Re: Affordable Therapy

[Guest guest]

Wow! You are amazing! I wish you the best and your daughter.

Pam

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> I am currently living off of Disability and Child Support due to an MS

diagnosis in March of 08 Doing well...in remission though I'm having some stress

related symptoms probaby due to my X suing for full custody of our high

functioning 15 yr old Aspie daughter so that he can put her in a residential

school...it's hard for him to deal with her. We've been divorced 9 yrs. I have

just enough visual impairment from the MS to lend me legally blind. I can

see....just not well enough to drive and bad enough to qualify for services from

Commission for the Blind so I'll be starting Life Coach School this year. It

will only require me to have actual seat time in class 4 times a yr for a 2 yr

certificate. Class is 3 days from 9-5 in NYC, a 2 hr trip. C4B covers everything

from paper and pens to curb to curb transportation. I tell you all of this so

you know that my girl and I are moving up and onward and are going to do better.

AND....we are receiving excellent therapy through the County of all places. I

think that in some counties the services may be substandard. But what I'm

getting through Medicaid is incredible. If you can get your child on Social

Security Disability, the child will automatically recieve disability which can

be a great financial relief. It requires paper work which is a pain and we are

all sick of filing out forms but this is life changing. Most of the time, with

children who have their disabilites documented by a doctor, or two, as well as

an IEP (but not required if they are home-schooled of course), the child will

not be rejected. With adults, it can take awhile. I was declined and had to get

an attorney for my own SSD. I have even found some Primary Care Physicians and

Pediatricians who are more wholisic in their practice and they accept Medicaid.

You will still need to pick up some supplementary dental coverage. Medicaid does

not like to do more than patch jobs from what I've experienced. Getting my child

to brush her teeth is a daily struggle. I finally discovered that she was

faking...wetting the brush and even tapping it on the sink to fake me out, the

little buggar. So she has some major dental issues. Some dentists have

assistance programs though. I'm looking into one now that will treat under

priveldged children. Even it you don't go through the SSD route, you may still

qualify for Medicaid or a low cost coverage program through your County. NY

State has something called Child Health Plus that is very affordable and the

coverage is good. I've been fortunate enough to live in an area where the " you

get what you pay for " is not the case. We are in an intensive program for

families in trauma that is blowing me away. Through this program, we are being

enabled with the tools we need to get through this crazy time in our lives and I

believe the skills we are learning will carry us through future issues as well.

This program has group for the adults (parents, caregivers, guardians) and the

children, in addition to therapy with a team of two once or twice a week and 24

hour phone crisis availability. This costs me nothing. It's worth checking out.

You may need to ask around. Ask your schools. Particularly the Special Ed

teachers or program directors. Call the BOCES office. The children who are sent

there are kids who cannot be taught in the regular school settings and many of

them are receiving services from the county. Someone there may be able to give

you a heads up on how efficient the services are in your county even if they are

not supposed to spill the beans. You can stop by the Social Services office and

pick up flyers on the programs offered as well. Or ask at the desk for

information on therapy through the county for your childs particular needs. Some

county services really are frightful so you'll need to research it. I got lucky

here...blessed is more like it. Best Wishes. -Betsy

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