Husband is military, son has autism, looking at Randolph? (San Antonio: best neighborhoods, home)

[jojo61397]

My husband is a "former" B-52 pilot. The reason I say former, is my son has moderate to severe autism, and we had an assignment to return to Barksdale AFB, LA, and the assignment was (fortunately/unfortunately) cancelled, because Barksdale cannot support my son's needs. Neither can Minot AFB, ND for that matter. So we are looking at alternative assignments. One of his former commanders mentioned that San Antonio was a really nice place to raise a family, and that the area had really good autism services.

So I'm going to ask, are there any families currently living/stationed in San Antonio that are happy with the services here? Where are the best neighborhoods to live in? This is a long shot: But are there any former Air Force pilots who had a similar thing happen to them? My husband has 14 years in, 8 years flying (7 years in the B-52), and due to being short on hours, we are looking at switching airframes or losing flight status all together. If anyone could offer any advice on moving to Texas with a child on the spectrum it would be appreciated. Exceptional Family Member Program, recommended we attempt to get an assignment near a larger hospital, like San Antonio, Washington DC, etc...

Thanks again

[majormadmax]

Funny you should ask...

EFMP, Randolph clinic help families with autistic children

Also, Brooke Army Medical Center is close by and my son gets seen there by a pediatric neurologist. We are very happy with the services he gets, as well as those from NISD (Northside school district).

And your husband should look into T-6s are Randolph, great plane and he'd be home a lot more than if he went to another operational assignment.

Oh, and I remember when you had the same questions about four years ago on an Air Force forum. I also saw where your husband is trying to find info on that same site. I hope you can get here, as it is a great place and very family oriented!

Good luck!

Cheers! M2

[shoosh1958]

M2, who is the pediatric neurologist you see at BAMC? We had problems with a woman who was at WHMC a few years back and went off-base. We like the guy we see but not the gawdawful waits in the waiting room (they've been as long as 4 hours) and the examining room (they've been as long as 90 minutes).

[majormadmax]

Shoosh

I DM'd you his name.

Cheers! M2

[jojo61397]

Yeah, I searched and didn't realize I had done this very same thing 4 years ago. LOL.. Anyway, it looks like we are completely out of the Buff, so looking at alternative assignment options...

[TangoUniform]

Tell him to look into getting assigned to the 559th (T-6 PIT). I'm guessing your husband doesn't have any T-6 time, but it's not a hard jet to learn. If students can do it in 5 months (kinda), your hubby should have no problem.

Most of the instructors in the 559th are O-4/O-5s and very cool. Hours seem to be pretty flexible too. When I was going through PIT, it seems IPs were always leaving early to pick up their kids from school and whatnot (if they weren't flying of course). Typical schedule for an IP would be to fly once or twice a day and then the rest of the day is devoted to gym/lunch/whatever. I hope to be back at the 559th as an IP one day, but I have many years to go.

[jojo61397]

I'm trying to talk him into San Antonio, he is really hung up on the MC-12, he thinks that that's the best thing since sliced bread, even though he will be gone much of his tour in CA. I told him I don't want to go someplace far away from where I grew up, be stuck there by myself with two kids (one being severely autistic) for years at a time. So I'm hoping that he decides to do TX, I think it will be what's best for the kids.

[hindsight2020]

I've noticed your posts through the years here but I felt like providing some unsolicited perspective. May or may not help. As an AF guy myself it hit close to home since I share some of the flying communities with your SO, from your posts.

Here's my thought on the scenario: If he has 14 years in it looks as though he won't be able to finish out his 20 years in the cockpit. If he does an AETC tour like it's suggested, at Randolph, the AF will likely require another staff tour (non-flying) to finish out his 20. This would actually be very likely considering most flying tours don't exceed 4 years before you hit your VML again. This may or may not matter if he's not interested in working for the airlines or staying in the cockpit. That would also work well as far as Randolph being HQ AETC, he could get any swinging staff tour in Randolph to follow-on his flying tour (which would probably be no longer than 4 years) and stay in San Antonio until retirement, which would presumable be great for yalls home life/child care et al. And a lot of senior guys go home to AETC to lay their careers to rest. Training command is a great place to throttle back, get family time and essentially graze like old oxen until you punch your ticket out of blue. Nothing wrong with that. He would likely get his prized O-5 promo and finish out coasting.

From your posts it sounds as though he's chasing the cockpit though, and that will complicate your desire to be in decent locations. Sounds like your hubby needs to do a gut check. Also remember, at the end of the day, "needs of the Air Force" and all that jazz; this decision could be made for him, so I'd count my blessings. I don't mean to sound insensitive but there's a lot of social engineering in the military; between single vs. married BAH, anachronistic pick-n-choose fraternization policies, Dont ask don't tell sensitivity training, joint spouse assignment shenanigans and every other pleasantville-derived social policy the DOD comes up with, there's plenty of "unfair" in the military. Yet, people truck on every day. You do what you gotta do. It ain't pretty at times, and mother blue may not need to know it all at times. People do the best they can. I know couples with children with disabilities in garden variety crapholes like Enid, OK et al, so people do the best they can. This military life ain't for everybody (tell my exwife, yes I'm an AF pilot ).

I'm pretty sure yall would get ok services for the child in Beale or Randolph, even Barksdale would have been ok. Again, you could be stuck in Cannon, Vance, Holloman, Indian Springs...I could go on. Ops tempo would be way slower in the white jet world, though it sounds hubby wants to be closer to the "mish". Not what a family wants to hear, but that's a forewarned problem (the military life). I wish yall the best, Im sure he puts his family first.

I prefer Texas due to low cost of living, I hate the West Coast, too expensive and snobby, doesn't feel middle american to me. But to each their own. good luck!

[jojo61397]

Hindsight-- thanks for the input, it is appreciated. Though I will have to disagree with you that my son would get OK services anywhere the AF sends my husband, that's the reason we moved from Minot to VA a few years ago. My son's development stagnated in Minot. EFMP protects families from going to places like Cannon, Minot, Vance, etc... While some children with autism would be fine at those places, with minimal supports, my son is pretty severely affected and needs ABA therapy, which often not available at smaller bases.

[fritos56]

You might also check out the Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD.They have had a special education department for many years. They had it long before I started working for them in 1980 as a custodian,then moved on to another position.They do have a good special ed department and on Yahoo they had about a school student who had a tumor. Because of it the young lady wound up picking up a lot of weight. Through medical and other services she is loosing weight. I assume they would look at information from your child's old school and plan the best course of action to help your child make progress.
They have meetings with the parents to go over the lesson plans,behaviour,etc.I had a friend who retired several years ago who was a special ed aide.There is also Judson ISD, but I don't anything about there special ed department. I've heard really good things about The Arc of San Antonio.