Best place to move for disabled adult child (autism, disabilities, therapy)

[mjllj]

HI my wife and I are thinking of moving to either Placer county or Sacramento county. Does anyone care for an adult disabled child that can give us an opinion on which county and city/town has the best resources, best day programs and is a safe place to live?

thanks
mjllj

[Joseph Marnix]

Since you're in California, contact Regional Centers to get more info in these matters.

[mjllj]

I was hoping to get a parents point of view. The regional centers can give you a list of places to go to and look at, but there is nothing like having the opinion of someone who is actually experiencing these places. I have placed my daughter in some that at first glance seemed real nice, only to later find out that it was a big mistake. But thank you anyway for taking the time to respond

[gracie09]

mjllj,

My children are not disabled but, I myself have a mild form of cerebral palsy which requires me to walk with a crutch and do insane amounts of physical therapy.

In my research, I have found 3 "Life Span" clinics so far which are dedicated to the on-going care of patients with disabilities. They offer a myriad of services, including resources for and connections to full day programs and live-in facilities. They are located at Rady in San Diego, UCLA Medical Center, and Gillette in Minniapolis/ St. Paul. While Gillette is not in CA it does have a resource center and library with a great deal of help and information about exsisting services.

I do not have first hand knowledge of these clinics and services as I have not yet needed to seek out their expertise. But, I do know they have every possibility from dentists and social workers to equipment fit & procurement to facility contacts.

I hope this is a helpful jumping off point.
Best of luck,
gracie

[mjllj]

Thank you Gracie your input is very much appreciated

[gracie09]

mjllj,

I found out last week that the Life Span Center affiliated with UCLA has now been moved to a location in Santa Monica.

gracie

[mzgrinch]

Hello,
I have a disabled adult child and I would warn you to be really careful of moving here. It really depends on your childs disablility on whether services are available. There are more services of Autism but they are mostly for children. We used to have a play group at Sac State University but they ended it after twelve years due to budget cuts. Access Lesiure is mostly for the recreational side for the disabled so you might want to check out their website. We have several project ride programs but they all have long wait lists and are during the day and I cant get my daughter there but you might have the resourses.
Be very leary of the Regional Center. You will need to very educated on your childs rights and be a strong advocate. My daughter had a tramatic brain injury and she ihas been client of the regional center since she was 3 and (she is now 23), and we have had the hardest time getting them to help with services for my daughter. The bottom line for them is the almight buck not what is in the best interest for the consumer. Even when you beg, they lie and tell you they are doing everything they can but I have found inconsisitencies in their responses, long delays in looking for servicss or placing purchase of services through. I have not been able to find respite services for my daughter due to her level of care is beyond standard respite services (if your child have behavioral issues regular respite services will not accept you). There is one company that will service my daughter and Alta used to pay for it but they stopped because they didn't want to pay for the higher level of care. Now we have no respite. Then we started to look into placing my daughter in a group home (due to no respite we are just exhausted and have not been left with any other options) but are not able to find a home within a 200 mile radius of Sacramento. I am a single parent and am stuggling to keep my family together and since I am not getting any help here I am looking to move out of California in the hopes I will find the services for my daughter.

Hope this helps.