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We have 6 years old son with Autism Spectrum Disorder. We are looking to move to Florida but not sure which part of Florida will provide the best school support for special needs children. Any advises from you will be great appreciated.
We have 6 years old son with Autism Spectrum Disorder. We are looking to move to Florida but not sure which part of Florida will provide the best school support for special needs children. Any advises from you will be great appreciated.
Thanks
Tran
First of all, you have my sympathies and best wishes. If you have an autistic child, do not look to move to Florida. States such as New York and others that provide services would be a much better fit for you. Here are a couple of threads that may be of interest to you:
Bottom line, Florida is tough on children with autism. It's a lower tax state, so the services just aren't there like they are in higher tax states. You might try the Parenting Forum's sub forum on special needs children to get a feel for better places to relocate for your child. If you're looking for good services for your child, Florida is not the place.
First of all, you have my sympathies and best wishes. If you have an autistic child, do not look to move to Florida. States such as New York and others that provide services would be a much better fit for you. Here are a couple of threads that may be of interest to you:
Bottom line, Florida is tough on children with autism. It's a lower tax state, so the services just aren't there like they are in higher tax states. You might try the Parenting Forum's sub forum on special needs children to get a feel for better places to relocate for your child. If you're looking for good services for your child, Florida is not the place.
First of all, you have my sympathies and best wishes. If you have an autistic child, do not look to move to Florida. States such as New York and others that provide services would be a much better fit for you. Here are a couple of threads that may be of interest to you:
Bottom line, Florida is tough on children with autism. It's a lower tax state, so the services just aren't there like they are in higher tax states. You might try the Parenting Forum's sub forum on special needs children to get a feel for better places to relocate for your child. If you're looking for good services for your child, Florida is not the place.
I’m not sure if you have experience with special ed in both NY and FL. I do, so i think I’m fairly well qualified to provide a comment.
My children aren’t on the spectrum but were diagnosed with a disability and classified under OHI.
Net-net - horrible experience in NY, good experience in Florida.
You CANNOT generalize at a state-wide level at all.
In Florida, school districts are at the county level, and vary in quality greatly. I was in Collier and my kids had a good experience there. I can’t speak for other counties.
In NY, districts are at a town or village level, meaning for a place like Long Island with 2 counties (not counting NYC) there are something like 125 school districts, each with their own processes and policies to navigate. Each district has a handful of schools so placement is even more difficult.
The experience in the second link was very similar to my NY experience. The district put my older son in a resource room and told me to pick him up at 10am and take him home. When I finally got smart about what FAPE meant as well as IDEA they told me they couldn’t handle him and he had to be moved to another school an hour away.
I know other people in NY that had a lot of issues and hurdles in getting services for their children.
In Collier, my kids couldn’t be placed in our local school but were accommodated in another one a few miles away, and as they were in district were still bused each way.
My recommendation for OP - there is no one size fits all answer. But learn your rights, get everything documented and when you narrow down your options start contacting the various districts EARLY. Part of the problem that I inferred in the second link was that the child was placed in an inappropriate setting which is the fault of the district AND the parent.
I’m not sure if you have experience with special ed in both NY and FL. I do, so i think I’m fairly well qualified to provide a comment.
My children aren’t on the spectrum but were diagnosed with a disability and classified under OHI.
Net-net - horrible experience in NY, good experience in Florida.
You CANNOT generalize at a state-wide level at all.
In Florida, school districts are at the county level, and vary in quality greatly. I was in Collier and my kids had a good experience there. I can’t speak for other counties.
In NY, districts are at a town or village level, meaning for a place like Long Island with 2 counties (not counting NYC) there are something like 125 school districts, each with their own processes and policies to navigate. Each district has a handful of schools so placement is even more difficult.
The experience in the second link was very similar to my NY experience. The district put my older son in a resource room and told me to pick him up at 10am and take him home. When I finally got smart about what FAPE meant as well as IDEA they told me they couldn’t handle him and he had to be moved to another school an hour away.
I know other people in NY that had a lot of issues and hurdles in getting services for their children.
In Collier, my kids couldn’t be placed in our local school but were accommodated in another one a few miles away, and as they were in district were still bused each way.
My recommendation for OP - there is no one size fits all answer. But learn your rights, get everything documented and when you narrow down your options start contacting the various districts EARLY. Part of the problem that I inferred in the second link was that the child was placed in an inappropriate setting which is the fault of the district AND the parent.
Yes, you and I have discussed this before and I've made mention of your experience in another thread or two, although for some reason I thought you were in the Jacksonville area. First of all, as you've mentioned, your children have special needs, but aren't on the spectrum. And it's none of my business what needs your children have, but autism is a whole different kettle of fish than garden variety dyslexia, for example. Needs can range from mild to severe. It is good that things worked out for you and your children. Did you research it before you chose Collier specifically, or did you roll the dice and happen to win when you moved? You seem like a responsible person, so I'm guessing it was the former. However, you'd be the exception and not the rule.
I don't know what the OP's situation is, but as I've mentioned elsewhere, the main concern for the autistic child is consistency and stability. If a parent has their child in a stable situation, it's best to keep them there, no matter how much one may want to move. Or wait until the child improves, some children with autism do improve over time and with the proper care. Moving to Florida on a wing and a prayer, as many people do, and hoping to find good services for the child isn't the best idea.
