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Autism In Washington?
A MyAutismTeam Member asked a question 💭

We are going to be stationed at Fairchild AFB in Washington state. It's a shock to us that they'd deny our base of preference to Ohio since Ohio had a wonderful autism network and resources there and this move is to give our son the best resources since they lack it here in Japan.

Anyway my question is : how's the autism resources in Washington? I heard that Washington is pretty much one of the last states and worst states for autism. If this is true then I'm very upset that the military would… read more

posted June 2, 2016
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A MyAutismTeam Member

Here are the 2016 BAH rates for WA: http://militarybenefits.info/bah-rates-state/wa...

I'm not sure your husband's rank or what you are able/have to bring back to the states, but to save money you can utilize the airman's attic (I don't know if it has changed or if the rules vary base by base but you need to be under a certain rank to use it) and of course facebook yard sale groups are popping up all over the place, too! That can help save tons on furniture and other supplies you might need.

When my husband first joined the AF, and we got our first base house it was a very sad house indeed. We were given a couple of coffee tables from a family in his squadron that were PCSing out. We went and bought a blowup mattress, a previously "display" TV and very old washer and dryer. We bought 2 bar stools for the kitchen... and the cheapest dishes we could find at the BX. For probably a year we used that blowup mattress as a bed, couch and one of the two coffee tables as a TV stand, the other as a table to eat at when we had friends over since the bar only had room for two stools. The only real furniture we had was our oldest sons bedroom furniture that his father bought us for him. It wasn't until his first reenlistment bonus that we bought ourselves bedroom furniture and his mother gave us an old couch set we had to drive from North Dakota to Missouri to pick up.

I look back on that now and laugh so much... and sometimes cry, we have so much stuff. I don't know how we got here. Haha. But, either way, ten years later and we own our own home. :) I know it can be rough at times but it's possible to live through it and come out on top!

Hang in there. I am sure everything will work out fine. And as far as getting the help your son needs, you'll always be his best advocate regardless of where you live. Never stop fighting for him and advocating for him. If things aren't what you expect them to be, don't be afraid to fight and find support in your community.

posted June 5, 2016
A MyAutismTeam Member

Is it you or your spouse in the air force? Unfortunately, they will sometimes send you where they need you, rather than your base of preference if they don't need you there. That is sadly one of the drawbacks of the military... It was VERY hard to get BAH in our current state while my husband went to pilot training for the newest refueling jet. They expected us to sell our house, pack up and move down there during his training (there was like an $800 a month difference in BAH between the two states). Even with my and my son's diagnosis and the fact that the state he'd be in offered very little and moving would actually be detrimental to his progression (even had multiple doctors and the school backing us up in this), they denied it and said it wasn't good enough reason to maintain the BAH rates here.

Aside from anyone here living in Washington near Fairchild, a good first step would be to visit this website here: http://wcaap.org/parents/autism/

Will you live on base? Contact Military OneSource, see if they have information on the base and services for autism. Contact the local schools, perhaps Family Readiness may be able to help as well.

Here is a link for autism support for Fairchild AFB: http://www.operationautismonline.org/base/fairc...

And ABA's that provide in-home care at Fairchild AFB: http://www.magnoliabehaviortherapy.com/spokane....

And this article makes the base look quite promising as far as education goes for special needs students: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/sep/30/fa...

If you have facebook, search for local autism groups in the area and ask them how they feel... if you join a group more specific to the location you will have better success with really good responses.

I do know that Fairchild is a nice base, at least. I understand how overwhelming moving can be, especially when you have medical needs. They literally moved us 2 weeks after I had an ectopic pregnancy rupture and was bleeding internally. Even base housing were just terrible towards me and cleaning, knowing full well what just happened, they continuously nit-picked minor details of the house and threatened to charge us outrageous fines for the most minor things (like changing all of the light bulbs THEY put in, to CFL's...)

But don't freight too much over the things you cannot change and look forward to all the possibilities that await you. Remember, even if the military can sometimes, seemingly, turn a blind eye to your situation, in the end you have one of the most amazing support networks in the country! And from what I have found, even if Washington state doesn't have the best support for Autism, it seems like Fairchild has a pretty good support system.

posted June 4, 2016
A MyAutismTeam Member

@A MyAutismTeam Member
Don't worry about it! The first few months can be hectic and just getting settled. We should be getting our household goods soon thank God! We were here since beginning of August so we're pretty new here too lol
Our son is in the process of starting. We just had his appointment today to go over some paperwork and other things. The ABA place is called Imagine Behavioral Services. They can work with doing in home and center together but they prefer you to go to the center. If you're a stay at home mom like me then they definitely are okay with you staying with your kiddo. Which is important to me. They coach you as well from what they said (since you will need to know how to help your child aside from the few hours they are with him). I tried Magnolia but I am not sure if they were just in home services? I didn't like the fact that they didn't have a center in case I needed that for my son. I prefer in home but I'm going to try to get his occupational and speech therapies to come to the home and just take him to ABA therapy in center.
Just make sure you ask questions and know if they are who you want to stick with before they use your referral because that's what someone told us.
If you are military (I'm assuming so) then Tricare is apparently one of the insurances they love around here. We had no waiting list at Imagine and I'm sure it had to do with us being military. But don't quote me on that lol.
I'm not sure how to private message :/ you're on base though right? I live near the elementary school. I usually go to the park near the school that has a huge field, I believe it's called Miller Park. Husband and I are sharing a car so I go there at least once or twice a week around noon-2 pm. I'm sure I'd see you there at some point lol I'll try to find out how to private message you when I have more time :)

posted September 20, 2016
A MyAutismTeam Member

@A MyAutismTeam Member I'm so sorry it took me so long to write you back! We arrived here the first week of September and finally got our house on base this last Friday. Did your son start aba therapy yet or were you still wait listed? We have an initial assessment this coming Monday with Magnolia which is such a relief! I had been emailing them back and forth for the past 2 1/2 months so I think that really helped with securing my son a spot.
It would be so great to meet you! I would definitely love knowing another couple that's in the same situation as us, like you said. If there's a way to private message me, please do! I have no clue how to do that, lol.

posted September 20, 2016 (edited)
A MyAutismTeam Member

@A MyAutismTeam Member

If you have anymore questions let me know :) It would be pretty neat to know someone else here on base that is in the same boat as us lol It's hard to get out and socialize some times but soon we will have him in school and therapy and hopefully we will find a support group out here too since it can be challenging having a non verbal child with autism. So yeah sorry for the VERY long comment back. I'm pretty detailed :)

posted August 24, 2016

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