concerned for my son

[Ilovemyson]

I have a 4 year old autistic son. My husband is in the USAF and we'll be getting orders to a new base in the near future. My husband asked me to make a list of bases where I would like to go. My main concern is trying to find a base where the school district is excellent with autistic children. I've been reasearching several bases and states. I found a few, but I don't have any feedback on the schools, nothing. My son is currently attending early intervention in S.D. He has done so much progress since he started attending. He has bloosmed so much since he started school. His teachers have told me stories about some autistic students they had, whose parents went to a new base and the schools really didn't work with the child. I'm really worried that I won't get a good base and a good school for my son. Please help! I'm just trying to get some feedback from parents who've had experince with good schools and not so good schools. Thanks :confused:

[codysmom]

My son is 12 years old and has autism. Is has been in the same school district for all his school life; with the exception of 6 months when we moved to another school district. My son was 10 years old when we made the move to be closer to my sick grandfather. Cody didnt do well at all. I did finally get some outside help hoping he would cope better but sad to say nothing helped. I was told by Cody's doctor that some children with autism can not make the changes. We did end up moving back to our home town and things finally went back to normal. I would give you the advice if you have to make the move, take time to introduce your child to the new enviorment and go slow, which is something I didnt do. Maybe that will help with the transtion.
I do wish you the best of luck. And anything I can help with I will be glad to.
Codysmom

[AutMom]

Welcome to the group to both of you!

Ilovemyson, the moving can be very difficult...you have reason to worry in my opinion. It adds so much more work. Hope you can get a lot of support.

Not sure why it says 0 posts under your name....obviously you have at least 1 post!:confused:

[littlerainmansmom]

To those moms who are worried about transition.

My name is Cyndi and I just wanted to reply to your message in saying that I completely understand where you are coming from. I am from New York City and just moved to Cheyenne Wyoming in October. I am a native of NYC and have found it difficult for myself to adjust to the lifestyle out here, however my son has adjusted just fine. There still is some difficulty with transition but in all he is doing great. Justin is in a great school and he getting all of the therapies that he had been getting in New York plus more. It took a month to get my son into school out here and that was due to the slow reaction of the principal and administration at Justin's old school in getting his school, medical records and IEP's sent out. I think that what also made the transition easier for my son is that his daddy lives here and he gets to see him more often. I however miss NY and want to go back, I made the sacrifice to come here and I now do think that it was for my sons best interest. I feel for you and your son, if it is difficult for those of us who are not Autistic to adjust to a new place, I can just immagine how it must feel to a child who is not able to communicate his feelings. I am here for ya if you want to chat. Take Care.

Cyndi B

[littlerainmansmom]

I am in Cheyenne Wyoming and I have to tell you that I have had a great experience with the schools here and I also want to relay to you that this is a military town. The main Air Force Base here is Warren Air force base and it is right in town. I hope that this is helpfull to you.

Cyndi B

[Bethintx]

Some advice on the move. We moved across town, and Ryan got his own room in the end.

We took photos of Ryans old room, the house, and the yard. We also took photos of the new house, his new room and the yard. We made a book about moving. We took pictures of the moving truck and boxes too. We told the story of Ryan who was going to move to a new house. We told him in the book that his toys were going in boxes that he could help pack and even made a simple map. You could include photos of his new school and teachers too. Contact folks ahead of time and tell them what you're doing. They usually are glad to help and send pictures. You could even take pictures of the empty room and pictures of the things that will go in it and he could "set-up" his room. We read this as a bed-time story every night until the actual move. His teacher helped with the book by laminating it for us and making suggestions as to what to include. I hope this helps.

Bethintx