I am in the process of trying to get my Health Insurance to cover ABA therapy for my 4 year old son. I know that they may not cover this type of therapy. What funding and/or scholarships are available to help cover this expense as I cannot afford to pay for it? Are there other alternatives to this type of therapy that will work as well? I live in the state of Ohio. Please advise. I am stressing out about this.
Sorry I've been gone for a while. Regional center is a government run program. They provide early intervention and testing for kids from birth until 3.
@A MyAutismTeam Member, This sounds like a silly question but what is a regional center? I keep hearing about it but do not know if we have one in the Chicago area.
We are part of regional center in California. They should have something similar where you are. They pay our copays for all of my sons therapies. I just needed to show them last year taxes. I would give it a shot.
I am glad that his language is good, but make sure that he is using it functionally and keeps moving at age level. My typical nephew received Speech therapy and preschool 5 days in Il. because of pronunciation problems. You can get outside speech. Our Speech therapist coded it as expressive/receptive language disorder in order to qualify for coverage. Outside therapists usually know how to code for insurance that does not cover Autism. The disorder would reflect the problem if any. It is probably the same with OT or PT. The Play Project sounds wonderful! I know it is a version of Floor time with specific organized goals. I wonder if the hospital has a grant, sliding scale or if they can code the behaviorally therapy differently. Play project will probably help with behavior, but differently. Yes stay positive. It sounds like you have good things coming.
Thank you @A MyAutismTeam Member. There is a hospital that has an Autism Clinic but the insurance that I have excludes Autism and Developmental Delays. I have also began the eligibility process through our Board of Developmental Disabilities and once they state he is eligible they are able to offer some services like the The Play Project. He is also currently enrolled in a preschool program through the school district and attends half-day, four times a week. We are having an IEP meeting soon and I am hoping to have them give him more OT and to have speech at school. I was already told by the speech pathologist because he has language and his receptive and expressive speech is okay that they will not work on the pragmatic speech. I don't know how this is going to go. I am trying to stay positive.