If you or someone in your family has recently been diagnosed with autism, this page will walk you through some basic steps of managing an autism spectrum disorder. Autism Speaks also has a 100-day kit to help organize the months right after a diagnosis. Community Connections of Conway printed a resource guide in 2009 that you can find here.
There very well may be government or private programs or treatments that are not listed below. Please try and join groups of other Arkansas individuals with similar difficulties to find the best local treatments and payment options.
Friday, January 29, 2010 Arkansas in the spring of 2010 is developing a new autism medicaid waiver. The program should be starting in 2011. Eligible children would receive intensive one-on-one therapy services at government expense. The program will serve about 100 children.
Click here to stay updated on the autism medicaid waiver program: LINK
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 Autism is a complex condition, but the most general definition is a communication and social impairment of a person, along with unusual, repetitive interests or actions. PDD-NOS, Asperger's, High-Functioning Autism are all aspects of the Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Unfortunately the only widely accepted treatment for autism is the educational therapies: ABA, ABBLS, PRT, RDI, Son-Rise, Floortime, DRI, etc. All of these programs are expensive, time-consuming, and difficult to organize. Worst of all no one, not the Arkansas government nor private insurance, will cover the cost.
Without direct autism therapy, many families focus on the treatment of the symptoms of autism. Various entities will pay these bills, with the two big categories being the public school system and medical institutions.
Any secondary symptom of autism can be treated such as fine motor skill problems, social skill delays, ADHD, anxiety, motor skill problems, or intestinal troubles. As a parent or individual with autism, you will need to make choices about which problems to tackle, and how. A lot of different things are often wrong at the same time, but only the family can make choices on what to treat first.
Eye Contact has a brief list of state autism resources, while another section has articles on therapy for autism. But any autism treatment plan will require further research and discussion with doctors, therapists, and other individuals. Specialized autism treatments are very few in Arkansas, so parents should consider going out of state if their private insurance allows such visits.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009 The state of Arkansas offers two $500 tax credits to families with disabled children. Please go to the Arkansas $500 Tax Credits section for more information.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 Treating autism spectrum disorders as a medical difficulty is where most people begin. Medical treatment includes anything requiring a doctor's prescription or supervision, including drugs, psychologists, behavioral therapy, group social skills therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech therapy.
Notice that there's a definite overlap between medical treatment and the treatments for developmental or educational reasons. Medical therapy, since it's done for medical reasons, also has very different funding and listed prices. Medicaid, ARKids, TEFRA, Tricare, HCBW (Home and Community Based Waivers), and Private Insurance are all ways to pay for medical treatment.
Medical treatment also faces very different levels of costs, benefits, co-pays, and paperwork hassles. The government insurance programs such as medicaid, ARKids, TEFRA and HCBW all have difficult application processes and eligibility requirements. While the local DHS office may be able to help with some of your questions, a better resource is the DHS office of Children's Medical Services, 501-682-2277. These applications are very difficult to complete, so discussion with a friendly staffperson is essential. The Arkansas DHS website lists additional services for the developmentally disabled.
A more disabled child can also enter the DDTCS preschools, which provide more intensive services for children. Individuals with autism who are no longer in school may also access the DDTCS services.
Arkansas medical treatment insurers, with the exception of millitary Tricare, will NOT cover direct autism treatment. No ABA treatment, no direct psychiatric treatments for therapies for autism. The minute any doctor or therapist puts down that the treatment is for autism, there will be no payment from any type of insurance.
Medical treatment can, however, be sought for all of the conditions around autism: anxiety, OCD, ADHD, fine motor skill delays, physical delays, and speech delays. So parents should not completely abandon insurers, but it is very frustrating to navigate the reimbursement rules.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 Once you are not relying on insurance to pay for medical treatment, two major autism treatment pathways open:
The first medical pathway is the educational interventions such as ABA. ABA, and the more psychological techniques such as RDI, PRT, Floortime, Sonrise and CDI, all rely on intensive, one-on-one work with a child. The one-on-one therapies also form a continum from ABA, with its artificial environment of repetitive trials, to programs such as RDI in real world settings with real world social interactions. An expert sets up the program, with parents or assistants doing the one-on-one work with the patient.
Many of these programs have had a lot of success treating individuals with autism, and unfortunately are also very costly. Only military Tricare will cover the cost of such a program, so that most families unfortunately have to pay out of pocket. The Autism Intensive Therapy Providers section covers the few places willing to offer these treatments.
