We aren’t made of money, of course, but we do want the best treatment for autism that is out there, if we can, searching out resources to make that happen. This has been some of the motivation behind us moving from Washington to Idaho. With Joshua now qualifying for the Katie Beckett Waiver, which Idaho offered (and Washington having no clue regarding this waiver- I asked), he now qualifies for Medicaid because of his disability. We are now, finally able to access additional treatment from one of the autism treatment centers in the area, Syringa Family Partnership, which offer IBI (Intensive Behavioral Intervention) and Developmental Therapy, considered scientifically effective treatments for autistic children like Joshua. I also found out that we now have access to a Family Case Coordinator to help us with any of Joshua’s treatment needs. This is something I’m still learning about, but I am so grateful to have someone walk me through learning this new system we are in and how to get the most that we can out of what is now offered to Joshua through the Katie Beckett. An added benefit, too, is because he now gets Medicaid, we also don’t need to worry about co-pays or having enough sessions available through our insurance for him to get the amount of speech, occupational or physical therapy that he needs. We also don’t have to worry about providers taking Medicaid or not, as they all do when it comes to his therapies. For a one income family on a tight budget, that is the “Golden Ticket”! We are now developing quite the treatment team in Idaho, both in the community and in the school system, all who have the goal of seeing Joshua recover to the best he is capable of.
While we have been waiting for Joshua to be qualified for IBI services, we have been incredibly fortunate that in our school district, there is an elementary school that has developed a school program for autistic kids and Joshua is now receiving some quality treatment as this program also offers IBI services, as well as physical, occupational and speech therapy, in addition to the special educational instruction at Joshua’s own pace. We had his IEP on Wednesday, October 24th, and it was quite the experience as the team had taken such care re-evaluating him, while also getting to know the delightful child that he is. The meeting consisted of the psychologist, special education teacher, general education teacher, physical therapist, principal, occupational therapist, speech therapist and myself. Joshua qualified in all areas, showing profound delays. The positive side is that they can see he’s a bright, hard working and joyful boy. If I didn’t have such hope in what we are all trying to do to help him, I’d have a lot to be concerned about. What is such a blessing for him is at school, he is getting one on one attention with an IBI therapist working with him through out the day with his school work and treatment needs. He has Ann, working with him in the morning, and Paula with the afternoon shift. With the treatment now getting set up for him after school, he will be getting even more while he is home. I am expecting to see a lot of growth in this boy and am so thankful for this opportunity.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 7th, 2012 at 8:36 pm	and is filed under Autism Resources, Autism Treatment, General Autism Info. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.