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I have to relocate from TN since my current project is coming to an end in couple of months. I have a 4 year old with Aspergers and need to move to a better place for services. I have done my research and it seems PA, NJ, WI and some other states provide better services in schools for autism. I assume there are good services elsewhere in other states and cities too (in patches though). My question is how do I find out/inquire about good elementary schools with good special needs support like OT,ST, ABA..
My employer gave me names to two tentative places - Mt Laurel, NJ (which from my research is one of the good places for services) and another one - somewhere in Northern IL (north of Chicago - Vernon Hills, Mundelein IL)...Everytime I look for info on City-data on places to relocate for autism, mostly I see references to NJ and PA towns/cities which I guess speaks a lot about these two states..But finding information about other places is very difficult..So I am wanting to understand how do I research about services in a local elementary school in a suburb or about private ST/OT/ABA in that area.. how can I get a sense of service quality ? who are the right folks to ask questions (schools, parents, therapists etc) ? and which is a good forum for getting this kind of info ?
I would suggest looking for yahoo or meetup groups that focus on autism in a given area. You can usually join even if you don't live in the area, but if you are considering moving there.
It is really difficult to get information because service quality varies not only from state to state, but also from county to county and from school district to school district and from disability to disability. For example, we live near Houston. Many of our school districts are terrible for kids with disabilities, but the particular school district we are in has good quality services for high functioning autistic kids, but I don't think they are very good for lower functioning kids nor do they seem to be good for down's syndrome children.
I would suggest looking for yahoo or meetup groups that focus on autism in a given area. You can usually join even if you don't live in the area, but if you are considering moving there.
It is really difficult to get information because service quality varies not only from state to state, but also from county to county and from school district to school district and from disability to disability. For example, we live near Houston. Many of our school districts are terrible for kids with disabilities, but the particular school district we are in has good quality services for high functioning autistic kids, but I don't think they are very good for lower functioning kids nor do they seem to be good for down's syndrome children.
Thanks Nana for responding. I did see your response right after you responded but I was hoping I will get to see more responses. Nevertheless, I did take your advice and checked out on yahoo groups. It is difficult to find a Autism group that too belonging to a particular region/state. But I did fine one for Boston area ( by reading elsewhere on citydata) and found another one for Southern NJ on Yahoo groups. Meetup groups for ASD are present there but dont seem to be much activities in those groups. And most posts on their discussion forums go unanswered.
How is Texas (Dallas, Austin) otherwise for Special Ed ?
Thanks Nana for responding. I did see your response right after you responded but I was hoping I will get to see more responses. Nevertheless, I did take your advice and checked out on yahoo groups. It is difficult to find a Autism group that too belonging to a particular region/state. But I did fine one for Boston area ( by reading elsewhere on citydata) and found another one for Southern NJ on Yahoo groups. Meetup groups for ASD are present there but dont seem to be much activities in those groups. And most posts on their discussion forums go unanswered.
How is Texas (Dallas, Austin) otherwise for Special Ed ?
We are in Houston. Things here are school district dependent. Some schools are good, others are awful. Abuse happens in some of the districts near us, but we have not had that in our district so far. We have been lucky. There is a meetup group for autism here in Houston and while the message board is not active, you can get some answers there. Texas has no money available for services and Perry is unlikely to give us anything we can use. I am hoping to move out of Texas soon back to the Chicago area and it may be hard for me to find the services and schools there from a distance as well. City data is just not the best place to find these things out.
We are in Houston. Things here are school district dependent. Some schools are good, others are awful. Abuse happens in some of the districts near us, but we have not had that in our district so far. We have been lucky. There is a meetup group for autism here in Houston and while the message board is not active, you can get some answers there. Texas has no money available for services and Perry is unlikely to give us anything we can use. I am hoping to move out of Texas soon back to the Chicago area and it may be hard for me to find the services and schools there from a distance as well. City data is just not the best place to find these things out.
I was trying to find information on services near Chicago and these two twin towns - Napierville & Aurora came up multiple times for good to excellent services for ASD. I had visited a town there and found it to be a very good town to be in. There is also a Napierville meetup group if I am not mistaken.
Kapil, I have some knowledge of the special needs climate in Naperville, Illinois. I can also elaborate on conditions where I live in southwest Missouri.
Commuting from Aurora or Naperville to north of Chicago is a daunting task. The Northern Suburban Special Education District may be able to recommend public or private education avenues. I would research the state's Early CHOICES and STARNET programs to assess your expectations for preschooler. Depending on your length of stay it's never too early to form the parameters of 504 and/or IEP's.
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which I guess speaks a lot about these two states..But finding information about other places is very difficult..So I am wanting to understand how do I research about services in a local elementary school in a suburb or about private ST/OT/ABA in that area.. how can I get a sense of service quality ? who are the right folks to ask questions (schools, parents, therapists etc) ? and which is a good forum for getting this kind of info ?
