Yes. There seem to be no good schools here for kids with complex physical disabilities.

OP here - thanks everyone this is helpful. To the PP's question -no he is our only child, so we wouldn't be taking another child away from friends/familiarity.

Are there other children in the home?

I know a family that moved from Oklahoma to New York. It really worked out for them, they were very happy with the NY services. But the mom was stay at home and the dad was able to transfer to his company's NY office (so no looking for a new job).

Is it possible to move near helpful family and good school options? Because that is really a good setup to have -- even if the schools don't work out, you get all of the support of nearby family.

A lot of people move to PA for special needs in public schools.

Definitely think about states that have good supports for SN kids in public schools. I've heard very good things about Massachusetts.
If you move for one good private, if the head of school quits, it could all fall apart.

We moved for other reasons but left the DC area for Colorado. As a happy consequence when we got here we discovered they have a lot more services and funding. If you're considering a move anyway, I would say definitely look into it and consider it.

I moved for a school and have to agree with the other posters - while it wasn't necessarily a mistake as other benefits occurred with the move, the reality is none of those benefits were for my DC! The school was amazing the first year and than the second year, they had a change in 4 of the 6 teachers and it has been a nightmare this year! So, I would consider factors beyond the school in making a move.

My SIL has 2 children with autism - one is significantly affected, the other less so. The services that were available to them in their part of Florida were atrocious. We have family in NJ who happen to know autism services well. SIL moved with the kids to a specific school district in NJ that is known for being generous in outplacement of kids into good private schools (costs are covered by the state). She was already SAHM so didn't have to worry about changing jobs but had all her ducks in a row before moving - including havinh her child evaluated at their desired school. BIL stayed in FL while applying for jobs in NYC/NJ and moved about 1 year later. Was a hard road for them but they are happy they did it. They were lucky that they had some well-connected family that could help them navigate the system in the new location as well as having some family support nearby.

I probably would research schools by visiting for a week or so and then once admitting only moving temporarily for the first year before making a permanent move. Too hard to evaluate a school based on a "Top" anything list.

Yes, we definitely consider it! Have you attended any of the conferences for your childs type of need? My son has autism and I was thinking of attending some conferences for the different autism groups to grt a better idea of the schools and services that are available all over the country.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, there are other reasons to move since we pretty much are sick of living here. My thought is if we were to move, perhaps it would make sense to move to a state where there are more options for special needs focused schools then where we currently are. I get what you mean about schools constantly changing and that's a good point to think about. Also, no guarantee my child would even get accepted to any of these schools.

The schools change slowly over time. And most the of the SN schools are very expensive. Your kid's needs may change over time as well.

Depending on the nature of the diagnoses, you may be able to public with an IEP or a small private where you are and supplement with things like speech therapy, OT, behavioral therapy, tutoring, etc. (You may even need to supplement when you're at a SN school.)

(I do know families that have moved states as well as internationally to go to a SN school in DC. So you're not alone in considering or doing this.)

Yes, there are other reasons to move since we pretty much are sick of living here. My thought is if we were to move, perhaps it would make sense to move to a state where there are more options for special needs focused schools then where we currently are. I get what you mean about schools constantly changing and that's a good point to think about. Also, no guarantee my child would even get accepted to any of these schools.

If *you* think you would be happy with a move, in terms of social life, jobs, seasons, etc, there is no reason to stay where you are.

However special needs change over time, schools get new heads and teachers turnover - you can't move just for your child's special needs unless you are 100% sure this is the only option for your child.

Full disclosure, we don't live in D.C. I come on this board because I find the special needs section very helpful. Where we live (Chicagoland area) doesn't have many if any good options for private special needs school. I do see quite a few in the DC/MD area, but that is not likely somewhere we would move since cost of living is really high. I was researching the top 50 ranked private special needs schools to see where they are in the country. None are near us. I see a few in NC, CS, GA and southern VA. If we were able to move (find new jobs, or able to work remotely) I wonder if this would be something to seriously consider? We only have one child and we want to give him the best shot at succeeding as possible. Just not feeling real confident he is going to get what he needs where we are or through our public school. (Will start K in the fall).

Has anyone considered doing this?