You are right about services varying from county to county. I lived in Hillsborough County for years and I would never recommend it for education. However, it has the best public health system of any place I've ever lived, bar none. And any resident can avail themselves of those services whether rich, poor, or in between, because they have a variety of plans and sliding scale fees. Not to mention good, dedicated medical professionals. We gave up our expensive insurance plan with lousy doctors and long waiting times once our neighbors explained to us how it worked.
First of all, you have my sympathies and best wishes. If you have an autistic child, do not look to move to Florida. States such as New York and others that provide services would be a much better fit for you. Here are a couple of threads that may be of interest to you:
Bottom line, Florida is tough on children with autism. It's a lower tax state, so the services just aren't there like they are in higher tax states. You might try the Parenting Forum's sub forum on special needs children to get a feel for better places to relocate for your child. If you're looking for good services for your child, Florida is not the place.
I’m not sure if you have experience with special ed in both NY and FL. I do, so i think I’m fairly well qualified to provide a comment.
My children aren’t on the spectrum but were diagnosed with a disability and classified under OHI.
Net-net - horrible experience in NY, good experience in Florida.
You CANNOT generalize at a state-wide level at all.
In Florida, school districts are at the county level, and vary in quality greatly. I was in Collier and my kids had a good experience there. I can’t speak for other counties.
In NY, districts are at a town or village level, meaning for a place like Long Island with 2 counties (not counting NYC) there are something like 125 school districts, each with their own processes and policies to navigate. Each district has a handful of schools so placement is even more difficult.
The experience in the second link was very similar to my NY experience. The district put my older son in a resource room and told me to pick him up at 10am and take him home. When I finally got smart about what FAPE meant as well as IDEA they told me they couldn’t handle him and he had to be moved to another school an hour away.
I know other people in NY that had a lot of issues and hurdles in getting services for their children.
In Collier, my kids couldn’t be placed in our local school but were accommodated in another one a few miles away, and as they were in district were still bused each way.
My recommendation for OP - there is no one size fits all answer. But learn your rights, get everything documented and when you narrow down your options start contacting the various districts EARLY. Part of the problem that I inferred in the second link was that the child was placed in an inappropriate setting which is the fault of the district AND the parent.
Yes, you and I have discussed this before and I've made mention of your experience in another thread or two, although for some reason I thought you were in the Jacksonville area. First of all, as you've mentioned, your children have special needs, but aren't on the spectrum. And it's none of my business what needs your children have, but autism is a whole different kettle of fish than garden variety dyslexia, for example. Needs can range from mild to severe. It is good that things worked out for you and your children. Did you research it before you chose Collier specifically, or did you roll the dice and happen to win when you moved? You seem like a responsible person, so I'm guessing it was the former. However, you'd be the exception and not the rule.
I don't know what the OP's situation is, but as I've mentioned elsewhere, the main concern for the autistic child is consistency and stability. If a parent has their child in a stable situation, it's best to keep them there, no matter how much one may want to move. Or wait until the child improves, some children with autism do improve over time and with the proper care. Moving to Florida on a wing and a prayer, as many people do, and hoping to find good services for the child isn't the best idea.
You are right about services varying from county to county. I lived in Hillsborough County for years and I would never recommend it for education. However, it has the best public health system of any place I've ever lived, bar none. And any resident can avail themselves of those services whether rich, poor, or in between, because they have a variety of plans and sliding scale fees. Not to mention good, dedicated medical professionals. We gave up our expensive insurance plan with lousy doctors and long waiting times once our neighbors explained to us how it worked.
Getting my kids in a good setting in Collier was highest on the list - to the point where we hired someone to help us navigate, although by then I was experienced enough to know the drill myself (part of the reason for hiring someone was that they had relationships.) I started this process well before we moved, like around 6 months beforehand.
I also agree that I'm the exception rather than the rule, hence my recommendation to OP to start the process EARLY and understand what's out there.
I agree that there is a huge difference between something like low-functioning Autism and dyslexia. Let's just say that in the early years my kids were much closer to the former than the latter, to the point where my second child went through a thorough (and expensive) evaluation as he exhibited many signs of being on the spectrum.
My only umbrage was the "NY is better than FL" comment, because I've experienced it to not be true. Perhaps I'm also the exception there, but I do know that many districts there are going through extreme fiscal stress and are doing everything possible to deny services.
Getting my kids in a good setting in Collier was highest on the list - to the point where we hired someone to help us navigate, although by then I was experienced enough to know the drill myself (part of the reason for hiring someone was that they had relationships.) I started this process well before we moved, like around 6 months beforehand.
I also agree that I'm the exception rather than the rule, hence my recommendation to OP to start the process EARLY and understand what's out there.
I agree that there is a huge difference between something like low-functioning Autism and dyslexia. Let's just say that in the early years my kids were much closer to the former than the latter, to the point where my second child went through a thorough (and expensive) evaluation as he exhibited many signs of being on the spectrum.
My only umbrage was the "NY is better than FL" comment, because I've experienced it to not be true. Perhaps I'm also the exception there, but I do know that many districts there are going through extreme fiscal stress and are doing everything possible to deny services.
See? There CAN be improvement and I believe there can be improvement to the point of where the condition doesn't even exist for the person anymore. It doesn't have to be a life sentence. This is the hope that I have for autism and why I encourage parents to be as consistent and stable for the child as possible. There are people out there, both professionals and non-professionals, working hard to do something about it.
You are welcome. I believe there is hope for your son. Maybe now is not the time for a move, but in the future, as new discoveries about the condition are made and as your son improves.
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