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Quote:
Originally Posted by SurlyV
My son is in preschool, and is on the ASD. We live in Iowa, ad his pre-school teacher is great. People are pretty friendly, and it's pretty safe. But, everything is really quite a drive. We have speech 20 minutes away, PICT about 45 minutes away, abd his ABA school is an hour and 40 minutes away. We are looking for somewhere in the US that isn't too hot, or -30, like where we live now. Any suggestions of smallish to medium sized towns that have good services within reach, are not too expensive, and has a decent employment rate?
Thanks for any suggestions!  |
Do you want to stay in Iowa? If so, putting this on the Iowa board might be a good idea too.
Baltimore fits your needs, but I'm not sure you want to move that far. Your son would have Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI -- the leader in Autism in the area), Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital (MWPH -- the leader in feeding / speech therapy in the area. KKI also offers speech therapy, especially specialized for ASD specifically. For ASD speech, I'd go to KKI. For my son, his speech was delayed due to his feeding delay due to muscular issues, so for him MWPH was better for him since they are the leader in feeding therapy), and Johns Hopkins Hospital (a top hospital in the world) at his disposal, as well as The Goddard School Preschool (grade school teachers call Goddard "the cream of the crop" of Preschools -- main Goddard teachers have bachelors in a related field -- assistants at least have their '90s certs.' -- and with that I believe comes a greater understanding of special needs children). There's also free and low-cost services I'm sure your are familiar with, such as Balto. Infants & Toddlers Program (free through state) and Loyola Speech Clinic (low cost speech offered on a sliding pay scale).
My son, while not ASD, but he was thought to possibly be ASD early on and, therefore, treated for early intervention ASD at KKI just in case. Believed to not be ASD now, he still has multiple delays so his doc has him regularly attending all of the above (for his muscular and oral motor delays, which includes speech, feeding, and aqua therapy, at the moment) and has greatly excelled since he started treatment.
If you do consider a place as far as Baltimore, I would suggest Balto. County since you would be new to the area. There are pockets in the city that you should avoid (I'm sure you've heard about those pockets sensationalized on TV), but being you would be new and you would not know where those pockets are, stick to living in the county until you get comfortable with the area.
Towson specifically would be my first suggestion as it's a short hop to the Kennedy Krieger Autism Center (they have many locations, but the Autism Center is what you would want), Hopkins Greenspring, Mount Washington Ped. Hospital, Loyola Clinic at Belvedere Square, and there's a Goddard School relatively nearby to Towson too, should you choose. Alternatively, I believe KKI has a school for autism, but don't hold me to that. I think I passed it entering their center.
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