Looking at moving to Austin wondering about services for my special needs daughter with Autism (San Antonio: amusement park)

[Nicolac24]

Hello,

I was looking into moving to Austin with my family. However my daughter has Autism she is 3.5. We have heard mixed review about services there. We are looking at where we can get medi-caid and how long it takes (we have Medi-cal here), a good ABA company (whether or not insurances there cover ABA), whether or not Austin has regional centers or state help that can help us cover copayments for ABA, Occupational therapy, Speech therapy, and Physical therapy. We are also looking into IHSS or PS-which is protective services where the family can receive funding to enable the child to stay in the home. If anyone knows any information about this I would be extremely grateful. We are very serious in this inquiry but her care comes first so if we can't meet her needs we may end up not being able to come. We are drowning in debt in San Diego and really need a way out. Her services are amazing here and we are getting her copayments all taken care of by the regional center but the cost of living is so high we can no longer afford it. We were looking at moving either to cedar park, Austin, or Round rock Texas. Thank you so much for any help you can offer me.

Nicola.

[MariaSLuce]

Hey!

I recently posted a rant in the forums about Texas and its services. The Medicaid here would not cover us even though where we had previously lived had us fully covered. Here they quoted us a spend down of 3600. So we actually opted to just purchase health care which is quite pricey because the plans we had to choose from were definitely not meant for people who need a lot of medical services. We pay almost a thousand every month on just imaging appointment fees. To add to that most places will not even take our plan so we are not covered for physical or speech therapy. (My son had a stroke which caused brain damage as well as developmental delay and somewhat of a paralysis in the right side of his body) the state does not help us with any real funding. We had to fight for our appeal for a favorable disability decision. The decision gives us 15$ a month.

[MariaSLuce]

My husband works a lot and I stay at home. We struggle very much but we make it positive and have yet to fall in a hole. My advice is to seek different relocation if you can. I love it here but it does not seem to be meant for people who truly need help. It's quite odd because they literally have an amusement park specific to children with special needs/sensory in San Antonio so you would think they would want to reciprocate a little more help. I hope this helps. I am still semi new so maybe I do not know all the loop holes and programs etc and someone else might have other suggestions.

[A-Tex]

Texas is a low services state. What you might make in the cost of living difference will be quickly eaten up by what you'll have to pay for out of your pocket for her care and services.

[scm53]

The Texas Department of Assistance and Rehabilitative Services Autism program is described here.

The Center for Autism and Related Disorders is the Austin area contractor. Also, every school district has a preschool program for children with disabilities (PPCD) that runs from ages 3-5.

Good luck!

[G Grasshopper]

Here is something on IHSS. Help for Texans: In-Home and Family Support fact sheet (DADS)

I don't know much about this service in Texas, but I would guess it is a very low level of payment. I used to be the director of California Children's Services in another county (not San Diego) in CA, and I can tell you that no other state offers the services available to disabled children that California offers. Medi-Cal is enhanced Medi-caid, so it is more extensive that other states. In addition, Texas has not signed onto the MediCaid expansion. Some states have pretty good services in comparison, but my impression is that Texas is not among those. (I am retired now, so I have never worked in the system in TX.) To the best of my knowledge, there is no Regional Center system here. You should do the research in case your situation is different, but if I had a disabled child, I would try hard to stay in California.

[OpenD]

In my opinion, Austin is not for you. The Cost of living is high, and the support level for people with special needs is low.

Moving from San Diego to Austin seems like it would be an "out of the frying pan, into the fire" situatation for you. I think you'd be far better off looking for a more affordable place to live in your own state.

Or maybe further up the coast.

[tom331]

California and New York are the two states that provide the best welfare for the poor and needed. You should find a lower cost area such as riverside to stay in California. You will not get the similar service in Texas for sure.

[G Grasshopper]

I think it is a good suggestion to try finding the lowest cost of living area you can within CA. Of course, this depends on jobs, too. But coastal CA is certainly more expensive than inland and in general, central and northern CA are probably less expensive than southern, if you remove the Bay Area, which is expensive (and coastal.) I hope that you find a way to solve the situation, but I don't think moving to Texas is it. Good luck.

[mark311]

Originally Posted by tom331

You should find a lower cost area such as riverside to stay in California. You will not get the similar service in Texas for sure.

I agree with this as being a possible option. I have a lot of friends that I grew up with in San Diego that moved to Murrieta, French Valley, Temecula, Winchester, etc. due to the lower cost of housing compared to San Diego and they're very happy with the schools.

Murrieta Special Education / Overview