The Autism Society Event and Education Recordings Archive

Families often believe that they cannot access services for their child prior to a medical diagnosis of ASD. This presentation will provide guidance on initial steps families can take which may include starting outpatient therapies, early intervention services and school-based services. Insurance challenges and family-based groups will be discussed. The Waiting Game: Strategies for Families and Providers

Learning Objectives:

Attendees will better understand the services and therapies available to children even prior to a medical diagnosis of ASD.

Attendees will better understand a developmental, interdisciplinary evaluation and what to expect at the evaluation.

Summary:

Families often believe that they cannot access services for their child prior to a medical diagnosis of ASD. Research shows the many pediatricians still utilize the “wait and see” approach to developmental delays, suggesting that they see children in a future visit prior to referring for therapy or a multidisciplinary developmental evaluation when delays are present. Research also suggests that the earlier that therapies and services begin, the better the outcomes for children. For many multidisciplinary centers, the wait time for autism specific appointments can be many months or even up to a year. Those months can be spent addressing developmental delays and behavioral concerns through other avenues, including Part C participation, outpatient therapies, or school-based services. Ideally, families will be referred to these services at the same time that a referral for an autism specific evaluation is made. This presentation will discuss the many therapies and services available to children as they await their autism specific evaluation and will provide practical strategies for families to use when determining which services would be most valuable for their child. Many insurance companies will provide services for children with developmental delays, however, some financial challenges in covering these services may occur, particularly when there is not a “medical” diagnosis (such as sensory processing disorder). There are many family-based groups that can assist families in understanding and learning more about insurance coverage. One of the fallacies that families often believe is that interdisciplinary teams do not want previous evaluations or testing. This is actually not the case and in doing a comprehensive evaluation, the professionals need all previous testing, evaluations, and diagnoses. Presenters will discuss the value in previous assessments and help families understand how they are used in forming a complete diagnostic picture of their child. Insurance coverage and providers may limit what professionals are able to do at an evaluation; however, professionals will help families understand other avenues that are available to them to get the necessary testing or assessments completed. Presenters will help families understand how to prepare their child for an evaluation and steps that families can take to make the evaluation as useful as possible. Finally, broad resources available in most states will be shared that have been extremely helpful or useful for professionals and families will be shared. Case studies, vignettes will be used throughout the discussion to highlight important issues.

Learning Objectives: