From my experience, DC Public schools are "catching up" to providing effective autism services. But they are no wheres near there yet. They still treat it like another condition and put the child in a room with others and hope for the best. There's no creativity, colors, excited, educated ABA teachers and wonderful sensory and calm down rooms! And servicers who provide wondeful consistent service as the child IEP requires. Its like they are doing you a favor. There are some golden nuggets, but you need a great attorney/advocate, money and favor to find them here in DC.

Forensicmommy-And what is sad is Va does not care. They only want children in their public schools who can perform well on test & sports. I could not belive the hype of sports while living in Va. I thought I was in Tx there for a while. My step son's new school in PW county had a football stadium the size of a college's. Too me it was too much. My step son's where into music & I will give there new high school kido's for having a decent music department which most schools in Va don't have.
I am surprise to hear CA has decent programs because my son's speech therapist work there & was not too happy at all with the schools she worked in. She relocated to Conn & really liked there but had to move to VA because her husband transfer again. She was not happy at all working at the schools so she started her own practice. She hated MD also She missed Conn which has great programs for children.
I do hope CA works out for you & you can settle down & raise your family. I know CA is going broke & has water issues so hopefully that won't affect you too much.

My family moved from NOVA to North Pole, Alaska where he had some good teachers and program at NP Middle School but he ended up going to Fairbanks where they had just implemented a new program at Randy Smith Middle School where he started in the Fall of 2011. The coordinator/teacher was Mrs. Finch. She was great, but the classroom had all of the disabled children together. In North Pole it was Autistic and Downs kids together. At RSMS there was all the children with a variety of disabilities including those in wheelchairs and other intellenctual. I didn't know how to feel as my son picks up habits from others but it worked out ok.

My husband was offered a job in Los Angeles and the decision to relocate yet again when we were braving temps that got to 51 degrees below zero. And the schools in Culver City where we are have the better schools in the greater Los AAngeles area. And there are no Medicaid Waiver waiting lists here in Cali. My son qualified for the benefits he got just by being here as California is an entitlement state. We are pleased so far with the schools and programs. Would not go back to Virginia.

I did not care for the schools at all except for Prince William County. At Saunders Middle School, the Special Ed coordinator seemed to go out of her way to get my son what he needed. Fairfax County which was supposed to be the best, was crappy. We didn't realize until we moved to PW County and realize the bill of goods we were sold. They give you just the minimums and expect you to be glad you got that. They get an F. PW County is the best in our experience unless you can afford private or a one on one situation.

I moved out of Va because I felt my son was not getting the services he needed & what services the area had was not covered under insurance. Also the public schools in NOVA don't have in services for SP, PT or OT so you have to outside to find these services which are not covered under insurance. It became too costly for us to keep paying for these services so we thought it best to find somewhere where my son could get the services he needs. My son has made up so much ground now that he is getting the service he needs. It's not always easy but it's worth the wait to see my son becoming more independent, engaging in conversation & meeting new friends like him.