Best schools for autism in Austin (Round Rock, Lakeway: insurance, income, tax rates)

[chandra808]

Hi,

Left Austin in 2003 and have been living in Hawaii on Kauai. Since then I have had my son who has been diagnosed with autism, he is 4. Thinking we need to be on the mainland for the best schools and support for him, but not sure if we should go back to Austin or to Mass, where my husband is from.

I have been researching schools and gotten in touch with my old friends back in ATX. They all say southwest Austin, so Eanes or Lake Travis school districts are the best but they don't have kids with ASD.

So:
1-Are public schools using ABA for autistic students?
2-I have found info about laws that the insurance companies do pay for ABA and other therapies, but I have seen on here that they don't. So which is it?
3-What's the deal with Empower School? Their website says they have three locations but I emailed him and he says only Round Rock is open
4- Capital School?
5-RISE Preschool?
6-Any other private autism schools?
7- How do you get private schools paid for? Insurance or scholarships or do you have to attend public school first and get a referral?
8- For public schools, which ones are the best for Autism? Specifically ABA, Speech, OT services

I have a feeling Boston MA area will be better for services, etc but trying to avoid that weather! And I miss Austin...

Mahalos

[centralaustinite]

MA is definitely the better bet. Texas is a low tax low service state, and the brunt of care for kids with special needs falls on parents.

[RunninJT]

Do you want to be comfortable, or have better services for your autistic child. My son is 19 and has autism, it has been. It has been. I suppose indescribable is all I can say. We are working class, at best. If we had to do it all over again, we would have moved to a state with better services that would be provided by medicaid, I say this without any question or hesitation. If you are well off, you will have more options no matter where you go, obviously. If you are not well off then you will be at the mercy of what the state can provide wherever you move. At times, here in Texas, being at the mercy of what is available and dealing with a very tightly regulated bureaucracy will be a wrenching trial of everything you are as a human being.

You will have scars.
You will fight to keep your grip on your own sanity.
Your marriage will be tested in ways you cant even imagine.
You will see the system in a whole new light.

I ****ing beg you to take what I am saying seriously. SXSW and wonderful climate will not make up for it. Mind you without Texas medicaid, Without what we have had available, we would have been destroyed as a family long ago. At best he would have been in foster care, at worse at least a couple of us would have been very dead. But that was one very long road even with services. I dont want a sorry, I dont want a hug, I just want to you to read what I wrote. Ignore it if you want. But I wrote it, so all on you now.

[chandra808]

@ centralaustinite: Thank you for that input!
@RunninJT: Wow ok, that's some real feedback, appreciate it. Question though. We are middle income and don't usually qualify for state services. Would this be the same for two income family, around 105K per year? I have also heard there are long wait lists for certain benefits. I am wondering if that would affect what we can do, but I am getting the picture that Boston area and MA in general in going to be better for services. And Nana, Auntie and cousins live there so....

I keep reading that Texas in a low tax low service state. I am not into economics but am I correct in that without higher taxes to pay for social services, that is why a "low tax" state wouldn't provide many services? I don't fully understand this whole thing.

Thank you, anyone else?

[cBach]

Originally Posted by RunninJT

Do you want to be comfortable, or have better services for your autistic child. My son is 19 and has autism, it has been. It has been. I suppose indescribable is all I can say. We are working class, at best. If we had to do it all over again, we would have moved to a state with better services that would be provided by medicaid, I say this without any question or hesitation. If you are well off, you will have more options no matter where you go, obviously. If you are not well off then you will be at the mercy of what the state can provide wherever you move. At times, here in Texas, being at the mercy of what is available and dealing with a very tightly regulated bureaucracy will be a wrenching trial of everything you are as a human being.

You will have scars.
You will fight to keep your grip on your own sanity.
Your marriage will be tested in ways you cant even imagine.
You will see the system in a whole new light.

I ****ing beg you to take what I am saying seriously. SXSW and wonderful climate will not make up for it. Mind you without Texas medicaid, Without what we have had available, we would have been destroyed as a family long ago. At best he would have been in foster care, at worse at least a couple of us would have been very dead. But that was one very long road even with services. I dont want a sorry, I dont want a hug, I just want to you to read what I wrote. Ignore it if you want. But I wrote it, so all on you now.

