Today is the day!

[UnderTheStars]

Originally Posted by Suzi That's a bummer! Are you sure insurance coverage will be better? Most private insurance will not covet anything that is for an autism diagnosis. I've known a lot of families that were getting some help when it was ADHD or something else but once they got a medical diagnosis on the spectrum that stopped. Do you have an autism team through your school district? We actually do in nebraska and we are generally behind in those areas

When I called our insurance they said that they would be willing to cover certain OT therapy and speech therapy with an autism diagnosis (maybe not to the degree I'd like, but it would be something!). My son has a lot of diagnoses, but the insurance company is not convinced that any of them should require therapy (and the one that they did accept, they recently reviewed and turned down because they felt like he wasn't making progress). Frustrating, to say the least.

I'm not sure that we have an autism team, I highly doubt it - but even if we did, wouldn't he still have to be officially diagnosed for that to be considered? The school district doesn't do any actual diagnostics that I'm aware of.

[luvsviola]

No, you have to be diagnosed by a doctor.

But...good teaching/services shouldn't change just because you have a diagnosis. You teach the child, not the label. This is a soap box of mine. I hate that services have to wait til you get a diagnosis. If the kid needs XYZ to be successful in the classroom, he needed it two weeks ago before you had the label. He's still the same child. There is just more paperwork in his file.

[BCGamerMom]

--^ I'll get up on that soap box with you, it's a nice soap box. There should be more if us on it.

[UnderTheStars]

Originally Posted by luvsviola No, you have to be diagnosed by a doctor. But...good teaching/services shouldn't change just because you have a diagnosis. You teach the child, not the label. This is a soap box of mine. I hate that services have to wait til you get a diagnosis. If the kid needs XYZ to be successful in the classroom, he needed it two weeks ago before you had the label. He's still the same child. There is just more paperwork in his file.

YES! This is the war I've been waging on our insurance company...it is absolutely maddening. They refuse any additional coverage until someone labels Owen under a label they will accept. He was denied his much-needed therapy for six weeks now thanks to being label-less (he was able to go today, finally...because I raised some money to pay for it OOP). Hate it, but don't know how to change it...and it looks like it will be months before he'd get some sort of AS diagnosis - IF he gets one, since he is borderline.