Autism Message Boards: PENNSYLVANIA - One of the top three states.

When I found out about this forum it was this topic that intrigued me enough to join it.

I have lived (as has my husband) my entire life in Pennsylvania. Right before my son (JR) was diagnosed with autism we were entertaining the idea of moving to a state with a more mild climate as I have arthritis.

After JR was diagnosed we were told to stay in PA because we have some of the best services for autism number 3 in the nation preceded only by NY and NJ. That was seven years ago and at the time services were not very good here so I can only imagine how bad the rest of the country was.

Things have gotten much better in PA since then. We have a governor and secretary of public welfare that have been working very hard to get even better services for our children. In 2007 the speaker of the state house was changed to Dennis O'Brien who happens to have a nephew on the spectrum as well. He is pushing for insurance parity for our families as well.

JR's school is also the only one in central PA that deals with moderate to severe autistic children using ABA and CLM (competent learner model). Autism is all Vista deals with and it's a great school/program. Our local Intermediate Units can't even come close to what Vista can do.

So the way things are looking in addition to being born and raised in PA it looks like we will die here as well. Oh well I guess it could be a lot worse.

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Be At Peace,
Deborah

If God brings you to it,
He will bring you thru it.