2024.
This transition will not be easy for Elias.

«This will be a tough nut to crack for Elias.»

Elias finds it difficult when many things change.
This is what happens during a transition – the school building, the teachers and the class are new.
Elias then needs precise information. He needs to know what a school day is like.

However, moving to secondary school is also an opportunity.
Elias knows that there are clearer structures here.
These help Elias a lot in his day-to-day school life.

In 7th grade, the social educator will accompany Elias and his family in six lessons.
The transition should be well supervised.
For this reason, even more support lessons can be requested.

Ms Nowak has already met the new school management.
They have found a suitable teacher for Elias.
A meeting between the new teacher and the parents has already taken place.
Elias met his new teacher in May 2024.