I'm just going to bitch here.

[liveintheville]

So L has been dx autistic and severely ADHD. The ADHD was expected. The autism took us by surprise. So I've been panicking since last Thursday when we got the news. I've been on the phone non stop trying to get services for him. Our insurance covers nothing. My understanding is most insurances don't cover these things but our insurance is the worst. 

So I'm still trying to learn all the services he needs. There are waitlists for all these things. We have a new IEP meeting this Thursday and I wanted an advocate for. It took days to find one and she's $60/hr and that's just the tip of the iceberg. 

And I'm reading books on autism that are sort of freaking me out. And I need to get back on the phone to find more doctors for him. 

So this is a total pity party but I had to get it out there.

[drloretta]

Vent away. That's a LOT to handle.

Take a deep breath and remember you don't have to do everything rightthisverymoment. It will take time to make calls, sort through things, and get things rolling. You're doing it, taking one step at a time.

MIL's BFF works with autistic kids (she's in PA, but still). If you have any specific questions or want me to bounce things off of her, I'd be more than happy to.

Big zombie hugs  (hug) (hug2)

[elfinia7]

I'm going to ditto scm1011 too. Totally here to listen or take you out of the house for a drink or two.

[LoveTrains]

oh I am so sorry. I know that you are doing everything you can for L.

[lizlemon19]

ugh that can be tough news to hear. My friend's 3 yo was just diagnosed.

I hope the advocate is helpful to you. You can even get in- home services added to the IEP.

If your insurance won't cover much, you can see about getting Mass Health as secondary insurance. Even if you wouldn't qualify based on income, they sometimes can add people with a qualifying diagnosis and service need.

[bostonmichelle]

I hope you get the help you need and deserve for your son. All I can do is say vent here and there are probably tons of resources out there for you. tagging melmel48 she lives north of Boston with me and works with autistic kids so she may be of some help or have ideas on where to look for resources.

[cgpm]

How stressful. I'm sorry you're going through this.

I know I'm in NH, but special ed law is the same so feel free to PM me with questions about IEPs and the school system if you'd like.

[vtdiamond]

I'm so sorry. That must be so overwhelming to be dealt and to now make plans for.

I hope you're able to get a good plan in place for him.

[hulley]

I'm sorry you're dealing with so much. I'm a teacher, and happy to answer any questions I can. I've been to plenty of IEP meetings and took lots of special ed courses in school.

[melmel48]

liveintheville. Please send me a PM if you have any questions, or just want to vent. How old is L?  As bostonmichelle said, I work with children with Autism. Will your insurance cover any ABA at all?   


I am here for you, please reach out to me whenever you want to. 

[soxin2]

Plodding along the IEP process over here too with a diagnosis of apraxia.

And a HDHP HSA.


*holds hands and jumps in together*

[liveintheville]

Jun 26, 2015 7:53:21 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

How'd the IEP meeting go, D?

Ok. We got all the resources we wanted, including 90 minutes of speech which we didn't think would fly. But everyone there said the Unidos bilingual immersion program we have him set to go into is a bad fit. So now we have to rethink where to send him to kindergarten and everything is full so we're on wait lists. So that part is stressful.

[soxin2]

Jun 26, 2015 9:01:59 GMT -5 liveintheville said:

Jun 26, 2015 7:53:21 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

How'd the IEP meeting go, D?

Ok. We got all the resources we wanted, including 90 minutes of speech which we didn't think would fly. But everyone there said the Unidos bilingual immersion program we have him set to go into is a bad fit. So now we have to rethink where to send him to kindergarten and everything is full so we're on wait lists. So that part is stressful.

Why did they say the program would be a bad fit?

Language wise or autism related or just intensity.

ETA: ignore or PM me if either of those work

[liveintheville]

Jun 30, 2015 8:24:11 GMT -5 soxin2 said:

Jun 26, 2015 9:01:59 GMT -5 liveintheville said:

Ok. We got all the resources we wanted, including 90 minutes of speech which we didn't think would fly. But everyone there said the Unidos bilingual immersion program we have him set to go into is a bad fit. So now we have to rethink where to send him to kindergarten and everything is full so we're on wait lists. So that part is stressful.

Why did they say the program would be a bad fit?

Language wise or autism related or just intensity.

ETA: ignore or PM me if either of those work

Because he has pretty severe expressive language delays. They think not being able to understand the language will frustrate him an cause more turmoil.

[soxin2]

Jun 30, 2015 9:53:42 GMT -5 liveintheville said:

Jun 30, 2015 8:24:11 GMT -5 soxin2 said:

Why did they say the program would be a bad fit?

Language wise or autism related or just intensity.

ETA: ignore or PM me if either of those work

Because he has pretty severe expressive language delays. They think not being able to understand the language will frustrate him an cause more turmoil.

Ah.

I'm at CHB with my nephew and we were discussing his delays within the frame of his bilingual household.

[liveintheville]

So just went to patent information center and we're actually in the winter hill integrated program (which I'm coming to better terms with) and wait listed at capuano integrated (which we'd much prefer) and wait listed at East Somerville (which was my initial preference).