I saw Tammy’s post on Autism Learning Felt Titled Reaching Out to the Government To Help Our Children. The CDC has finally recognized Autism as a health concern. Did you know that 1 out of every 110 children are diagnosed with Autism? That is really alarming when you think about it.

I guess we in Wisconsin are really luck as we have state funding and waiver programs for children to receive Autism Intensive Therapy and Post Intensive Therapy. The Intensive Therapy is 30 – 40 hours a week of intense therapy and can go up to 3 years. Post Intensive I think your allowed up to 7 or 8 hours per week. The sad thing is there are so many kids diagnosed with Autism that Wisconsin has a waiting list.

However that waiting list  might actually change since Wisconsin has mandated insurance companies to cover Autism. I still have to call our insurance company and see when it will be enforced and what they will cover. As it will depend on whom we see for some of Dakota’s social issues.

I am jumping on board with Tammy from Autism Learning Felt and Jon Gilbert from Same Child, Different Day to email everyone I can in the state of Wisconsin. I am using the email that Tammy has created to send to them only I had to edit number 2 a little bit.

LETTER

I have a few questions that I would like to ask you and hope you will respond. Your answers will be published on my website within a day or two of your response. Thank you again for your time.

1. When the CDC announced the new autism rates, 1 in 110 children are diagnosed with autism, what were your first thoughts?

2. Services for children with autism are limited and difficult to receive. Most are limited to speech, occupational and speech therapy, yet hardly ever enough of these services to make a big impact for our children. Services like ABA and Floortime therapy are usually not available for our children unless we, the parents, pay for them ourselves. Children that receive at least 20 to 25 hours a week of specialized therapy make more progress than those that do not. What do you intend to do to make government paid specialized therapy services available for our children? ( This I know is already in effect, however what can be done to shorten the waiting lists so that other children can get the help they need.)

3. Early Intervention is extremely important. Do you have any plans for improving the identification and diagnosis of autism and an earlier age?

4. Autism families need a voice within the government. There are several great organizations that lobby and advocate for us, but we need government officials to take up our cause. Do you have any plans to stand up as a voice for the autism community and bring about more government involvement in addressing the concerns of families raising a child with autism and bringing about practical help for us?

5. Finally, have you considered the time when our children are adults and will require even more help? As parents, we like to think that we will always be here for our children. As our children get older, we realize that soon they will be adults and may become dependent on the government for their care. Do you have any plans to address this issue?

Whom I Sent To:

Governor Jim Doyle (Wisconsin)

U.S Senator Russ Feingold (Wisconsin)

Senator Herb Kohl (Wisconsin)

Representative Steve Kagen (Wisconsin – District

Who Tammy and Jon Sent To:

Governor Bob Riley, Alabama
Governor Charlie Crist, FL
Gov. Bev Perdue, NC
Gov. David A. Patterson, NY
Gov. Chris Gregoire, WA
Gov. Martin O’Malley

Alexander, Lamar – (R – TN)
Barrasso, John – (R – WY)
Hagan, Kay R. – (D – NC)
Burr, Richard – (R – NC)
Boxer, Barbara – (D – CA)

Related posts:

1. Autistic Children More Likely To Have Handwriting Problems
2. Mothers Of Children With Autism Have Higher Parental Stress, Psychological Distress
3. Wisconsin Requires Insurance Companies to Cover Autism
4. Federal Law Now Mandates Autism Diagnosis Coverage
5. Therapy

2 Responses to “Speaking Out For Our Children”