The small subgroup of families that even have ABA services included in their health insurance plans are now finding out that the only ABA services authorized require 100% implementation by licensed clinicians. Now as a licensed clinical psychologist myself, I know that it is unrealistic for me to be present for every hour of a child's intervention. Not only is it cost-prohibitive for a licensed provider to be present for every hour of ABA intervention, it isn't evidence-based practice! The data on intensive ABA programs has historically relied on the undergraduate student implementers of the intervention, not licensed professionals.
Autism and Insurance: a Push for Coverage
For those parents, unlike Henderson, whose children need more therapy and treatment than the school or state provides, insurance is the next step -- but it too is often little help. Many insurance plans exclude autism treatment or refuse to cover behavioral therapy because they say it is an educational, rather than a medical, treatment.
Recently, however, the insurance situation has been changing. In the past three years, the advocacy group Autism Speaks has coordinated a push to get states to pass laws mandating that insurance companies cover autism treatment.
"Our community had gone for far too long at the mercy of insurance companies who used autism as the basis of denial for meaningful, necessary, evidence-based interventions," says Peter Bell, executive vice president for programs and services at Autism Speaks.
The organization's push is working: In 2006, only Indiana had such a law in place. Today, 25 states do.
"Children are receiving treatments, making tremendous progress and are often able to transition into a school environment with less support," Bell says. "This is an investment in the future."
In Massachusetts, Debe Needham Chamberlain has seen that change firsthand. She and her husband, both special education teachers, paid out-of-pocket for their son T.J.'s $150-per-session occupational therapy for three years and worked extra jobs to make the money. The bill mandating autism coverage was signed into law in last summer, and just recently, for the first time, T.J. was able to see the occupational therapist with only a co-pay.
"This is such a godsend," Needham Chamberlain says. T.J. was lucky to be able to attend school in the district where his mother teaches, which offers ABA therapy in school, but the district they live in does not. "People mortgage their houses so that their children could get services," she says. Now, with the new law, they are moving T.J. back to his home school district, and insurance will cover out-of-school ABA therapy.
"The cumulative impact of thousands of mandates across the country has been to raise the cost of coverage -- in some cases beyond what small employers can afford," she says.
And, she says, many of the therapies mandated in some of the new state laws are educational rather than medical -- and so should be provided by school districts.
But Bell, of Autism Speaks, disagrees.
"Autism is a diagnosis you receive from a medical professional," he says. "School and teachers do not give an autism diagnosis."
More ...
At a time when autism diagnoses are soaring nationwide, many parents and professionals insist that ABA therapy is the best way to help these children live normal lives.
Eric Larsson, a Minneapolis psychologist and leading advocate, says ABA is more than just a treatment - it's a way to rescue children "from the ravages of autism." He tells parents that nearly half of children can recover if they start ABA soon enough.
"They're coming to us because they want to cure their child," he said. "Just like you or I would do if we had cancer."
But other autism experts say the benefits of ABA treatment have been blown out of proportion. They say there is scarce evidence that it's really better than less costly alternatives.
"A lot of claims out there are inflated," said Barbara Luskin, a psychologist with the Autism Society of Minnesota. "Autism is a difference in the way your brain is. You're not going to cure it."
This year, for the third year in a row, the Minnesota Legislature is debating whether to require the state's health insurance plans to cover ABA treatment for autism, a speech and behavior disorder that is said to affect 1 in 110 children nationally.
More than 20 states have adopted such mandates since 2007, says Lorri Unumb of Autism Speaks, a national advocacy group.
Ultimately, she hopes it will become the law of the land as part of national health reform.
Center for Autism and Related Disorders' Research Study Finds Chewing Gum an Effective Treatment for Children with AutismRumination involves regurgitation of previously ingested food, re-chewing the food, and re-swallowing it. The study examined a child with autism who displayed chronic rumination for approximately one year, resulting in the decay and subsequent removal of several teeth. After several treatments failed, including thickened liquids and starch satiation, the child was taught to chew gum. His rumination decreased significantly when gum was made available.
[FULL ARTICLE]
The new program, a master’s degree in Applied Behavior Analysis and Autism, is offered fully online.
Read the entire draft of President-Elect Obama's federal mandate for autism insurance coverage
What Is Discrete-Trial ABA?What If My Child Doesn't Enjoy Rewards?ABA vs. Developmental Approach?What Is 'Floor-Time Therapy'?What Is The Denver Model?What Is The TEAACH Model?Great website for kids on the autism spectrum,
Jacob's Lessons - Free Online ABA Activities and toddler education.Description from the site:
The activities on this website were originally created to give my
toddler a fun introduction to the computer. It grew into a terrific
interactive experience for us as well. My wife is a behavior analyst
who works with children on the autism spectrum and she began using the
activities with her students. She discovered that Jacob's Lessons is an
effective way to teach young children with autism beginning computer
skills, and is useful as a complement to their Applied Behavior
Analysis (ABA) programming. These activities were created so that the
adult works with the child during the lesson, not as an independent
activity for the child, although some of the children will be able to
do some of the lessons on their own. New lessons and modification of
current lessons will be done with your input-please use the button
below to comment, ask a question, or suggest new content for Jacob's
Lessons!
