Last night, I got a phone call from a woman with a grown daughter who is autistic. She was older, so I wasn't entirely sure where she was going with the conversation. She downplayed the benefits of ABA, saying what amounted to "let your son be who is going to be."
That's what I am doing. I am fighting to give him every opportunity to be who is going to be. That doesn't mean I should give him over to autism. If I do that, I have failed him and society, who will then be forced to pick up the slack when he is an adult who cannot contribute to society by holding a job and paying taxes.
What I would like to see is a bill that requires medical insurance and HMOs to provide habilitative coverage as requested by physicians for all children with autism under the age of 18. This would include speech therapy, occupational therapy, and Applied Behavioral Analysis. I don't think for a minute that it would get rid of all my bills, but it would make it fair. If the doctor requests 15 hours a week of ABA, then insurance would pay for that with what ever co-pay or deductible coming from us.
A good model for this type of legislation is available at the link above or right here:
http://scautisminsurancebill.blogspot.com/
This blogger I believe is a mom and lawyer who wrote the bill in question in South Carolina. The press coverage she links to does a good job explaining why this coverage is so important. If the insurance companies aren't forced to step up, taxpayers will be supporting these children in the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment