Posts
NEW YORK, NY (July 9, 2008) -- Autism Speaks today commended Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell for signing into law the most comprehensive autism insurance bill in the nation. The new law provides $36,000 a year for Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and other necessary treatments, and goes beyond many state insurance reform measures by mandating coverage up to age 21 with no lifetime cap. It also creates, for the first time under Pennsylvania law, an expedited appeals procedure for denied claims as a safeguard to ensure compliance by insurance providers. Private insurers will be required to provide coverage beginning in July 2009.
In addition, the legislation turns the existing state welfare program for autism into a statutory requirement, ensuring that those who receive government-provided services can continue to do so. It also allows for the development of a private sector delivery system with insurance reimbursement, offering families an alternative to coverage through Medicaid.
Research News: http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?cl=8763620 if for some reason this doesn't work go to http://www.yahoo.com/ where there is a video link regarding new research regarding the genetics of autism.
Tyler Update: Tyler is now getting speech therapy twice a week. So we had speech as well as our session with Carrie on Thursday. Ben was home with us for both sessions. For the session with Carrie we worked on outdoor play in the front yard (i.e. outside teh safety zone of fences). We were able to successfully engage Tyler in activities that kept him within the boundaries we wanted. Here's how we did it. I set up two blankets next to eachother as a "play area" to help Tyler identify where he's supposed to be, plus he's not super fond of the feeling of grass! We also brought out some of his favorite toys from inside to the blankets, but he was not easily engaged in these activities and kept wanting to wander off down the sidewalk. So we got out his bin of beans which he really really likes and that kept him contained. We occasionally would slip out the beans and read a book for a minute or two but then he'd quickly request the beans again and we'd give htem back. The beans are great for keeping him entertained, however, they are hard to engage with him in so we don't want that to be the only thing he'll play with outside. Once he learns the boundaries of front yard play, we'll be able to hopefully play with the other toys longer. Ben did great, he used sidewalk chalk and colored.
Then we all went for a walk (minus Clifford). Carrie gave some good tips for getting through the areas that Tyler typically struggles. She suggested not avoiding them (unless we have to) but instead getting trhough them very quickly with distracting techniques... If both steve and I are walking we can swing Tyler by the arms, if it's just one of us we can kind of bounce him quickly past the area. We did this yesterday and he did perfect. I am very happy with the amount of time we were able to spend outside w/o having to chase Tyler down the entire time. You may be wondering where he'll go if we didn't stop him.. he'll walk down the sidewalk, go in the street, go into peopls garages, go into water sources, he'll walk of cement steps, patios, etc. (he's still a bit clumsy at times), he just has to be watched 100% of the time to keep him safe as he doesn't have the normal fears and desire to be around caregivers as typical toddlers.
Grandma is coming this weekend, yeah! Steve and Grandma are going to take Ben somewhere fun tomorrow morning so mom can get one on one time with Tyler. We hope to take the boys to the spinkler fountains Saturday evening if the weather is nice and on Sunday we'll have more fun outdoor play since that went so well last weekend. Both boys really played and they both wanted to play with mom and dad.
On another note, not sure you remember or not, but the first study Tyler participated in at U of M was called the FIrst Words/Toddler study. This was basically just evaluations so it wasn't really benefiting Tyler other than us getting reliable data on Tyler's progress on a regular basis. One of the tools used to obtain this data is called the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS). The ADOS is a semi-structured, standardized assessment of communication, social interaction, and play or imaginative use of materials for individuals who have been referred because of possible autism or an autistic spectrum disorders. The ADOS can be used to evaluate individuals at different developmental levels and chronological ages, from toddlers to adults, from individuals with no speech to those who are verbally fluent. What's really exciting is that they have finalized the ADOS-T which is a standardized test for toddlers. It's exciting because this new tool, when widely used, will allow professionals to diagnose toddlers at a younger age using a standardized tool. We all know the earlier the diagnosis adn intervention, the better chances for the kids success. Anyway,t hey are having a training day coming up to teach professionals throughout the US on how to administer the ADOS-T. Tyler is likely going to participate in this as being one of the kids they put throgh the test. He's been through it beforem and is familiar with the settings, etc. U of M has done so much for us that this is just one of the ways we can pay them back and also help the autism community, parents, kids and professionals.
Last but not least, here's an article recently published in wall street jounral talking about early autism diagnosis and costs of treatments, etc.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121545978096433273.html You'll see in here that parents pay up to $5000 just to get the autism diagnosis. Thanks to the First Words/Toddler Project at U of M, Tyler's diagnosis didn't cost us anything. Many doctors/school professionals, etc. are hestitant to diagnosis earlier than age 2 and many times do not diagnose before age 3, Tyler was able to get diagnosed at age 18 mos a result of the study and standardized tests and we didn' thave to pay a dime. The diagnosis opened up new doors for us so we are very appreciative.
