Texas?

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My husband is considering relocating to Texas (Dallas area I think). I think it's a huge risk and potential disaster and not worth the money he might potentially save. I don't mean to sound elitist, but I have heard that where we currently live, NYC, has some of the best laws and resources in the country for autistic kids. Our DS5 is in a really great integrated program for high functioning ASD kids and I'm loathe to remove him from the program without knowing what comparable environment I could get him into. I am concerned that the laws may not be as much in our favor there. I want to know if it is even worth considering a relocation. Anyone help?

It really depends on where in the Dallas area. My cousin is a special ed teacher at an awesome charter school in Dallas. If you are close to the bigger school districts I think you would have better luck. We are about 50 miles north of Dallas in a small district.

That is a school district by school district question. And there are MANY municipalities in the DFW metroplex and all with their own school districts. Depending on where you live in the DFW area the cost of living will be way down (my roommate lived on long island and we now live in south Grand Prairie).

There are resources. The Callier Center (associated with the University of Texas Dallas) has a good program. If you need a psych for adults there is Dr. Stuart Robinson.

For school integrated programs, I say that will take many phone calls to districts first, and then to individual schools. You might need to move to a specific neighborhood to get into a specific school.

There are also very well ranked private schools in Dallas. Some have programs, but not all, and they are all pricy.

I hear a lot of good things about Plano TX. It's north of Dallas but still accessable via public transit.

I know that in NY, if the public school system cannot provide the adequate education to your child given their special needs, you can sue the Board of Ed who will often pay a high %--if not all--of the (accredited) private special ed school tuition. Is it the same in TX? Or will they simply not pay?

I don't know the specifics, but Texas generally provides around the lowest level of social services of any state.

Also, the State School Board is trying to insert creationism into the science textbooks and remove any criticism of the US from history books. The Southern Culture of Honor is dominant here, and confederate flags and overt racism are common.

Democrats and Progressives are working to register and organize more voters, so the political situation may change fairly soon, despite the best efforts of the establishment to suppress voter turnout.

All things considered, I'd discourage anyone from raising children here, despite the fact that I turned out okay.

As it turns out, the job offer is based out of EL PASO, TX. And while talking to the recruiter, all I could do was imagine scenes from The Bridge(! !! !! !!)

I have not lived in El Paso, so I do not know anything about their schools. Sorry.

My impression is that El Paso has a much less ethnically and culturally diverse population than the greater New York metropolitan area.

I found a thread on this aspect of El Paso on City Data when I was learning about the region as part of my interest in "The Bridge"--

I thought of it when I saw this thread:

I would not move my family there! I understand that housing costs and many other costs are much lower. Wages are also lower. If I had to move to Texas I think I would be looking for Austin or (maybe) the Dallas area.

Also, some interesting views of El Paso here:
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/inde ... cocultura/