[nicole weaver]

hi, i am looking for a home to rent. we are having problems finding a safe place but a rent we can afford. we are low income do to we have a child with autism. and i unable to work more then 3 days a week do to her needs and therpist weekly and our youngest child an infant is showing signs of development delay also.
my hubby does work but all night to help me out with our oldest with autism. we are looking for an 3 to 4 bedroom home in a clean safe place not near buzzy roads and not a bad area. and no loud noises near by daily do to sound affects her ables to do things. we have no pets and 3 children ages 6 to 12months. non smoker/drinkers too
this would be a long term thing too. we are looking to be in the north pinellas area or near the all children therpy center . please email me we can go to 900.00 a month as of right ( tampa rd or seven spring road is the other therpy center areas. )

[SKB]

http://homes.sptimes.com/RealEstate/Rentals/SearchResults.asp (broken link)

http://rentals.realtor.com/rentals

Try also calling a realtor, they are doing a lot of rentals now and can be of great help. We used one to find a short term rental for us. She came up with a ton of listings that I had not seen on any other sites.

Best of luck with your search and family, sounds like you have a lot going on there.

[nervousnellie]

I wish I had a great place to recommend, but north Pinellas and the area around ACH therapy is not that cheap of an area to live. You could find rentals for less than 900, but probably not with 3-4 bedrooms. There are some smaller homes, quite a few are duplexes but some small cottage looking houses, off of Lake St George Dr (about a mile or so from ACH), but they probably still rent in the low 1000's. You could check there though and maybe find one that needs a little "TLC". A lot of them are on little streets with only a few buildings and the streets are all "courts". I'm sorry I don't know any specific names, but if you are looking online it should indicate it is in the Lake St George area. There are a few apartment communities right across Tampa Rd from ACH, but they look pretty upscale from the outside. I don't know where they are on Seven Springs and I am not overly familiar with that area anyway so maybe someone else can help with that. Parts of that area of Pasco look like they would be affordable.

[Nirvana-Guy]

Originally Posted by nicole weaver

hi, i am looking for a home to rent. we are having problems finding a safe place but a rent we can afford. we are low income do to we have a child with autism. and i unable to work more then 3 days a week do to her needs and therpist weekly and our youngest child an infant is showing signs of development delay also.
my hubby does work but all night to help me out with our oldest with autism. we are looking for an 3 to 4 bedroom home in a clean safe place not near buzzy roads and not a bad area. and no loud noises near by daily do to sound affects her ables to do things. we have no pets and 3 children ages 6 to 12months. non smoker/drinkers too
this would be a long term thing too. we are looking to be in the north pinellas area or near the all children therpy center . please email me we can go to 900.00 a month as of right ( tampa rd or seven spring road is the other therpy center areas. )

Have you ever watched the TV show COPS??? If you have, you probably have seen a ton of crackheads and all sorts of undesirable people and violent criminals on TV on COPS, both on Pinellas and Brevard counties, in FL.

When you see the green sheriff uniforms on COPS, you are probably looking at either Pinellas county or Brevard county.

Maybe moving to a VERY EXPENSIVE state like Florida is not a good idea, as the "safe areas" cost a lot of money. I am not trying to be mean, I am being real. I rather talk straight to you now than you move down to FL and suffer inmensely. The last thing you need is to blow a good $1,500 on a move to come down to a state that used to be cheap and safe, but now is dirty and violent. Jobs down there don't pay a whole lot (15 years there tells me I know what I am talking about) and at $900/month, you will end up living in a crime-infested area that you will hate and may become a victim, which would be tragic.

Just a thought!! I hope you sit down and think this move over. Reality sucks, but it hurts not to hear it. Just a thought!!

[mg75]

I am not trying to be mean either but if you are not already in Florida do not move to the area if you have children with Autism it will be pure hell. I have a son with Autism and getting services is a nightmare. I love Florida, it was my home and we moved because we were unable to get help.

If you are already down there I have to echo what everyone else has already said. A 3-4 bedroom rental for under $900 in North Pinellas will be tough. You might find that in Pasco but not in a neighborhood for kids, again not saying this to be mean. I have a house I am renting (will not give details here, do not want to seem like I am advertising) but let's say it is not as many bedrooms okay? 3-4 bedrooms will probably run a bit more in the low 1000's. Might find that is a few areas of Pinellas but hard to come by.

