[scarp]

We are thinking of moving to Ct. We have a 5 yr old son who is high functioning PDD-NOS (Autism Spectrum) and have questions.

a) He currently gets Medicaid services in VA state and has ABA home based therapy for about 9 to 10 hours per week. How hard it is to get Medicaid waivers for kids on ASD in Ct?

b) How is special eductaion in Ct state?

c) We are primarily considering moving out of VA as it is considered one of the bottom ten states for kids in autism spectrum. How is it in Ct for kids in spectrum?

d) Which school district are best for special education in Ct?

I apprectate any information you can give us.

[busibee23]

I wish you luck! We have a special education student too (not autism though) and had some of the same questions when researching where to live when moving to CT. I have no personal experience or suggestions though because we are still moving, so she will not start school until next school year.

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by scarp

b) How is special eductaion in Ct state?

d) Which school district are best for special education in Ct?

You won't be able to find an easy answer for your questions.

Many of our most highly coveted school districts have reputations for having undesirable special education programs. Conversely, many of the less coveted districts appear to have programs that parents are satisfied with.

[sandyg724]

Originally Posted by Stratford, Ct. Resident

You won't be able to find an easy answer for your questions.

Many of our most highly coveted school districts have reputations for having undesirable special education programs. Conversely, many of the less coveted districts appear to have programs that parents are satisfied with.

We are also looking to move, possibly to Connecticut. We only have one child who is autistic, so we don't really need to worry about a good school system for typical kids. Do you, Stratford resident, or anyone else, have any specific schools or school systems that they know have generally been good for autistic kids?

Thanks in advance,
Sandy

[vvcronosvv]

Our daughter is autistic and she'll be starting preschool in Southington in September when she turns 3. We just had our meeting with the school system and were very impressed at the facilities and the school system. She'll be going 5 days a week for 7 hours a day. She'll always have someone that'll be with here and only her, which was great to hear as well.

We're still getting therapy at home 5 days a week and here's some town that all our therapists agree are very good: Plainville, Rocky Hill, Avon, Farmington, Newington, Simsbury, Southington.

[parentologist]

I speak from both professional and personal experience. You cannot get Medicaid in CT just for having a PDD-NOS diagnosis. You qualify because of low income. There are no state-funded wrap around services, unless you are qualified for Department of Mental Retardation, or receiving Department of Children and Families services, and these are usually only for families that just can't manage their child 24/7. My friend in PA says that there is state funding for these services there, without the family having had to appeal in desperation to DCF when they're on the verge of having to institutionalize their child. But here, you have to be in true desperation before they'll give your child Medicaid backup, and frankly, it's not worth that much on top of your private insurance, since very few providers will take it, because it pays so little. In CT, there is free therapy through Birth to Three, which your child is too old for, then education is the responsibility of the school district. So if you are hoping to receive home services that you don't have to pay for out of pocket, CT is not a good destination for you.

[parentologist]

Also, you should know that residents of towns that pour money into special ed resent this, because it entices people with children with expensive educational needs to move to those towns. This increases yet more the special ed budgetary needs, thus draining more of the education budget toward special ed, and leaving less for the children without special needs. If a town provides better special ed than the surrounding towns, it becomes known as a defacto "Magnet District" for special ed, families with children with special needs choose to move there, property taxes rise as the quality of regular education declines, and the town enters a downward spiral as newcomers choose to buy elsewhere, to avoid high property taxes with only average education for non-special ed students.

I'm sure there will be responses railing against this, but I just wanted you to know that you may not get straight, open answers, because residents of towns that have better special ed will not want to attract students with expensive educational needs.

[sandyg724]

Parentologist, I understand exactly what you're saying. Which is why I don't think education should be funded at the local level. We could still use property taxes, but it could be the same rate across the country. And families wouldn't have to move to try to get a decent education for their special needs child (ie not just babysitting or, many times, worse than that). I hate the mentality that includes both "this is the best country in the world" and "I don't care if others are hurting or in need, I shouldn't have to help pay for anything I don't personally need". Which is why we're getting our collective butts kicked when it comes to education (and other things which we won't go into here). But we have to do what we have to do for our daughter. I'm sure you can understand that. We've already gone the route of spending all of our retirement savings and then some on her therapy, thus far. Now we have nothing left and must, unfortunately, depend on public education. Believe me, I really wish we had moved to a different country before she'd been born. But now we're stuck and must make the best of it.