Possible move to ga from nj-autistic child (Atlanta, Roswell: insurance, lawyer) - Georgia (GA) - City-Data Forum

Scocat · 07-30-2012, 02:21 PM

Hi!
My husbands company might be opening an office in the Atlanta area, and we are considering moving from northwest nj. Yes, I know nj schools are known to be very good, and autism programs. My sons school is okay, have had to fight for everything. His biggest deficit is expressive language, severe apraxia. He does have mild PDd-nos. he does get An aba program at school, and we have a program at home that our insurance pays for. He is mainstreamed with aid for portion of day. No big behaviors.
So, our first priority is school for him. We are considering areas Alpharetta, johns creek, Milton, kennesaw. Looking for small class's sizes. We would also consider private school. He is 7.
Any other areas that might be good?
Needs to be somewhat close to airport, hubby travels, hour or less.
Our budget is up to 600k, so I think we will be ok there.
Looking for nice suburbs. We also have a 4 year old, typical child.
Thanks!

RoslynHolcomb · 07-30-2012, 03:39 PM

I'm no expert on special needs programs in this area, but I've seen several posts by knowledgeable posters that they're darned near impossible to access, especially if your child is relatively high functioning. Of course if you have the wherewithal, private school is probably going to be a far better option.

Mattie · 07-30-2012, 05:04 PM

My son's IEP, written in NJ, was accepted here in Milton, without any problems, but he doesn't have autism. I can promise you GA is behind NJ in autism services, if for no other reason than the rate if autism in NJ is higher. I think RoslynH is correct, look into private schools. Jacob's Ladder and the Cottage School in Roswell may be able to direct you.

Otherwise, GA is great. You can buy a lovely home for far under your budget in nice areas.

roxyrn · 07-31-2012, 09:13 AM

We moved from NY with an IEP that was accepted in Roswell with a lot of snickers (as in we don't offer that here). That said, he has accomplished more scholastically than we ever thought he was capable of doing (and without outside tutoring.

I would highly recommend sticking to East Cobb, Roswell, Milton, Alpharetta, John's Creek for the best public school special ed programs. Check out the Jacob's Ladder website; this seems like a fabulous place if it is appropriate for your son. It is across from Roswell High School. There are some nice homes in that immediate area and my neighbors love Sweet Apple Elementary. Keep this and the Cottage School in mind if you decide at some point your public school isn't working, you want to be closer to these private options instead of miles away (as in Kennesaw).

Although not close to the airport, north Fulton works for us as we can use the North Springs MARTA for domestic flights (such a hassle, now, though for international). The key to getting to the airport is your flight time. Rush hour traffic is often unpredictable.

Scocat · 07-31-2012, 03:02 PM

Thank you for the info! Cottage school is starting 6 grade, my son is 7. I will look into Jacobs ladder! I looked on website, but it might be lower functioning. I am very worried about what might happen if we move. The only good thing is we do have insurance that would cover therapy after school.
Question, how far is airport with traffic in these areas?

roxyrn · 07-31-2012, 04:37 PM

You can take the MARTA from North Springs (45 minutes direct to the domestic terminal) but if you're flying international you have to take a shuttle from the MARTA to the new terminal so that adds time. Parking is very reasonable and available at North Springs. This is a good option if you need to get to the airport during rush hour(s) and don't want to risk getting stuck in possibly horrendous traffic if the weather is bad or their is an accident. I live north of Roswell High School on the Milton border and have gotten to the airport in less than 40 minutes with no traffic. Still not bad considering we used to travel from CT/Westchester to LaGuardia/JFK/Newark. We are very frequent fliers (Delta Diamond) so Atlanta is a a great place as far as getting good flights/connections to almost anywhere.

Where do you live in NJ? I have a nephew with special needs in Bridgewater.
I think you will do fine in North Fulton Public Schools. You will not get lots of extras, but special education services are mandated by IDEA, which is a federal law so the schools in all states have to provide services. If you haven't checked out the Wright's Law website, I would recommend it. You are going to be saving a lot of money in Georgia that you were paying in NJ property taxes as well as getting much more house for you money than you did in the NE so you can use that for extra cash for outside programs, camps, services. And the weather is so much nicer for outdoor programs.

CMMom · 07-31-2012, 06:36 PM

The main thing I would say is you won't be able to expect anything like an ABA program; at most, you might get a shared parapro to shadow your child plus one other unless your child is in a fully self-contained classroom. Don't count on speech or OT either; most IEP's I've seen include one hour per month of those specialty services. Check your insurance and be prepared to pay out of pocket for intensive programs like ABA. Sorry for the bad news, but that has been my experience (at least with Gwinnett County Schools).

go falcons · 07-31-2012, 09:04 PM

Also take a look at Peachtree City in Fayette County on the Southwest side of Atlanta. We had excellent teachers there for my son with autism.I never had to argue with the school system about getting the services that he needed .
The commute to the airport from Peachtree City is excellent as the airport is also on the southwest side of Atlanta .
There also is a great community support group for families who have kids on the autism spectrum.

roxyrn · 08-01-2012, 06:25 AM

In Roswell, we got SLP services which were quite good. OT is problematic because there is a national shortage of OTs since they changed requirements for certification from a four year program to a seven year one. I felt fine not having OT. Sometimes you have to go with the flow.

Scocat · 08-01-2012, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roxyrn

You can take the MARTA from North Springs (45 minutes direct to the domestic terminal) but if you're flying international you have to take a shuttle from the MARTA to the new terminal so that adds time. Parking is very reasonable and available at North Springs. This is a good option if you need to get to the airport during rush hour(s) and don't want to risk getting stuck in possibly horrendous traffic if the weather is bad or their is an accident. I live north of Roswell High School on the Milton border and have gotten to the airport in less than 40 minutes with no traffic. Still not bad considering we used to travel from CT/Westchester to LaGuardia/JFK/Newark. We are very frequent fliers (Delta Diamond) so Atlanta is a a great place as far as getting good flights/connections to almost anywhere.

Where do you live in NJ? I have a nephew with special needs in Bridgewater.
I think you will do fine in North Fulton Public Schools. You will not get lots of extras, but special education services are mandated by IDEA, which is a federal law so the schools in all states have to provide services. If you haven't checked out the Wright's Law website, I would recommend it. You are going to be saving a lot of money in Georgia that you were paying in NJ property taxes as well as getting much more house for you money than you did in the NE so you can use that for extra cash for outside programs, camps, services. And the weather is so much nicer for outdoor programs.

We live in Sparta , which is Sussex county. We are about an hour from bridgewater. My sister lives in hillsborough right by bridgewater. I am SO familiar with the wrights law website! Way more than I would like to be! We moved from another town n nj when we had hired a lawyer since the child study team decided to tell us that they did not feel he was autistic! And yes, we had a diagnosis from UMDNJ autism center! We have fought with this district. They said they had n aba program, which they did not. We hired an advocate, and now his program is ok. BCBA consults to program, he gets speech 5x a week. Severe apraxia. But it is always a fight with "meaningful progress" and obtaining core content standards.
Does anyone now gen Ed class sizes for 1-2 grades? Here, it s 22. Big.
And to Answer on the aba services with insurance, we are truly blessed that my hubby's company covers 36k a year, and we just have to pay first $1500!
Thank u everyone for the help! Truly.