My Toddler was Diagnosed with Autism and We are Moving to Panama
When Plans Meet Reality: Navigating a New Autism Diagnosis Abroad
When this parent reached out on social media about relocating to Panama with their newly-diagnosed autistic toddler, it struck a chord. They were concerned their carefully laid plans might need reconsideration - a feeling many parents in similar situations understand all too well.
The Reader's Question
Mom of 3 kids ages 2-11. The plan was to move to Panama this summer and I'm worried that my plans may be interrupted. My 2-year-old was just diagnosed autistic. Anyone have kids on the spectrum or diverse learners? Are there resources in Panama to support neurodivergent kids?
This will be long - but I hope it is helpful as you decide what to do.
As the parent of a near tween with AuDHD (Autism with ADHD) who received his autism diagnosis at age 2.5, I've walked this path. We recognized the delays and began speech therapy by 18 months and occupational therapy (OT) by age 2, so that first diagnosis wasn't entirely unexpected. My son was considered low verbal until nearly age 4, and additional diagnoses emerged as he entered school.
Since you have older kids, you've got some insight into the fact that their needs do change as they develop. And the supports they need at age 2, will be very different at 5 and then at 10 and so forth. We have traversed a variety of educational setups and therapies and have had to learn to engage flexible thinking ourselves on what his path would look like - and knowing to move on when something wasn't serving him anymore despite our best efforts or how much we ourselves "liked" the people/resources/setting.
After years of support, he was discharged from all therapies at almost 9, and we moved to Panama at a mid-elementary grade - switching to homeschooling in the process. We use a secular, eclectic approach with a private tutor online (someone who taught him IRL previously so they had established a rapport with him and were well aware of his needs and abilities).
We are enrolled in an online umbrella school to provide some reporting structure to our homeschool with an enrollment letters, ID cards, report cards, and eventually, a transcript. Twice a year, he participates in MAP Testing to track his progress. He studies everything at grade level except for Mathematics which is a couple levels behind, and we are OKAY with it because the learning setting can support it without disturbing his own sense of self or peace.
Most of all, he enjoys learning and we adore the flexibility it affords our family.
In preparation for our move, we started with a tour of the bilingual international school that felt closest philosophy and culture-wise to his last private school (age 5-9), and were kindly advised he would need a dedicated aide. Which we calculated would more than double the tuition. I had a lovely list of other international private schools - but at that stage, they were correct that he needed continued supports in a classroom. And to be fair to them, we've done summer camp at that school and plan to do so again in future, because camp was overall a success.
We also toured a Learning Center in a suburb of the city, led by a very experienced Special Education teacher with a low-ratio (think one teacher working with 3 kids), super-individualized learning setup similar to his "autism school" from age 2-5. And, as it should be - to support livable educator salaries - the tuition was high and incredibly close to what we had paid for a similar approach in the US. Ultimately, we decided we wanted flexibility and freedom - hence the schooling-at-home arrangement above.
For a more comprehensive framework to guide your decision-making process, I've created a free downloadable resource: "Essential Questions for Moving Abroad with Autistic Kids." This PDF walks through crucial considerations from healthcare and education to social supports and legal protections. You can download it using the button below this article.
Location Matters: Why Urban Centers Offer More Support
So, my best advice, if Panama is your long-term home base is to go where the largest pool of supports and resources are - and in my humble opinion, that would be Panama City. With a newly diagnosed autistic two-year old child, you should head to the biggest city - I would give the same advice for any country you consider expatriating to with a young child who has a newly identified developmental (or other health) diagnosis. Simply because, you do not know what they will need as yet.
At age 2, we had the usual pediatrician and dentist, but also saw neurologists, psychologist, audiologist, allergist, did all sorts of testing, as well as speech therapist and occupational therapist twice a week, and eventually behavioral therapy 4-5 days a week. Plus consider the options for pre-schools and primary schools with the different philosophies and curricula and teachers. The teachers will spend the most time with your learner, guiding them along with their peers - who will rightfully need to have their own needs met in an equitable manner. Moral of the story is: you need to assemble your support system and ideally, you have a large pool of candidates from which to choose.
