Affordable Therapy

[Guest guest]

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