Advice on what states would be best to move to..

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I've lived in California when my son was five, and it was HORRENDOUS. I would never suggest living in California and expecting services from the school for your ASD child.

We moved purposely from California to Pittsburgh, PA, and it is WONDERFUL here. Lots of very smart and effective programs for working with children -- good speech therapy, good socialization programs, and the teachers understand autism. Not everything was perfect, but much better than California. My son is 17 now, and hopefully will be prepared to go away to college next year. If we had stayed in California, I don't think we would have had this outcome.

I think that one can get a good feel for how various school districts handle their autistic students by checking on www.city-data.com website -- where you can connect with people who live there, and get their opinions on good programs in their area.

We lived in Utah before my son was diagnosed, and I would NOT go there. Although it is a beautiful state with lots to do outdoors, the schools are awful because Utah is one of the TOP STATES for spending as little as possible on education. Generally, school districts that spend a lot per student on education in general will also have good programs in place for special needs. Don't go to Utah -- I can't say this enough times.

I'm glad to hear that I'm wrong about California. Very happy to hear that things are good in your area, DW_a_mom.

I live in CA, in the Bay Area and the public school has been terrific. My 4yr is in a special HFA preschool and it is fantastic. There are also outstanding private schools if you want to go that route, we researched just in case.

Additionally I have been extremely happy with my health insurance(shock, I know), Kaiser. They sent him to a pediatric developmental specialist for his diagnosis, set us up with an autism social worker and a family psychologist. We will get speech and OT(if he needs it later) and were authorized for 25hr a week of ABA. His ABA is completely covered, all we have to do is pay the $20 visit co pay and after we hit the $1500 yearly limit we pay nothing. I do have to say it took a while to start ABA because the therapist are in short supply, but considering the other stories I have heard the 3 months was not too bad.

I live in southern CA, and I have to say that in my metro area it varies greatly by district. Off the top of my head I can name 2-3 that are excellent, another 3 that are good (all wealthier districts) and 3 to stay as far away from as you can. You might also want to shop districts according to whether you think your child should be in a special day class, mainstreamed, or in a non-public school. Many districts lean one way or the other...