Our Big Family Plan to Move in to Texas, Need Advice (Houston: attorneys, job market)

[Damitha]

Dear friends, Me, my wife, mother-in-law and 6 kids (9 family members with 4 dogs and 4 cats) plan to move to Texas from Indiana. So you can understand it will be one of the biggest decisions in my life to take so I'm doing analysis now. Also all our kids are adopted and have special needs (ADD, ADHD, Autism, feel alcohol). So many things I have to think about.
We looking for large house, my wife love country side but I like to live close to city b'cos we have to do shopping regularly and I want start work. I have BSc degree in IT and have 5 years experience in IT. My wife is specializing in special need kids so she plans to start foster care for more kids. I'm ok with that b'cos I love this great nation (I'm immigrant from Asia and this is my 4th year in USA) and want to help society as much as I can. My wife has double degree in political science and 15 years work experience.
I put more description about our family here b'cos I think it will help anyone who put their kind comments here and any advices are well come.
I know Texas is huge state so no idea where to move. I prefer Dalls or north side of Texas. Even I'm from tropical country I prefer little cold weather, not too hot. I'm not scared for snakes or any wild animals. In our current state we have problems with schools b'cos our family is big and they can't understand real need of special aid kids. It’s sad but that is the truth. So I like any school district which is good history with special aid kids.
Sorry if I put too long description of my needs but this is only way I can describe our situation. So please advise us which city is best for us to move in Texas. Thanks for your time.

[Dopo]

Good luck,
I don't know much about Texas (I've been here 6 months)
but I believe that Dallas and Houston have the largest asian communities in Texas.
Austin seems to have a pretty big high-tech job market and last month I visited a small asian shopping area that was pretty nice.

FYI, San Antonio has very few asians.

I know that maybe you don't care about that at all. But just in case that that's important for you.

[EasilyAmused]

Have a job before you come. There's a flood of overly qualified people coming in who don't have jobs first. Big mistake.

[Poltracker]

Texas school systems are not known for much help in schooling special needs students, so you may want to consider that. Also what EA said about jobs. They are not as plentiful here as folks are being led to believe.

[88txaggie]

Poltracker, that is a bit too much of a generalization. If OP goes to a major metropolitan area and is careful about a suburban school district, he will find his kids well taken care of. Plano is one such area; actually I would widen that to include McKinney, Allen, Frisco and maybe parts of Richardson. These areas are also diverse communities that have many immigrant families. In my neighborhood we have families from Hong Kong, China, Japan, Middle East, Romania, Albania, and another of those countries I can never remember, plus Britian, and the rest from various places in the US. We are one of few families actually from Texas!

I would recommend having a job before relocating - I know one family who had saved enough to live on that $$ for a whole year and moved from Boston without a job. They assumed they would have plenty of time - nope. Eventually they ran out of $$ and had to move back to family - and this was before the economy tanked. Please seek employment first!

[EasilyAmused]

Originally Posted by 88txaggie

Poltracker, that is a bit too much of a generalization. If OP goes to a major metropolitan area and is careful about a suburban school district, he will find his kids well taken care of. Plano is one such area; actually I would widen that to include McKinney, Allen, Frisco and maybe parts of Richardson. These areas are also diverse communities that have many immigrant families. In my neighborhood we have families from Hong Kong, China, Japan, Middle East, Romania, Albania, and another of those countries I can never remember, plus Britian, and the rest from various places in the US. We are one of few families actually from Texas!

The exurbs tend to have less Texans in them than the suburbs. No surprise there.

[Poltracker]

Originally Posted by 88txaggie

Poltracker, that is a bit too much of a generalization. If OP goes to a major metropolitan area and is careful about a suburban school district, he will find his kids well taken care of. Plano is one such area; actually I would widen that to include McKinney, Allen, Frisco and maybe parts of Richardson. These areas are also diverse communities that have many immigrant families. In my neighborhood we have families from Hong Kong, China, Japan, Middle East, Romania, Albania, and another of those countries I can never remember, plus Britian, and the rest from various places in the US. We are one of few families actually from Texas!

I would recommend having a job before relocating - I know one family who had saved enough to live on that $$ for a whole year and moved from Boston without a job. They assumed they would have plenty of time - nope. Eventually they ran out of $$ and had to move back to family - and this was before the economy tanked. Please seek employment first!

Possibly a bit of generalization but pretty accurate non-the-less even in major metro areas. Google some news stories on how parents are having to fight school district attorneys about educational plans for special needs kids. Seems they do OK when it is just a physical limitation, but parents of autistic and aspergers kids among others are having a rough time of it. Most of the districts involved are wealthy, diverse districts. Of course if you just want a baby-sitter instead of a child getting the best possible for them, then there is no problem.

[Trainwreck20]

I have a friend that has a special needs child and has had great success in the public school system in Houston. He DOES need to keep on top of things and spend time 'championing' his son or he might not get the attention/support that they want for him, but in the end it has worked very well for him.

[88txaggie]

Well, I'm a school psychology specialist, so I'm pretty confident that the districts in this immediate area provide more than babysitting services for special needs children. The key in any district is as the above poster said - be an advocate for your child. I've worked in economically depressed areas as well as here in North Texas, and I would choose a school district here over a rural one any day of the week. Of course, this is all IMHO, and I'm sure experiences differ.

[ForgottenMan]

If politics is a big concern because of wife's background, then consider Texas a mostly conservative state with the exception of Austin and the Lower Rio Grande Valley which is dealing with many negative border immigration and drug gang issues. Houston and Dallas balanced politically.