Which evaluations do Arkansas families need?

In some sense the autism evaluation only helps rule out other medical conditions. Few Arkansans can afford to directly treat autism, an out of pocket medical expense.

If your child has language and other developmental deficits, treatment can begin as soon as possible at school, DDTCS, early intervention, or doctor’s prescription for therapy.

There are a few specific Arkansas programs and money available to those with an autism spectrum disorder. The type of diagnosis is critical in the following situations:

1. The $500 Arkansas tax credit for autism.  For the tax credit you’ll need a team diagnosis from a psychologist and a doctor.
2. The HCBW, or big waiver. The Arkansas Medicaid waiver, that has no premiums and doesn’t count family income for determining benefits, requires a 3-part autism diagnosis. A speech pathologist and psychologist must work with a doctor to make an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis. To get on the wait list for HCBW requires the 3-part diagnosis. Dennis Developmental Center diagnosis will meet the criteria. Contact your local DHS caseworker for further information on how to apply for the HCBW. Click here for some DHS guidance on how to create the 3-part diagnosis from an existing autism diagnosis.
3. The $5000 grant program in the fall of 2009 and spring 2011 had the same diagnosis criteria as the HCBW, a 3-part diagnosis.
4. Tricare requires a physician to diagnose autism with these additional details on their website.
5. The new autism waiver.  The diagnostic evaluation needed for this program has not been established for the program that begins in 2011.  There's a good chance, though, it will follow the 3-part HCBW evaluation.

My list of situations requiring a specific type of autism diagnosis should not be considered complete.  There are probably other programs that require their own specific autism diagnosis. Also, the autism evaluation criteria can change for these organizations, so please contact them for up-to-date information.

Update on Tuesday, March 9, 2010 by Eye Contact Arkansas

Here's a later story for additional guidance on the ACS or Big Waiver autism diagnosis.  Diagnosis preferably states autism, not autism spectrum disorder. Individuals with Asperger's will have a slightly harder time with the waiver as discussed in this story here.