Thank you all! Re: Getting Desperate

[Guest guest]

The information I have received so far has been wonderful. It will probably take me a little while to follow up on all the leads, but I am so relieved to actually have some avenues to pursue. To everyone who responded, I am extremely grateful. Subject:

Getting DesperateTo: autism-georgia Date: Wednesday, September 14, 2011, 9:30 AM

I really hope that someone will be able to advise me because I am feeling truly lost. My 19-month-old son is on the autism spectrum; he has not been diagnosed officially due to his age, but we have been told as much by a pediatric neurologist and I myself have no doubts. The most obvious and heartbreaking sign of this is an almost complete lack of interest in people. Despite working for a couple of months in the Floortime model at home, I often feel that he is utterly indifferent to my presence. As difficult as this

is for me emotionally,

what really keeps me up at night (literally) is the feeling that I am failing him by my inability to secure services for him. When I first understood that he

was autistic, I had high hopes for therapy, but it is increasingly looking like I will not be able to get him any meaningful therapy at all, and my hope is evaporating. My son gets 2 hours of OT a month (not a typo) through Babies Can't Wait and that is all. It is their opinion that he is making progress towards meeting his milestones, and while that is technically true, the underlying issues are going completely unaddressed. The neurologist referred us for occupational therapy in a hospital setting, speech therapy, and $4,000 worth of genetic tests. We couldn't dream of affording any of it. My husband I both work, and our combined income is about $1,000 a year too much to qualify for Medicaid or SSI. We can't get PeachCare because we do have health insurance through my husband's employer; unfortunately, it is a high-deductible plan that doesn't begin to cover any expenses until we've paid $3,000 out of pocket, and we

just don't have the money. I am in the process of applying for a Beckett waiver for Medicaid, but the two people I've spoken with in the course of the application process have expressed skepticism that we would meet the level of care required for approval. I've also contacted Children's Medical Services and a couple of other agencies and have been turned away from all of them. I don't know what to do anymore! We live paycheck to paycheck, and our lifestyle isn't at all extravagant. We share one car that's over 15 years old, we don't have cable, rarely eat out, my shoes are falling apart... I could go on and on. There is no fat to trim. Yet the message I'm getting is that we're on our own with this, that I must someone find a way to pay for interventions that will likely cost more than we make. The pressure is unbearable.

[Guest guest]

If u end up trying gfcf diet (which I highly recommend). The taca website has

section on eating gfcf on a tight budget ( I think it is called gfcf on food

stamps). Www.tacanow.com

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