Our son made the biggest leaps when those teachers and therapists and other providers collaborated, so they need to know what each other is doing. Staying organized is central to moving things along, but at some point, they will need to connect - for example, speech and OT will need to shadow them in the classroom or speak with a classroom teacher about how to best individualize or accommodate your child's needs.
Will your child need any or all of this? Maybe not.
But depending on how far off their developmental milestones they are, you may need access to services like these.
With the increasing number of kids with special needs - it's not just in the United States - access to certain services can be limited. Panama is modern in many ways but traditional in things like working hours and holidays, which are respected here. So the number of appointment slots you have available to begin with will be limited. And if having English-speaking service providers is important to you, then you limit that pool even more. Same thing if you are looking for providers who have studied or worked in their fields in the U.S. or Canada - not because they have better education or training but simply, if you are seeking a familiar approach, culture-wise.
Perhaps you practice attachment or gentle parenting and need therapists who respect your non-negotiables during sessions, understanding the importance of maintaining trust and emotional safety for your child. Cultural approaches to child development vary significantly across countries. By extension, professionals within those cultures may potentially have different perspectives on independence, discipline, and achievement milestones than what you're accustomed to in your home country.
You and your child will be spending a lot of time with these specialists, and some therapists may even come into your home to provide services in a non-school or clinic setting to work on social skills or do parent training. And sometimes a provider that is great on paper or at the evaluation, is simply not professional, or doesn't have schedule availability, or doesn’t accept insurance, or costs too much, or simply isn't the right fit after all.
So, yes, you can drive in from the beaches or the interior, but when those last minute specialist spots pop up, how convenient will that be? Plus juggling the schedules and needs of everyone else in your household. Your other children are also young, and need your attention. Creating a home base where you can serve the highest-support needs with most ease, is giving yourself a gift.
In the U.S., we drove 25 miles each way to take our son to school from age 2 through 9 - that was 100 miles a day on our cars, and toll on our bodies sitting in the cars (a lot of time in the drive thru just grabbing coffee and snacks, trying to make it to that afterschool therapy appointment and back home in reasonable time for dinner). Would I do it again? YES! Would he be where he is today without any of those environments? He certainly would not. But, I know, practically speaking, that if we had his diagnosis before we committed to that specific home in that specific school district - that we would have considered that home base location differently.
Also consider if spending time in the car is a sensory-positive thing for your child, as if it is not enjoyable, or at least acceptable, it will increase the burden. That's a lot of hours strapped into a carseat they dislike while you navigate the nuances of transportation in Panama.
Driving here is not particularly relaxing - think ongoing closures and diversions due to construction (yay! new roads or trains or whatnot), lane reversals during heavy traffic where the 3+3 lane highway converts to 5+1 lanes to accommodate the heavy flow in a certain direction, police roadblocks and document checks, unpredictable pedestrian patterns, animals (we navigated a herd of cows coming directly at us one day, led by a gentleman on a horse, I kid you not), unfamiliar streets, inconsistent signage, unbelievably large potholes, and motorists who generally consider road rules and signage to be mere suggestions.
And the honking! Which my neurospicy child interprets as aggression 1000% of the time - so now we have a lot of “talks” yelling inside the car about “nice honking in Panama” vs “road rage honking in Texas” and how the man driving the yellow taxicab is not trying to hurt us - he’s already moved on with his afternoon.
Suffice it to say, I spend a fair amount of time here figuring out how to avoid being on the road.
Building Your Support Network
Coming back to the support system: we have made many close friends in therapy waiting rooms over the years. You will see the need for this in the next year or two. Because as they outgrow babyhood, "the typical friends" often drift away. Their kids play baseball and go to ballet classes, when we are sitting outside the [insert therapist’s office] wondering if our kiddo will do [x, y, or z random goal that someone decided a child their age needed to do]. That support group is important. When our kid got too quirky for those in his age group, these were the friends that remained. We were quirky together.
