Which school districts are best for child with Asperger's in Southern Chicago Suburb or NW Indiana? (Gary: relocating)

[Chatham]

We are considering a move from Dayton, OH to the Chicago area and will be visiting in a couple of weeks to look around. We have three kids and our 7 year old daughter has Asperger's and we want to make sure that she is in the best school system for her needs in a Southern Chicago suburb or NW Indiana. My husband would be working in Gary (I know, I know . . . ). We would be hoping to spend between $500,000 and $600,000 for a house. Any towns that have a small-town, family friendly feel to them? We are very sad to have to leave our town here - it is a fabulous, old fashioned town to raise kids in! We hope to find something similar with a good school system and a good special ed. dept. - although our daughter needs minimal help but would love the support to be there if she needs it down the road. Thank you in advance for your input!

p.s. I listed this under Chicago suburbs also.

[rrah]

Chatham, As the aunt of a special needs child, I know how important this decision is to your family. My nephew's primary diagnosis in not in the autism spectrum, but the specialist in his disorder believe he does show some signs of PPD. (If you don't consider, Asperger's to be part of the autism spectrum, please accept my apologies. From my understanding it's one of many ways autism presents itself.) Via my sister I know there are numerous online resources available for families with special needs children. Perhaps one has a forum that could answer the specific questions regarding the schools districts? I know how important it is to look at the schools in terms of how supportive they are of special needs children versus fighting parents every step of the way.

You might also visit this link which is specific to Indiana, but is mentioned on other sites as a good resource. (Actually my neighbor works here)

Welcome To Access Autism website of the IRCA

Given that your husband will work in Gary, I really would recommend living in Indiana versus the south suburbs of Chicago. Housing costs, etc tend to be lower here and he won't have the commute. Lots of Chicagoans are finally catching on that NW Indiana maybe a better place to live. I don't know where you currently live, but you also may find that you don't need to spend $500-600,000 to get the kind of house you want or that it buys much more house.

[domergurl]

If the schools match your child's needs, Crown Point & Valparaiso have great public school systems.

[Chatham]

Thank you rrah and domergurl for your responses. Right now we are thinking that we'll look at Valpo, Crown Point, and Chesterton in NW Indiana and Orland Park, Tinley Park, and Frankfort in Southern Chicago suburbs. Any places that we are neglecting that would be worth checking out while we're there for a couple of days? Also, anything to consider with the commute times to and from Gary? Thank you for your input!

[rrah]

Chatham, While you're husband would be driving in the opposite direction of most commuters if you were to live in IL, it's not going to make a huge difference. People are going both ways into IN and IL. The highways and tollways are constantly busy, and he would need to access some of the busiest in the country--80/94 is often a parking lot in both directions. My best guess is that he would be looking at a minimum of an hour for Orland or Tinley Park, longer for Frankfort. Valpo--probably about 40 minutes, Crown Point--depends where, but about a high guessitmate of about 30ish, Chesterton might be the least stressful commuting option. It's not necessarily closer, but 80/94 tends to clear up east of Gary in terms of traffic.

[artemis]

Whereabouts in Gary will he be working?

[Chatham]

My husband would be working in Central Gary near the steel mills however they will be relocating the company within a 20 mile radius within the year (we have a say in where it will be moved). I just heard that Highland and Munster schools have good special education services. Any word on these towns? Thank you again for your input!

[rrah]

Both are fine towns. If you do a search on this forum, I know there are many posts about both places.

[domergurl]

Munster has one of the best school systems in the state. You won't have any problems finding a home in that price range. The commute won't be bad either.

[knappyjen]

My 12 year old son has Asperger's and we currently live in the DeMotte, Indiana area. This area might seem a bit far south, however, you can easily hop on I65 and be in the Gary area in approximately 40 minutes. The school system down here is Kankakee Valley School Corporation and they have been absolutely WONDERFUL for my son!

Good luck! There are lots of great programs out there and more are cropping up everywhere as the numbers of children diagnosed increases.