Taylor - posted on 01/29/2011 ( 1 mom has responded )
10
19
Hello Ladies. My family and I are relocating to Pittsburgh, PA. Anyone from that area? I am looking for advice/opinions on the school districts in that area that provide great programs for kiddos like ours. My son was born with spina bifida...he walks with a walker..g-tube fed..and does not speak.
HELP!
-Taylor
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Candi - posted on 02/01/2011
100
4
Pennsylvania is fantastic for kids with special needs because your son will automatically qualify for Medicaid as a secondary insurance based on his diagnosis. This has been INCREDIBLE for our budget. Phew. I highly recommend picking UPMC for You as your secondary. They tend to be the most open to approving what your child needs.
As to schools, check out the Children's Institute. All school districts are required to provide you with therapists whereever you go, and the Children's Institute Day School is one of the schools that is covered by the Pittsburgh Public Schools. So, tuition would be free to you, if your son qualified. And it's really an amazing place. We go there for outpatient therapy. The web site is www.amazingkids.org. How old is your son? My twins were born 10 weeks early, and one of them has Cerebral Palsy because of it. Both of them have been in outpatient feeding therapy at the Children's Institute, and Gabriel receives speech and physical (aqua) and will soon be receiving occupational. Through the school district, we receive speech, occupational, physical and developmental at our private preschool, the UCDC (the University Child Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh).
The nice thing about Pittsburgh Public Schools is that you have some choice over schools, but it's a little limited. There is one of the only public montessori schools in the country within the district, and there are several magnet schools, including the Dilworth, which is near our home near (and all of the parents I've discussed it with have LOVED it). There's also an environmental charter school within the district that's pretty cool. The Children's Museum on the North Side also has an elementary school and preschool program, but it's super hard to get into.
You can pull up test scores and descriptions of all of the schools on the PPS web site. Also, if you're moving into Pittsburgh proper, look at either Highland Park or Squirrel Hill for neighborhoods. Shadyside is nice as well. Bloomfield is good as an up and coming neighborhood, and it's super close to Children's.
Friend me on Facebook (Candi Carter Olson). I'm not comfortable posting my e-mail on here, but I'd love to talk with you and help you get connected here in the 'burgh. I've lived in several different cities, and I truly do love it here. This is a really great city for raising kids because it's affordable and there's a wide fvariety of stuff to do here.
Check out the prices on memberships to the zoo here. And if your son is on medicaid, you'll have $1 admission for your entire family to all of the Carnegie Museums, including the Science Center in downtown.
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