This. I have a 12 year old with ASD. It has been difficult for me as well.

Question: What is your 19 year old doing now?

[RunninJT]

OP, I have no idea how your particular income would be affected. Sorry.

cBach: He is improved. The details would take a novel to really flesh out honestly. My wife describes the entire ordeal as being "as long a read as War and Peace but reads like a horror novel". As of about three years ago he is no longer being admitted into a psychiatric hospital for our/his safety every few months, in fact he has not been back into the hospital since "the change" that happened about three years ago. As for what caused the worst of the worst of it. All I can say is that it has been settled out of court, so we are trying to move on. He is continuing to improve and he is staying in High School thanks to Anderson High special needs teaches being VERY helpful and understanding. This is his 5th year, and he just recently started actually writing in complete sentences and doing simple arithmetic. He is progressing emotionally and academically, about like a 6 year old now. How far he will actually progress? We have no way of knowing.


We joke about writing down everything that happened over the last 20 years and putting it online (it would take months to write it all) so we can watch somebody else make a pile of money off all the drama and horror.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by RunninJT

OP, I have no idea how your particular income would be affected. Sorry.

cBach: He is improved. The details would take a novel to really flesh out honestly. My wife describes the entire ordeal as being "as long a read as War and Peace but reads like a horror novel". As of about three years ago he is no longer being admitted into a psychiatric hospital for our/his safety every few months, in fact he has not been back into the hospital since "the change" that happened about three years ago. As for what caused the worst of the worst of it. All I can say is that it has been settled out of court, so we are trying to move on. He is continuing to improve and he is staying in High School thanks to Anderson High special needs teaches being VERY helpful and understanding. This is his 5th year, and he just recently started actually writing in complete sentences and doing simple arithmetic. He is progressing emotionally and academically, about like a 6 year old now. How far he will actually progress? We have no way of knowing.


We joke about writing down everything that happened over the last 20 years and putting it online (it would take months to write it all) so we can watch somebody else make a pile of money off all the drama and horror.

Sorry to hear this. My son is more an aspie but it's still difficult. I always tell people that I don't need to read fiction novels because my life reads better (or worse depending on the point of view) than any that the best author could write. You just can't make this stuff up... I try to keep my wit's end but sometimes the humor leans more cynical than wholesome...

[cp102]

I have a grandson who is autistic and its an uphill battle all the way, the stress gets to you. I would move to a state that has better benefits for your child. Texas isn't one of them.

[eirenecat]

I have a good friend with an autistic child, and after paying $200K out of pocket for early intervention therapy that her insurance wouldn't cover (you read that right; $200,000--$100 an hour, 10 hours a week, for two years--they liquidated their retirement to pay for it) her daughter's therapy was finally covered under the Affordable Care Act and they went down to paying around $800/month for all the various copays and things she needs. (In addition to autism, her daughter also has a congenital birth defect/health issue requiring specialty care.) So whether insurance would cover autism therapy for your child depends on the insurance you have, and how long it takes the Republicans to dismantle the Affordable Care Act.

It has been a hell, to say the least. My friend and her family left AISD because AISD was a nightmare trying to navigate. They kept trying to label her daughter as truant because she had to miss so many hours a week for therapy.

Her children now attend the Magnolia School in Lakeway. It is a small, private school and while it's not just for autistic kids, they specialize in that and there are many kids there with ASD. It is expensive and they had to move out to Lake Travis for it, but she says it has revolutionized their lives. She's doing well.

[Rynldsbr]

Our experiences with services for an adult son with needs stemming from stroke at birth and resulting partial paralysis and epilepsy were dismal in Texas. The correlation you made with low tax rates translating into less social services available is the correct answer.


Our son was told there would be no PT, OT, or assisted living care for him until he was accepted into an assisted living situation which had a waiting list of ~10 years for the communities taking applications. Most areas have stopped taking applications due to the impossible wait times. The opportunities for assistance, even help that we would pay for, were limited at best. He has moved back to WI where we originally started and has obtained assisted living with in-home care and OT in less than six months.