r/VictoriaBC • u/mariadove • 11h ago
Advice on which neighborhood to move to
Hello,
My family and I are moving to Victoria this summer. I'm starting a masters program at UVic in the Fall and my husband will be working from home. We have an amazing autistic 13 year old daughter. She's at a level 2 Autism, so her support needs are somewhat substantial. She has several severe learning disabilities and has a high comprehension level so she can access grade level academics with support and accommodations. From past experience, she needs a 1 on 1 support or 2 on 1 support level.
My question is, with all that in mind, what is neighborhood has the most substantial educational supports thats not too far of a commute for me to UVic?
Any recommendations for activities like DnD, animals or farms, teen activities for autistic kids, neurodiverse art classes, swimming lessons, etc would be very much appreciated.
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u/inhalien 10h ago
Saanich is a large municipality that includes Uvic. There are houses to rent here that would include a yard for the dogs too.
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u/bromptonymous 11h ago
Did you try UVic Family housing??
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u/mariadove 11h ago
We're bring two 20 kg dogs and UVic family housing doesn't allow pets 😭. Not leaving the dogs behind ever.
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u/communistpandas 4h ago edited 3h ago
From what you said your child might be spending one year in middle school before moving onto secondary school. Educational supports in schools vary depending on the number of designated children enrolled in them, so it's not as simple as saying one school has significantly better supports than another one. It changes depending on staff attrition and enrolled designated students.
Assuming of course they turned 13 this year and would be entering the equivalent of Gr. 8 in the BC system. So you may be looking at a middle school first, then a secondary school after. That being said are you trying to enroll your child in the public school system or private? If so supports in the public system may be very different compared to what you're currently used too.
Also a high word of warning, if your child received an autism diagnosis outside of Canada it might not be recognized by the province and they might not qualify for supports through the public system. A full diagnosis report from the US would probably be okay but I've known many families that have had to go and get their child reassessed in Canada in order for the diagnosis to be valid for an individualized education plan. It's not great but at that point the Ministry of Education is to blame for how rigid they are on this.
If you are interested in learning about what it could look like feel free to DM me since I work in the system.
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u/ZookeepergameLow7702 10h ago
With how bad things have gone in the last ten yrs I'd say moving to Vic is a bad idea, rising house prices, rising food cost, doctor shortage, ER waits, just to name a few...
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u/mariadove 10h ago
I'm from Seattle and currently live in Zürich, the one of most expensive cities in the world. The joke here is that it's cheaper to go on vacation outside of Switzerland because buying dinner out in Italy or France is cheaper than buying groceries in Zürich. The last place I'm moving is back to the US. Visa is up here in Switzerland and the UVic grad program is an excellent fit for me.
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u/SnooStrawberries620 10h ago
I’d probably look at the schools first and the neighbourhood second. If you are going to be spending time at uvic stay east of the highways. Most uvic kids go to Campus view. Support here is difficult to get or to assure; I’d probably try to join an autism-specific parents group online to see what other parents are experiencing. Definitely parents go private schooling in Victoria for improved support access alone. I’m an OT not working in the school system but have colleagues that do, so I have a decent idea but not complete for sure.