Moving abroad to Panamá with neurodivergent school-aged kids

A Brave New World: Part 2 of 2

Mar 15, 2025

A Brave New World Part 2 of 2: Moving to Central America with school-aged kids

Relocating to a new country is a significant life change, and doing so with a neurodiverse child adds layers of consideration. When we moved from Texas to Panama with our then-9-year-old son, who is autistic (with a PDA profile), ADHD, and dyslexic, we knew planning and adaptability would be key.

Here, I’m sharing some more of what we learned to help other families who might be considering a similar move.

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published

We moved to Panama from Texas with our then 9 year old. He is neurodiverse - autistic with a PDA profile, ADHD and dyslexic. We were wrapping up 8 years of speech therapy when we made the move, but occupational and ABA had ended a few years back.

brown and gray monkey on green leaves during daytime — Sloth, Hangng Out in Tree. Photo by Bennet Robin Fabian on Unsplash

Deciding to Homeschool

During our planning trips, we toured private schools but they all said he would need an assigned aide and considering that additional cost we decided to homeschool using a private tutor (she is a former teacher of his, they meet online). We use a secular, eclectic approach to learning but would not call it unschooling. Together with the tutor, we select curriculum and purchase textbooks, curate his reading lists to map to his interests and also stretch him a little, and assign extra projects like book reports. We do participate in NWEA MAP Testing (register through Homeschool Boss) twice a year to track his progress. The best part of it has been the flexibility to meet him where he is - which is 2nd grade math but 4th grade for other core subjects. Because we are going at his pace, he is not stressed. We supplement using Outschool for electives and with materials / activities we do together as a family. He is in school pretty much year-round because we travel or take days off in between, and unlike regular school, it’s very low-demand on him.

Cover Your Bases

Research your destination well including the homeschool laws if this is an option to make sure you are compliant. Definitely join as many local and expat parent groups for your destination. Use that search bar to find resources and answers. We are enrolled in an umbrella school (Home Life Academy) to provide some basic structure to our homeschool with an enrollment letter, ID cards, loosely enter grades and report cards, and eventually have a transcript.

Opting for In-Person School

If you decide to go the school route, consider doing a longer visit over the “summer months” (which can differ by region, in Panama that’s January and February vs the international private schools its June and July) and participating in summer camp at your selected schools. It’s a good way to get a little feel for the school before committing to a hefty capital and enrollment fee.

Staying Connected

We committed to making him comfortable as a priority. For us it meant, finding an indoor play place with lots of slides, sensory friendly toys, ball pit and getting a monthly membership so we could drop-in anytime. Bonus was they have free wifi for parents so we could get something done. His bedroom was setup first, and his toys and books, even things like familiar sheets took priority in luggage. Get a VPN and your AppleTV/Roku thingie to have access to familiar shows in English. EPIC Reading, Kindle and Audible are great for getting books in English when the local bookstore doesn’t have as much variety.