Sometimes Moving Is All You Can Do
After legislators in Oklahoma did not pass Nick’s Law (which called for insurance coverage for autism treatments) at least one family is leaving the state to get services for their autistic child in another part of the country. Doug and Caroline Hall are moving to Cincinnati for the sake of their 4 1/2 year old son, Dougie. According to the May 30th News OK, the state of Ohio provides up to $20,000 a year for either private school or autism treatment.
We’ve moved and moved in search of the right educational placement and services for Charlie. The biggest move was when we left St. Louis (where Charlie was born) to go back to New Jersey (where my husband is from and where there are a lot of well-established autism schools). While we’ve now found a school district that provides the right school and services for Charlie, we are most likely not done moving. New Jersey’s services for adults (such as housing) are not where they could be. Also, all of my family—including several cousins who are near Charlie in age—live in California and the possibility of us having to move out there when Charlie is an adult often crosses my thoughts.
Small wonder the three of us sometimes feel the most at home on the road in our car.
Tags: asd, asperger, autism, cincinnati. moving, government, Insurance, Legislation, migration, New Jersey, oklahoma, Parenting, pdd-nosRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Family, Insurance, Legislation, Money
8 opinions for Sometimes Moving Is All You Can Do
flax hulls
Jun 1, 2008 at 1:20 pm
The government has a shameful track record in regards to dealing with people who suffer from any form of mental deficit or condition like Autism. How long ago did they open the doors to the mental hospitals which lead to the homeless problem we have today? What will happen when this tsunami of autistic children (the more seriously effected) reach their 50’s and their caregivers have passed away? The planets are going to align in about 20-30 years to cause a crisis is predictable and unavoidable. SSI will be on the brink of bankruptcy and the number of productive workers is morphed by the number of elderly SSI recipients. There just won’t be any money available to take care of the autistic let alone the elderly. Add to this problem is the projection that in 20-30 years India and China will be the number 1-2 world economic leaders. (bases on growing gnp and other factors I follow as I’m in the import business) The US is projected to be 4 or 5. Our dollar in 20-30 years…. I don’t want to go there, but use your imagination.
The liberals may get their desire in 20-30 years and we may become a socialist governement ruled by the world elite. The masses may beg for this option to avoid starvation. The middle class is being destroyed before our eyes as well as the value of our dollar. 911 and the subsequent trillions of dollars wasted since then will go down in history IMO as the straw that broke the camels back.
To sum up, funding for autistic programs today is not going to solve the problems facing this governement in the future and may just hasten the inevitable collapse and subsequent turn towards tyranny.
Bonnie Sayers
Jun 1, 2008 at 1:34 pm
I have no plans for leaving the State of CA. We can stay in LA for the Zoo for Nick to work and Matt to get services with Jay Nolan or to San Diego for Nick to be at Sea World and Matt to get services at St. Madeline Sophie’s center where Chantal Sicile-Kira’s son works and Mark Rimland is as well.
There is also nothern CA where the rate of pay for IHSS workers (which I am) is about $3-4 higher, although cost of living is also.
I watch Open House on HGTV to see home prices and keeping an open mind. Also belong to an Autism CA group and many are up North and I get feedback on Regional center locations, which ones are better, etc.
At one point Nick wanted to be a palentologist, until a fourth grade report revealed thru research the years of schooling, although that would be at UC Berkely.
RG
Jun 1, 2008 at 1:53 pm
It’s true, moving is sometimes all you can do. I’m not happy about it but I anticipate we may have to move again in the near future as my son nears the age of attending a very large high school. Knowing how some districts provide services it’s a scary thought.
I enjoyed reading your posts today, they really got me thinking this morning especially about the Chevy analogy.
niksmom
Jun 1, 2008 at 4:00 pm
I wonder if anyone has ever bothered to consider this factor in any of the studies/surveys done on the out of pocket costs borne by families with (an) autistic member(s)? You know, in addition to all the $$ shelled out for various therapies, medical/biomed treatmetns, home modifications, special diets, meds, etc…
Kristina Chew, PhD
Jun 1, 2008 at 4:59 pm
I never unpacked a lot of our things from suitcases after this most recent move, into a rental condo—-knew we’d be on the road again. And we stopped worrying about furniture etc. and just try to have what we need—Charlie for sure is very good about all of this.
Imagine factoring in the security deposit into those out of pocket expenses—every penny has been more than worth it. We would have most likely spent just as much on a child who didn’t have special needs, we often think.
california law school
Jun 1, 2008 at 7:23 pm
[…] to get services for their autistic child in another part of the country. Doug and Caroline Hall ahttp://www.autismvox.com/sometimes-moving-is-all-you-can-do/Law school sells Old Town campus for 12 million San Diego Daily Transcript via Yahoo! News The […]
Val
Jun 1, 2008 at 8:48 pm
our move fell through so we have to work with what we have here.
sue
Aug 28, 2008 at 1:17 pm
We found this to be true, too. We were originally from NJ, then moved to CA and lived there, happily, for 9 years. When we realized how much we missed our east coast family, we moved back to NJ. By then (last year), our son was 19, almost 20. We rented last year, then realized how bad the adult services were in NJ, so we just moved again, this time to NY. We bought a house here in Rockland County and have been told by our case manager (thru the Medicaid waiver) that our son could probably get in a group home within 1 to 2 years of applying. It sure beats waiting 10 to 20 years (or maybe forever) in NJ!
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