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I know that there are some teachers (centers) in the Philippines that specialize in these situations.

As there used to be a specialist (private) center near where I lived (General Santos), it was called "Little Heaven" my understanding is that they have branches in other schools  -  I just had a quick search and a lot of private schools are called "Little heaven" (some are not for special needs).  From a photo of google maps I got this number  09991341133, I think that it is correct, as I took it from a snap on google maps.  I can not make a recommendation on them as I have never done business with them.  If the number is not correct or you cannot find them on the internet let me know.

Perhaps hunt those teachers and employee them directly as 1:1's.  Not sure of there wage, but I would think between 10,000php and 25,000php a month would cover the wage.

Hope that it all works our for you.

I have a 10 year old son who was diagnosed as having mild autism by a developmental pediatrician, and also a form of anxiety disorder by a child psychologist. The psychologist recommended that he be integrated into regular school instead of a special education (SPED) school. He goes to Montessori school, and is quite happy there. He does well academically, but has certain issues when it comes to socialization.

The school is aware of my son's condition. He is under a special guidance program, wherein the school helps implement intervention strategies which will help him cope better socially in school, as well as improve his socialization skills and self-expression. However, there is no aide, or what is often referred to here as "shadow teacher".  It's just regular teachers. There is an extra fee on top of tuition for the special guidance. There are regular conferences among us parents, the guidance counselor, adviser and the child psychologist / consultant.

In some schools here in Metro Manila, especially progressive schools, there are shadow teachers for students who have special needs. I would have liked to enroll my son in such school, but the nearest one is at least a 45 minute drive from our place (and could be a lot longer when there's heavy traffic), compared to a 5 minute (max) drive from our place to the Montessori school.

There are probably similar schools in Cebu who can give your child extra guidance and attention. Hopefully you can find one that's near your place. Or that you can find suitable housing near the school. A long commute and getting stuck in traffic can be stressful for everyone, especially for children.

Thanks everyone. DS is not good in large classes - noise level, too much stimulation - so a private school is likely better, assuming their class sizes are smaller.

Do you have an approximate price for a Montessori school please? Don't need to name which school but I've seen some widely ranging figures, possibly because no units were mentioned (ie per year, per semester, per month or whatever).

Tuition fee for the Montessori school my son goes to was PhP120,000 for the current school year if paid in full. Special guidance program was an additional PhP8,000 (or PhP2,000 per quarter grading). School uniforms and initial school supplies and books was around PhP4,500. Class size is 25 to 32 students.

There are other Montessori schools near our area. The cheapest tuition was PhP65,000.

The progressive school which I would have sent my son had it not been a 45-minute drive away charged PhP85,000 for the current school year. I don't know how much for special guidance or for a shadow teacher.

That's really helpful, thank you FilAmericanMom.