My support system was a small group - 5 Moms with 10 kids between us, 9 boys and 8 of them with autism or another developmental need. "We brought the party" because a playdate with us was like no other. We were stimming, and eloping, and white rice only eating, please don't sing happy birthday or I will meltdown right-here-this-minuting. We knew who would not judge our child or us, and who would understand those deepest fears and seemingly nonsensical milestones most children pass through without a celebration. Those Moms are my circle, and though the kids have grown up, we soldier on meeting their new needs with hopefully bigger dreams and the occasional cute pic entry to that once epic group chat.
Find your circle.
Cultivate your support system.
Choose the home base that gives you a community for this.
The Gift of Early Diagnosis
In the years since, I've met and befriended dozens of parents and families facing similar developmental challenges for their young children. What I've observed is that it's better to go heavy on services early.
I once cried alongside a close friend whose child didn't get their autism diagnosis till age 8. That sweet family faced so many years struggling with their “quirky kid” dealing with unmet needs and behaviors, getting kicked out of preschools and camps, doubting their parenting methods, managing stress within the family.
I knew what my own experience was like, and having that diagnosis underscored that our child wasn't broken in any way.
He just needed more support and different expectations.
Maybe his leaps weren't from 1 to 2 to 3.
Maybe it was 1.25 to 1.5 to 1.75 and then 2.
And that had to be OKAY.
This early diagnosis was a gift in itself, we were given both TIME and GRACE.
And if you decide, that your child needs it or you want to take a more holistic or alternative approach - let’s say integrative medicine or equine therapy - you’ll still have the best selection of options being based in- and around- the biggest metropolitan areas. Go too far out, and you might limit what you can reasonably access and do.
Our Applied Behavior Analysis Therapy aka ABA provider encouraged home and community sessions - and accompanied us on household shopping trips and to cafes - and even to swim lessons when we were struggling with certain aspects of the class. We tried but eventually had to switch to a 1-on-1 lesson format before the pool officially opened for afternoon classes. The acoustics and activity of an indoor pool auditorium, filled with excited children, wasn’t working for our kiddo → This is a great example of when your support system collaborates AND you have options for services.
The little nugget who wouldn’t put his face in the water later became an excellent swimmer!
Practical Next Steps for Panama
For families moving to Panama with neurodivergent children, start with these resources:
Join the International Families in Panama Facebook group - an excellent information source
Utilize Instagram for research, where many providers maintain profiles rather than websites. Same for WhatsApp for appointments and communications. (It’s a thing in Panama but it seems to work - that I can chat with friends, send lab results to my doctor and make a bakery order on the same app is interesting)
Consider touring international schools - though be prepared - even if they are welcome, your child may need a dedicated aide, potentially doubling tuition costs. We've had positive experiences with summer camp programs, which provided a valuable test run as to whether a specific school environment could even begin to be a good fit for our learner. Great test run, but again, summer camp is NOT school.
There are also specialized learning centers in Panama City suburbs, led by experienced special education teachers with low student-to-teacher ratios and highly individualized approaches. These more closely resemble specialized autism schools in the US, with comparable tuition rates. Hence, you should research health insurance and budget for education and therapy expenses, accordingly.
Final Thoughts
The early intervention approach - pursuing comprehensive services right away - has proven most effective in my observation. This foundation gives your child the best chance to develop necessary skills during critical developmental windows.
Access is the first step.
Timely evaluations and therapeutic plans follow.
Establishing rapport and maintaining communication among all parties - including yourself - is essential for meaningful progress.
Wherever your journey takes you, remember that supporting your neurodivergent child is not about "fixing" them, but about helping them find their own path forward with a community around them and the right supports in place.
Do you have experience with autism support in Panama?
Please share your insights in the comments. Your firsthand knowledge could be invaluable to families considering this transition.
DISCLAIMER: This article is based on personal experience and insights. Support services and legal protections for individuals with disabilities vary widely and change frequently. Please consult with medical professionals, legal advisors, and disability support organizations specific to Panama for the most current and appropriate guidance for your situation.
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and Real Talk Panama | Expat LifeRelated Essays:
Relocating to Panama City with an Adult Son with Autism: Seeking Advice
Considering moving abroad with your autistic child? Essential Questions Checklist
Why your child's smartphone might be the biggest travel risk you never considered