The second pathway many parents explore are the biomedical treatments. Basically these treatments are not covered by insurance because they usually lack FDA approval for autism treatment. Included in biomedical treatments are GFCF diets, hyperbaric oxygen chambers, chelation, and vitamins.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 Adult individuals with autism can continue to receive services mainly in the area of residential facilities and work placement. Social security payments, medicaid, and other DHS services are also available to adults with autism.
Adult services unfortunately lack the funding of children's services.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 Rather than seeking medical treatment, a individual with autism can also receive treatment under the federal law Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA provides services for children from birth until 21 years of age. All children no matter how disabled must receive educational services from the state.
Autism is a recognized disability under IDEA law. As a recognized disability a child with autism is eligible for the broader protections of IDEA, rather than the more limited services available under a 504 plan.
Children with autism may also be placed in a different disability category, correctly or incorrectly depending on the parents' views, such as speech and language impaired. A finding of autism by a school district can either be made on a doctor's formal evaluation, in many cases by the Dennis Developmental Center of Little Rock, or by a formal screening criteria each school must use. Arkansas criteria for an autism diagnosis can be found here.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 Until 36 months, children are treated for developmental delays by the federal government under IDEA Part C program. In Arkansas the Department of Human Services (DHS) manages this point in a child's life through the Early Intervention Program, First Connections. Developmental delay treatment includes speech, fine motor skill, and physical delays. Since a child with autism may be delayed in any or all three of these areas, DHS provides all medical services to the child and family, including transportation and respite care.
A case manager explains the program deadlines, rules, and eligible therapists and services to the family. DHS covers all costs of therapy which can be done at the child's home. The child can have a medical diagnosis of a condition that usually results in delays, or the child can be delayed according certain evaluation milestones.
ABA-type educational therapies are not provided under the early intervention program.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 Once a child turns 3, he or she immediately leaves the DHS IDEA Part C plan and enters the IDEA Part B group, which is run by the local school district. Most Arkansas school districts have banded together to form cooperatives for meeting special needs for the 3-5 year old age group. Here's a list of 2009 Early Childhood Coordinators in Arkansas. You can also call the local school district for contact information. A child can receive services until he or she is of age to enter kindergarten, according to Arkansas law. The child can be in a regular private daycare and still receive services.
DDTCS Preschools are in Arkansas are managed by DHS, but the Arkansas Department of Education actually supervises much of their curriculum. DDTCS preschools will be paid for by medicaid for children at certain disability levels or with certain diagnoses.
In the school district program developmental delays again lead to services for the child. He or she doesn't need a formal autism diagnosis, although it's usually to the student's benefit to be under IDEA law rather than the 504 Plan. All treatment plans must lead to an improvement in educational skills: for instance, a child couldn't receive physical therapy to help "walk through the grocery store", but would be eligible for physical therapy to particpate in PE, sit up in a desk, etc.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 Once a child enters kindergarten, he or she is now receiving services from the local school district. The school district conducts evaluations and builds a detailed service plan with the family at an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) meeting. Here's contact address, email, and phone numbers of 2009 local supervisors of special education programs, listed by Local Educational Area.
The federal IDEA law forces schools to place students with autism in the Least Restrictive Environment, or an environment most like a classroom of typical children. Autistic children must be allowed to attend all school events and extracurricular activities. Children with autism are also required to take annual achievement exams showing their progress in academics.
Arkansas charter schools must provide special education services. Private school students can, through child find, attain some special education services from the local school district. Here's an article I wrote in January 2010 on school options for disabled children in the Central Arkansas area.
Severely disabled children with autism may be placed in a private school at state expense. However, the school district should have completely exhausted all regular methods to assist the student such as paraprofessionals and any other supports.
Many Arkansas families have found the public schools reluctant to grant services to students with autism. While some states offer ABA programs to assist their autism student population, Arkansas is still setting up autism-specific programs to help children. Parents should have a strong knowledge of IDEA laws and procedures, or use a skilled advocate to help them through negotiations with the school.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 Many parents decide to do therapy at home to build a tailored program and to save money. ABA, handwriting, speech therapy, and social skills practice can all be done by a parent. With enough research and confidence, many parents duplicate the work of skilled therapists, or even find a new career.
Eye Contact Arkansas
I have a new section listing intensive autism therapy providers. These services are usually not paid for by insurance or medicaid.