Any parent of special needs children? Considering moving... (Los Angeles, Carpinteria: real estate, luxury)

[jjeska30]

to Ventura County. Hi I believe I may have asked this before a long time ago but didn't get much response, always looking for more help.
So the situation is this, our family of 5 lives in Largo, Fl at this time. My husband is from this area. I am from Southern California, all of my family is scattered all around there. I really, really miss my family and California. When we moved here we had a 3 mos. old son who has Down syndrome, he is our first. We now have 2 other kiddos, so we have a 3 1/2 yr. old, 2 1/2 yr. old and a 6 mos old! Yes we have been busy We are in mid 30's didn't feel like we had the luxury of waiting to have more than 1.
So like I said I really miss it out there. I had the privelage to live in Ventura for about a year but I grew up visiting the area and going to the beaches out there, so I have always loved it. My idea of paradise is Ventura or Carpinteria. Love all the areas north of Malibu though!
We will be making a nice long month and a half visit to So. Cal starting in October Can't wait!!!!!!!
Definitely planning on making a few stays in VC. We may even check out real estate. So my main question to start off this thread would be to any parents of special needs kids. Having our son with Down syndrome we really want to know that we will find good services for him.
ANY HELP APPRECIATED!! THANKS

[VLWH]

Try contacting the down syndrome support group of Ventura county, they should be able to answer some if not all your questions.

Best wishes.

DSALA - Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles

[hynes57]

Hi jjeska30 - I'm wondering if you're "here" now that it is mid-Oct. I just now saw your post. I have a son with cerebral palsy and we know kids with Down's. I feel like there is a lot of support, there are government resources at least, but it depends on what your expectations are. There isn't much in CA that isn't somehow connected to or controlled by the government, compared to other places. More of an entitlement attitude here (and of course a state that's broke but keeps spending), so less from churches and other non-profits.

My son is a lot older than your's is now and obviously CP and Down's are not the same. It seems that many (if not most) of the support groups and resources are for people with autism, which I am sure is simply because there are so many more of them, and as a group they are growing faster. I know through the years it used to seem like many of the support groups were for parents of kids with Downs and autism.

A good place to check out is Rainbow Family Resource Center at 805-485-9643 (a parent helping parent network, very helpful). Also Tri-Counties Regional Center, http://www.tri-counties.org . There is a Yahoo group and it seems that their focus is on kids younger than my son, so I'm not really involved with it - SpecialParentsVenturaCounty.

I'm glad you have such fond memories of the Ventura area, and hope it all works out well with the visit and your move. Having several kids close together in age is fine, nothing wrong with that, just a lot of work for you (but there are pluses and minuses either way - spread out or close together). As your oldest (and the rest of you) get older, you will be very glad he has siblings. I wish mine did. We're now trying to figure out all that "later in life" stuff financially, legally, and otherwise. THAT is the hard part.