In our state Medicaid has its own plan Mass Health, but it is mandatory to have health insurance in our state so it is given to you if you have no insurance automatically. Since this is the case almost everyone in the state accepts Mass Health.

I know this is frustrating but you have to go through the process here no matter how long it takes unless you can pay out of pocket your you standard health insurance pays for therapy and most do not. It is very important to get the ASD diagnosis from a Dr and a Neurologist is a great Dr to do it. From there you do need to apply for SSI. That basically works by you requesting the SSI for your child by calling them, and they will give you an appointment for a phone interview. they will also request documentation be sent to them.

For us both of our children get SSI the first time and we did it ourselves without an attorney. One thing I would like to say about this is that if it is a young child and you have medical documentation SSI is not going to give you a hard time and deny you services like they commonly do an adult. they always suspect and adult is trying to beat the system so often your get denied the first time you apply and have to get an attorney. With children I do not know of anyone who did not get it the first time and had to use an attorney.

You are at the beginning of they journey here and you are going to have to repeatedly have testing Dr appointments and evaluations it is just part of the game if you want services. As frustrating as this is remember you are getting documentation you are going to use against agencies and school systems when try to give you the run around. You are going to have to do almost all the legwork yourself and spend a lot of time at appointments but if you want the best for your child you are going to have to do it.

I think you've already answered your own question. You already did by saying " He has Blue Eyes, Blond Hair, and Autism." Only I would add to that...." But I'm positive that with lots of therapy and hopefully with the love and support of our family and friends.....We will be able to help our son improve rather than regress. I know I can count on everyone to have my back." How can ANYONE find that negative and not want to help be there for you? Most of my family is long distance so they basically learned about my son through the years via my S.M.A.A.R.T.Mom Videos which I had to create for the moms who are where I was once. I hated all of the negative things that came with the videos I found connected to autism and the behaviors. They were either heart breaking, depressing, made me angry, or just plain out scared the heck out of me. So I decided to add hopefully more uplifting,informative, and positive videos for my family and other moms like me.My son is classic "Autism" repetitive,flapping,etc, He was diagnosed at 13mos shortly after his 12mo shot. a 104* fever occurred and he screamed like he was in pain. I took him to the hospital with no apparent reason for this. A week later the words he knew ,stopped and the flapping began. I didn't give up. I basically confronted my family and friends just has I suggested to you. It's been hard, but I fought for him in every way possible to hear Mommy again. And I did when he was about 5yrs old.Some say, that's a long wait...but for me well worth the wait and better yet,one word like "MommY" may as been a million words. I'm so Proud to hear you are already staying strong and positive for you son! Sometimes it's just too much unfortunately for some individuals and sadly not all children with autism have parents that are compassionate and unconditional when it comes to the love of their children. Sorry I tend to ramble too (LOL) Anyway two last things. (1) Regarding behaviors; you can check out :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuOrkf5O4wA
It's just one of my many videos that hopefully will be of use over the yrs.to you.(2) My son will be 18yrs in a few months. I started : www.autismwelcomed.com
I'm in the middle of becoming a non-profit org in hopes that my decal will help families like ours feel welcomed while we are out in public places. The video there explains more.Hopefully this is positive for you; it's because of families like ours that I was inspired. Please feel free to stay in touch. BIG HUGS to you!

I live in Ga and my son has ASD. He us on Medicaid as well. We have had WellCare for quite a while, but since my don was diagnosed and had to start therapy they've sucked. The authorized 6 months of speech therapy and then soon after they were given the therapist problems with payment. Now they no longer are covered with his therapy group and think its okay for my son to pick up and start with a new therapist. I just changed to Amerigro

I am not sure if I understand everything, but my son was on Medicaid when he wasn't receiving SSI. He is still on it and does get SSI now also. But, they are both income based programs, so it depends on those requirements. I am thinking, that possibly they are wanting her to be looked at by herself with an income, (which is where the SSI would fall into place). That is how my son was able to keep his traditional medicaid and stay on his waiver, he gets an income. I am the payee, but he gets a check each month based on my husbands income. And with my son having an income coming in that they count, he qualifies for medicaid. Does that make sense or help?

Sorry typo, but I just changed to Amerigroup, so crossing my fingers they are better than WellCare.