[carolac]

Tampa has a big autism support group. If you go to www.card-usf.fhmi-usf.edu/ (broken link) you'll find numbers to contact. Be sure to click on "Resources" on the left for more information. Also, if you call the Pinellas area chapter of the Autism Society of America, 727-522-2353 (that's the last number I have), they will let you know the support groups around. Let them know you need a place to live, your financial need, and they will bend over backwards to help you. Also, join the Yahoo Group, Gfcfkids.com. Post a specific message directed to the Tampa group, let them know you're new to the area, ask about the best doctors, who to stay away from, the best schools that provide services, ask for help in finding a place to live, and they will tell you. If something happens that they don't, ask the CARD people to help you with that.

The great thing about Florida is that exceptional ed children are subject to the McKay Scholarship and school choices. To find out about this, go to Welcome to McKayScholarship.com and floridaschoolchoice.com. Ask about the scholarships for families with children with impairments that have a lower income--I want to say it's the Florida Choice scholarship, or something like that. You can put your child in a private school with these scholarships.

Florida is a lot of things, but there is no other state in the US that has these scholarships. Our family took several trips to schools in other states for our daughter, and each and every one said their services could not compare with those in Florida.

PM me if you have any questions. I'm in Orlando, and not as familiar with Tampa, but I do know they work very hard for each other.

[mg75]

Yes the McKay scholarships are unique to Florida and wonderful *but* they are difficult to get. According to this report only about 4% of students eligible receive the scholarships. The link to the report is here:
http://www.educationsector.org/usr_d...y_Vouchers.pdf

And if you have a child who is on the Autistic Spectrum as opposed to having what is considered "full-blown" Autism it is much, much harder to get any services as the state of Florida does not recognize Asperger's Syndrome, PDD-NOS etc as a disability. Medicaid waivers for services are not covered either and those who do quailify for Medicaid waivers with Autism sometimes wait years.

I am not trying to argue or make Florida seem like a super horrible place since this is the situation in many states in the U.S. I just want this person to be aware of what she *might* be up against if she is not already in the area. We ended up leaving what was our home, an area that we did love and hope to return to because of the lack of services for our family.

[carolac]

Thanks for the link below. That is an excellent article that shows both the benefits and the problems with the McKay Scholarship.

Any child designated exceptional ed under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is subject to the McKay Scholarship--they have different levels of funds available depending upon the impairments. My daughter has never used the scholarship, even though every year she receives a letter advising her she is eligible, because the services she receives from her school are excellent. My son, on the other hand, does. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't get the services he needed in the schools. So we exercised our rights to make a parental choice in Florida. You are correct about only 4% of the students eligible for the scholarship receive it, but that is because they do not ask for it as opposed to being denied access to it. Are you saying that the IDEA should be expanded to include more children so that they would have access to the McKay? I would agree with you on that.

The McKay program has had a lot of fraud that they've really cracked down on. When it first started, organizations would receive the scholarship money, take a portion of it, and then give the rest to parents to do what they want to with it. Accountability has greatly risen since McKay first started.

Again, thanks for the article. I read it cover to cover. One of my best friends is a principal in an elementary school and usually provides these materials to me. She is not an advocate of the McKay Scholarship because, frankly, parents don't always make the best choices for the children, but she sees what it has done for our son.

We never did try for a Medicaid Waiver for the reasons you cite below. Until we found a school that would help our son, we opted out of the McKay Scholarship and always paid for private therapy.

I don't know how the services in Florida compare with other states for impaired children. I have heard that Florida is terrible, and yet we have traveled to different states searching for the right place for our daughter, and every and every state has indicated they could not provide the services Florida does. But I've also talked to families who think the educational services for their children are terrible. So I agree with you--all sides of an issue need to be put out here. Good luck to you and your family. Deciding what is best for your children is not something for the weak-hearted.

Originally Posted by mg75

Yes the McKay scholarships are unique to Florida and wonderful *but* they are difficult to get. According to this report only about 4% of students eligible receive the scholarships. The link to the report is here:
http://www.educationsector.org/usr_d...y_Vouchers.pdf

And if you have a child who is on the Autistic Spectrum as opposed to having what is considered "full-blown" Autism it is much, much harder to get any services as the state of Florida does not recognize Asperger's Syndrome, PDD-NOS etc as a disability. Medicaid waivers for services are not covered either and those who do quailify for Medicaid waivers with Autism sometimes wait years.

I am not trying to argue or make Florida seem like a super horrible place since this is the situation in many states in the U.S. I just want this person to be aware of what she *might* be up against if she is not already in the area. We ended up leaving what was our home, an area that we did love and hope to return to because of the lack of services for our family.

[mustgetoutofflorida]

There is no where to rent that is good.....landlords are allowed to be slumlords because courts and laws are on their sides and many rentals are going into foreclosure....

[momix5]

Did you ever consider Union County NC? I heard that they have a great Autism program.