Moving to a small town with a special needs child
Like many others, we are considering leaving the Bay Area. We've always lived in bigger cities/metropolitan areas and are very drawn to living in a smaller town (we're looking at towns from 5000-50,000 within an hour or so of a larger city). Our hesitation is that we have a high functioning special needs kid and the Bay Area is a wealth of resources, from her IEP to private speech, OT, etc. (though much less so with covid). We're concerned both about access to good services and about being in a community that is less inclusive or accepting (the Bay Area is so diverse on so many levels). Does anyone have any experience making a move like this? I think if this wasn't an issue we'd have already made the leap as we're really ready for a change and our values have shifted a lot since having kids. Thanks in advance!
Parent Replies
Hi, I would suggest the suburbs of Boston. The services and support is even better in this area. I thought of moving back to better support my two. 2E kids, but my husband’s job is here and not moveable. We moved to the Bay Area from the greater Boston area and have direct experience. I’d be happy to share details if you want to explore this area further.
I'm not sure what regions you are looking in but for some reason upon reading your email, towns outside of Boston and in or outside of Providence, RI popped into my head. Before moving to CA I worked as an OT in both areas and was amazed (and greatly miss!) the abundance of resources and found them to be open-minded and inclusive places. The medical institutions are top notch (Children's Boston, Hasbro Children's) and many private clinics for outpatient services. Best of luck with your search!
I currently live in Bloomington, IN (moved here from the Bay Area.). It is a blue dot in a fairly red state. It has some resources and is an affordable place overall. However, COVID is out of control here, so I wouldn't really recommend it at the moment. Maybe down the road? The public schools are good. A good resource here outside of the schools is called Bloom Pediatric Therapy.
p.s. I saw someone else post about Providence, RI. There problem with Providence is that their public school are terrible and they handle some of the IEP etc tasks for kids in private schools. Barrington, RI might be worth exploring. But, I personally wouldn't recommend RI for your situation.