Best School Districts in PA for child w/Autism? Relocating. (Erie: rent, transfer to)

[tulipsnholland]

Hi everyone! I'm hopeful that you might be able to help me as the groups on FB have been little to no help.

We currently reside in Florida. The services for any Special Needs is absolutely HORRIBLE and it's the entire State. There are 2 grants but they do not cover the Private Schools in FL (which aren't even great to begin with) so you end up having to pay out of pocket even with the Special Needs Grant. I've researched every nook of this State and it really is the entire State.

My Husband has the opportunity to transfer to PA. My daughter is 7 and moderate to severe with a 1:1 Para all day to help mainstream her. My Son is 8 and high functioning. I've heard good things about Erie and Hershey so I'm trying to gather as much info as I can.

What I'm interested in:

-A District I don't have to fight with every year for the basics like 1:1 OT and SLP
-Somewhere I can access ABA whether through the community or the School District.
-A District that will call me in for a second IEP meeting if my child has met all of their goals.
-Our rent budget for a 3 bedroom is $1,500 mo. (We would be looking to buy eventually)

We can go anywhere in the State of Pennsylvania.

PA Questions:

-Are the people rude?
-Is it gorgeous?
-Are there things to do outside year round?

THANK YOU!

[Wells5]

See link below.


//www.city-data.com/forum/penns...nsylvania.html

[Marie Joseph]

The link provided by Wells5 is going to be helpful to you but you had asked about Erie area specifically.

The Penncrest school district does a good job and will bus your child to the best one in the district based on his/her particular needs. This is what they do w/ my daughter and it's really helped. She is going to be a senior next year and they have her placed in a program that will help transition her into a sheltered workplace and teach vocational skills along with the general educational skills. The Edinboro school district is also said to be very good about working with special needs students, particularly those with autism/PDD.

As to your other questions:

1. The people around here (Erie area) generally aren't rude, particularly as you get out into the 'burbs. It's like anywhere else; most of the people are nice but you always get a few a$$holes. Ha ha. For rude, you need to go to the southeastern end of the state

2. I think that the area is pretty. We have 4 seasons here; you have great Fall color and yes it does snow a good bit here so don't be shocked when it does. Once you get out of the cities, there are rolling hills. We have Conneaut Lake, Preque Isle, Lake Erie (!), and many scenic byways.

3. Yes, you can. It depends on your tolerance to different temperatures and what you are into I guess. There are events that occur all year in Erie and the areas surrounding it.

Your rent budget of $1500 for a 3 bedroom would be fine in this area; rents are generally around $700-750 in Edinboro for 3bdr and around $750 in Saegertown for the same. They are higher in Erie depending on where you wanna live but it's actually not that expensive to live here outside of the gasoline prices.