Reader's Request!

Unfortunately I'm having difficulty getting into my e-mail account.  I'm able to receive the e-mails but writing back isn't possible currently! (Darn technology!!)
So, what I'll do is copy questions from readers with questions about life in Finland and share my response that way!

"I have a 4 year old son and a 2 year old girl, they are Finnish citizens and we'd like to move to Finland.
My older child is diagnosed with autism.
Could you tell me how things work for a child with autism? what benefits could we expect for him there?, how is the diagnose and how do schools react for them?"

Hi there!
It's so nice to meet another parent with an autistic child!!!
** The following is based on my experience as a Canadian with residence permit (A-status) and both of my kids are Canadian and do not have Finnish citizenship.  Your experience may differ than mine.**
I recommend bringing all documentations (in English or Finnish translated if possible!) with you that confirm your son's diagnosis and get him into a Neuvola and they can help you in terms of setting up doctor appointments or hospital assessments if necessary.
It depends what kind of autism your child has. 
Mine is 4-years old too and non-verbal.  He has speech and occupational therapy on a regular basis at the day-care.
Both of these services are free, along with his day-care because it's considered a rehabilitative service for him.
He also has assessments every 6 months at the local hospital for about 2 days, where he meets with various specialists and we try to plan his school year and how to better connect and understand him.
It is also possible to apply to Kela for Disability benefits for a child/person under the age of 16.
The Neuvola should be able to (or the hospital staff) put you in touch with your local social worker who can do a house visit and give you forms to fill out.
We've filled out a lot of paperwork and qualify for:

• Kela Disability for Children under the age of 16
• Special Care Allowance - it's provided from the city 
• Free rehabilitative services (limited amount of visits with the Occupational Therapist & Speech Therapist) - day-care included
• Taxi service to and from day-care - because we live about 3 km away from the day-care and without a vehicle - we're unable to get him to day-care on time so he can have that solid scheduled routine.  Also I was studying - and he refused to sit on my bike (in his chair) with me....and wasn't able to make it to class on time myself.
• Overnight care - we pay a fee per day and once a month - 3 days/nights a month - our son stays at a professionally-run and 24-hours monitored place (I won't say facility because it looks like a 3-bedroom apartment) and  it gives us a small break and him a break from getting picked on by the little brother! :)
• Free diapers - as my son isn't potty-trained and refuses to.  

Your son will probably go to a school that will be better for him in terms of be equipped for his needs and so he can focus.

Kids don't go to school here until they are 7 years old - so the day-care director in your area should know and have a copy of those papers as well - and hopefully they have a day-care that is suited for your child.

I hope this helps!
Thanks for writing and have a great day! :)

Good-Bye Furniture!

Sorry it's been awhile.

Well, I just had a tonne of stuff shipped out which was nice.  Not to another country but to the local Jyv�skyl�n dumpster.
I asked around and found out there is such a service that the city provides (not sure about all cities in Finland - but at least in JKL) - where you can contact them for a truck and people will come take your bigger waste items away and deposit them at the dumpster.
(I've linked the JKL one for you - but it's in Finnish only).

I thankfully had the patience to wait for my Finnish friend to call them - as the person on the phone didn't speak English.
They wanted to know what we had to get rid of (as this determined the price) and my name, address and phone number.
And also - my Finnish social security number.
The reason for this is because I didn't need to pay on site!!
The city of JKL will send me a bill later for the service...which was only 30�!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What a great price - I mean really!!!

This is what I got rid of:

• Sofa - wooden framed, old, creaky and the cushions were also falling apart!
• 2 dressers
• HUGE television (thanks to the four-year old who pulled it down twice...)
• A double stroller 
• A crib

All this stuff was broken, not worth selling (or buying) and wouldn't fit into a car anyway.  

After speaking with them, they advised my friend that my info has been passed on to their logistics center and they'll contact me with a scheduled time and we can arrange when to pick everything up.

Fantastic!

We started knitting and watching a movie ("The Vow" if you really must know) and within half an hour - my phone rang!!
It was the logistics center and because the guy didn't speak English (nor is my Finnish up to par with the whole "I need X, X, X, X, X tossed away") - my friend thankfully spoke with him.

They had an immediate opening and could come right away!

Well, small problem - I wasn't home.

So we scheduled it for the following day at 12:30 and they were on time, friendly and professional.

Within 15 minutes - everything was gone and loaded up.

I sort of cheated and got the smaller things like dressers, cushions and so on - tossed out in the hallway....partly because I didn't want the guys to wake up the baby and partly because my place is a mess! ;)

Time for a donut!