RELOCATING to either DFW or Northern VA - HELLLLLLPPP!! !

Post Reply New Topic

HI Everyone!

I am a mama to identical twin girls in first grade with Aspergers. They are mainstreamed with Speech and OT. They both also have resource room minutes (half hour a day) to go into that room and finish any work they didn't get done in class or get extra help if needed.

We currently live in central Illinois and believe it or not, been THRILLED withour school district. We also have family and friends here and it's a huge support system. However....my husband is going to be relocated with his job in the next 6 - 12 months. This scares us to death.

The two places we may be placed are Dallas-Fort Worth or the Northern VA area (he would commute from DC - so Loudon, Fairfax or possible Prince Willam Counties).

Has anyone had any experieces with either area? Do you see one more preferable over the other for our types of kiddos? I am trying to find out info and getting test scores etc off Great Schools, etc only gives so much. Any recommendations for research on my end? Has anyone ever hired an Educational Consultant etc to help people like us during this process and if so, how the heck do you find someone??

ANY info would be appreciated. We are very worred and stressed. We hate to uproot the kids -they are doing well and accepted. But we have no choice.

Thank you in advance!! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !

Wish I could help in specific, but may I suggest a couple of searches? You might try searching Meetup.com and see if there are any parent support groups in either area; sometimes you can post on the Meetup site with questions rather than attending directly.

Second, Autism Speaks has resources by state - maybe one of them will have some specific information or an online way to ask questions of other parents.

Good luck!

I grew up in MD across the river from DC. There are some nice places in northern Virginia.

A friend of mine lives in Shepherdstown. He has absolutely nothing nice to say about Loudon County. But bear in mind, this is also the kind of guy who still lives with his parents at 32, has not held a job for more than a year in the past 5 years, thinks Mitt Romney is a liberal, and raves about the American sense of entitlement.

He says the crime rate is awful-- but he also looks at your average housing development and sees a ghetto.

I don't know what to tell you-- I've always taken my moves as they came and made the best of them. We've been pretty lucky so far-- but I have pretty low expectations. Basically if they don't call us morons and kick us like stray shih tzus, I think we've done OK.

Do you think you would have any luck calling local boards of education in the counties you think you may end up in?? I doubt the bloody bureaucrats would really be of much use, but at least you could get a feel for what you'll be dealing with.

I've been to Manasas a few times. It's a good city, and there is good public transit to access DC.

NoVA (as the area is called) is economically pretty well off. The Dulles Corridor (the area around VA Route 267) is also a good place.

Moving down along I-95, there are some lower economic areas, but also a lot of nice area. Keep in mind that Virginia Railway Express runs from Fredericksburg VA up to DC several times a day.

You may experience some culture shock if you move to VA, especially the further away you go from DC (Expect to see confederate flags), but I honestly feel safer in VA than I do in MD. Virginia has been seeing a drop in crime as of late.

I live in the DFW area, and there are a LOT of school districts in this area. Some are better than others for providing services. Also, some of the schools within the districts provide better services than others. My children are in a small district northeast of Dallas and the services have been mediocre to poor. I have heard of some good services in Richardson, Plano, Denton, and some of the northern cities. As for Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, and Garland, it's hit or miss depending on the administrators of that school. Some of the smaller districts don't offer as many services, but are more personable. There are also several private schools in northern Dallas suburbs that cater to children on the spectrum if you have the funds.

Hi Everyone. .. THANK YOU SO MUCH for your quick replies. This is a stressful situation- trying hard to be "calm"--but not knowing WHEN or WHERE is making me nutty!! I am new to this board, so I hope I am replying the correct way on this...still learning!

I appreciate your insights to specific locations in both areas .... love the one about Mitt being too liberal and the confederate flags. Too funny. Well, it seems all of our governors here in Illinois end up in the federal pen, so anything but up, right!? At any rate, it will be a culture shock for us as we live in a city with a pop of 100,000 and it takes me literally 2 minutes to drive to school, 15 minutes to get to work. SPOILED>But you are right - I need to try and go with the flow as much as I can!

Regarding DC- I have been told to keep to Fairfax County as it seems to have the best reputation..? Like the idea of calling the county school board of eds. Right - always going to get a Pollyanna viewpoint but excellent place to start. Interesting that N VA is a better quality of life than the MD side. Had no idea.

About DFW - Honestly, this is our preferred location. The suburbs you cite all looked good based on my research. Husband would be workign down town Ft Worth if that helps locale...I know traffic is a nightmare there too.

I WISH we had the funds for a private school, but the little I looked into it, it was crazy expensive. I need to win Powerball.

I really appreciate this guys! Thanks for taking the time to help a mom out!

Also moving to DFW here too, but from the UK. This is great information, thanks.

Another question here. My sons diagnosis in the UK has been met really well. In the USA, would the school accept him on his current diagnosis and would i have to pay for the extra support (in a regular Texas DFW state school)?

Please help, we have no idea how the US system works at all.

Send your local school a letter (don't do this verbally over the phone) introducing yourself, attaching a copy of the IEP (or whatever they call it in the UK - IEP stands for Individualized Education Progam or Plan) as well as any copies of documents verifying diagnosis. State that you want to set up services for your child.

Try to do as much communication via email or written letter so you have a copy of as much of the information as possible. Make a folder on your computer or in your house.

The school may accept what you have, but more likely they will probably want to do an assessment of their own, in which case they have a time limit to do so (check the school board's website for the rules, in Texas you can start here: http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=2147494485 )

momsparky, that is brilliant, thank you. We are looking to locate depending on where can provide the best services for him (selfish, but we have to look after him when we can!) In a public school, do you have to pay for Aspergers provision at all?

It depends entirely on whether or not the school deems your child needs services or not. Otherwise, you are stuck paying for private services - some of which may be covered by your employer's health insurance, some of which may not.

Look over Wrightslaw.com for general information on your legal rights for a special needs child.