Does anyone know of a good public school district w/in 50 mile radius of andover, ma for high functioning kids. May have a job offer there and want to make a good choice when relocationing. It's been a rough road in pa. I want to pick a district that is at the very least autism friendly. Looking at middle schools. Thanks to anyone that can help!Hi! I'm in the suburbs of Mass (have been my whole life) and have a son PDD-NOS and many other ASD persons in the extended family. Soooo, this is an area I've thought about for a long time.
Few would argue that Wellesley is the best in the state for ASD. It's probably the most - or tied for most - expensive place to buy a home in Mass., however. Lexington is considered good, but many people would say maybe not, if your son is high functioning (their resource room for mild needs is a joke). I've heard bad things about Natick from a sped parent (non-ASD issue), but know a sped ASD teacher there and it sounds great to me. Wayland gets good reviews, but has very high taxes. Don't bother with Cambridge or Boston.
I think you basically need to hire a local advocate or atty before you move, to make sure you know you are getting what you are entitled to in whichever town you choose. That person would truly know what towns would be best for what you want. Susan Grant is one who is mentioned frequently (an advocate). Crabtree and Kotin is THE law firm for students with sped. I think it would be a good use of a couple of thousand dollars (for advice and IEP drafting/revising).
There have been many cuts to funding from the state to towns' school districts here recently. The cuts were based on median resident income, so the wealthy towns suffered the biggest cuts. A specialist I talked to recently said you can get great servcies now in Waltham, Burlington and the like - i.e., towns where you might not think of first if you had a NT child to educate in public school.
Unless you are coming from NJ or NC, you will probably land in a better district for ASD services than where you are now. So, don't worry too much!
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