In Thuringia, there are regional support centers with a focus on learning, language and emotional and social development that work as network support centers within the framework of inclusive education. They perform key tasks in the support and further development of joint teaching in general and vocational schools, in particular providing specialist and personnel support and coordinating special educational support in joint teaching, teaching and special educational support for pupils with complex special educational needs in temporary learning groups, advising teachers on teaching and support as well as advising parents and pupils on school and career prospects and special educational diagnostics. Regional support centers with a special educational focus on mental development and the regional support center with a special focus on physical and motor development support the network support centers as well as the pupils with these support needs in joint lessons.

Thuringia has two supra-regional support centers for the special needs areas of vision and hearing, which are responsible for the education of pupils with special educational needs in these special needs areas, as well as for supporting these pupils in joint lessons and for ensuring special educational expertise in the special educational needs areas of hearing and vision in Thuringia.

Each regional support center cooperates with the general and vocational schools in the region, coordinates all measures for special educational support in this network and supports the general schools in terms of personnel and expertise. The special education teachers advise and support pupils with special educational needs in the network schools. They are specialists in the design of special educational support measures in the individual special educational needs areas and for joint learning for all.

A support center is organized according to one or more special educational needs. It has a multi-professional team that advises and supports pupils with and without special educational needs in the general and vocational schools in its area of responsibility as well as parents and teachers, jointly organizes joint lessons, carries out special educational diagnostics and support, participates in support planning, trains teachers on a case-by-case basis and offers courses in the form of intensive or intermittent support for children and young people. Preventative support is also taken into account.

Here, pupils can complete the educational course for individual life management, the educational course for learning support as well as the Hauptschule or Realschule certificate. Young people with special educational needs can obtain vocational qualifications at special vocational schools. An overview of the support centers in Thuringia can be found at every state education authority.

Special educational needs

Children and young people are deemed to have special educational needs if, due to a disability or serious impairment, their educational, developmental and learning opportunities are impaired to such an extent that they cannot be adequately supported in lessons at primary and secondary general education schools without additional (special educational) support.

In the special educational assessment procedure, the extent to which special educational needs exist or not is examined. If the pupil is already attending school, the staff member in the mobile special education service will describe "the current developmental and leadership status of the children and young people as well as the factors that promote or inhibit learning and development" (child environment analysis).

If necessary, employees of the school psychology service must be involved in the special educational assessment procedure for the special focus of intellectual development and in the case of serious behavioral difficulties or disorders.

The process of determining special educational needs always includes the obligation to inform parents. This must be guaranteed from the beginning of the process until the special educational needs assessment has been completed. An analysis of the child's environment and a special educational diagnosis are important prerequisites for determining special educational needs.

In accordance with Section 16 (2) of the Thuringian Ordinance on Special Educational Support (Thür-SoFöV), the tasks of the Mobile Special Educational Services include the following areas of responsibility:

• Determination of special educational needs
• Special educational support in joint lessons
• Advice for parents and teachers.

• Social pediatric centers (SPZ)
• Thuringian school boards