User-friendly suburbs for the disabled...? (Columbus, Westerville: daycares, schools, to live)

[SunnyMommy]

I have been asked to relocate to Columbus, Ohio from Florida for my job. I am a single parent with a 9year old special needs child with high functioning autism / aspergers. He is considered developmentally delayed with some behavior problems. He is very smart, talkative and on grade level. Can anyone tell me what kind of services, schools, daycares, programs are available in the area? I really need to decide if the move is worth it because I will be doing everything on my own.

Thanks

[babybear101]

Hi SunnyMommy, my family had to relocate here from North Carolina with a special needs child also. Many think the Dublin area is the best place for special needs. However, it is very expensive to live there. All schools offer services in Ohio for special needs children. If they don't have room they will bus them to the next disctrict over. Here is a link the the Franklin County MMRDD program.

Franklin County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities

The children's hospital is wonderful here, my son has several doctors in the facility and we have had nothing but great service.

Children's Hospital Home


Also here is a message board for parents of children with Autism in Ohio
Autism Society of Ohio Message Board (broken link)

HTH let me know if you have any more questions. You may have to copy and past the urls.

[NewToCA]

I have a kid with special needs, but was much lower functioning than what you are dealing with. We had great experiences with the Dublin program, and "inconsistent" experiences with Hilliard's.

Dublin is relatively expensive, but a nice 3 or 4 bedroom home, with 2 plus baths, a garage (frequently 2 car) and basement can be bought for the $180-$225K price range (over 100 currently listed on the MLS).

[Aconite]

We are relocating to the Columbus area in the near future. My daughter is autistic-- and as we have discovered in our current location, some towns are considerably more disability-friendly than others. I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who might have knowledge of the different areas (Worthington, Westerville, Dublin, Clintonville, Marysville, etc.) vis-a-vis schools, recreation, and general lack of ignorance on the part of the general populace.

Thanks in advance!

Moderators,if you want to merge this post into Sunny's thread, since they're so similar, that'd be fine.

[Aconite]

Originally Posted by SunnyMommy

I have been asked to relocate to Columbus, Ohio from Florida for my job. I am a single parent with a 9year old special needs child with high functioning autism / aspergers. He is considered developmentally delayed with some behavior problems. He is very smart, talkative and on grade level. Can anyone tell me what kind of services, schools, daycares, programs are available in the area? I really need to decide if the move is worth it because I will be doing everything on my own.

Thanks

Zowie, Sunny, I just posted an almost identical thread. Moderators, if you want to move my post to this thread, that's fine.
Good luck to you!

[Yac]

Moved and merged.
Yac.