Speech Therapy & Medicaid Problems

Jackson has had Medicaid for some time and it’s a good thing.  Or at least I thought it was.  Even for those who aren’t poor, Medicaid is available for those with severe needs, of which autism is one.

Now we’re finding out that Medicaid has not been paying for Jackson’s speech therapy last year.  He has a wonderful speech therapist but she’s unable to come because her company won’t allow it unless we’re on “private pay” which means we pay $60 twice a week and try to get the money from Medicaid ourselves.  We simply can’t afford to do that!

So as things stand right now, Jackson’s not getting speech therapy because we simply can’t afford it and Medicaid won’t pay it (and don’t get me started on our insurance companies).

Administrative message

To the individual who used Blogger's features to try to find the email attached to this blog, it wasn't necessary.  You only had to ask.  :)

You see, knowing the email wouldn't help because it's not like I use the "secret question" method of password recovery, at least not with real answers.  Further, I use strong passwords and I'm very good about changing them frequently (since my employer requires it anyway).

Have a nice day!

Special Needs Children Get a Lot More Visibility

This morning, Republican presidential candidate John McCain selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his vice-presidential running-mate.

Born in Sandpoint, Idaho, on Feb. 11, 1964, Palin moved with her family at the age of three months to Wasilla, Alaska. She returned to her birth state to attend the University of Idaho, where she studied journalism and graduated in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree.

Palin is the mother of five children — Bristol, 17; Willow, 13; Piper, 7; Track, 18; and Trig, who was born in April with Down syndrome.

I'm not saying that this will necessarily solve or help anything or it won't.  It's just that there is now someone new on the national stage who understands special needs kids first-hand.  While Down syndrome isn't autism, any awareness of special needs issues that we as parents face is a good thing, I think.

Asperger’s Child to Perform on Talent Show

This is an interesting story about this child, but I really hate that he’s being paraded on TV like a freak show.

The story calls it autism, but it's more specifically Asperger's

Georgia Aquarium Hosts Autism Fundraiser

I just saw this and thought it was pretty cool.  We've taken Jackson to the Marcus Institute and it's an outstanding organization.  I'm delighted to see them get much needed funding.+

There was a big splash of movers and shakers at the Georgia Aquarium Saturday night.
Not only was it a star-studded event featuring a two-time Grammy winner, Michael Bolton, it was also a chance to honor champions of a great cause.
Saturday night’s event raised $1.7 million for the Marcus Institute. That money will go to help treat autistic children at the Institute.

11Alive.com - Aquarium Hosts Autism Fundraiser

Back to the Neurologist

Yesterday, I left work early and drove home to take (with Julie) Jackson to his neurologist to discuss his sleep issues.  As I've written, Jackson has problems sleeping at any time, much less sleeping through the night.  From the doctor, we've modified his medication so we hope that will help, but that's not why I'm writing.

Yesterday was a very, very good day for Jackson.  Well, the afternoon was.  The morning had a very severe meltdown.  But in the afternoon, he was great.  No, he was beyond great.

We were able to take him into the doctor's office without having to put him in a stroller.  He just held my hand on the way in and Julie's on the way out.

While in the office, he went into the toy room and started playing with a toy right next to a little girl.  He didn't have any issues with her.

He interacted a little with the doctor and didn't have ANY meltdowns or get upset while we were there.  He was such a good boy in so many ways.

I'll write more later, but the neatest moment was when we stopped at Moe's for some food and Julie went in and got the food while I stayed in the car with Jackson.  When he saw Julie come out the door, he sat up straight and said in an excited voice, "ma ma ma".  It was the first time ever. 

Our hope is (as we told Dr. Schub) is that he's a happy boy.  Yesterday afternoon he was very happy and very good to be with, even for those who didn't know him.

Sleep! My kingdom for some sleep!

For about the past week or two, Jackson has had a very difficult time sleeping through the night.  We've tried various doses of his medication (with doctor permission of course) but he simply won't sleep through the night.  I'm not saying that it's a matter of choice with him, because it's not.  But for whatever reason, he wakes up several times a night comes back to our bedroom and cries, rather sobs.  If Julie goes back with him, he'll lay down and go back to sleep in about 15 minutes.  Last night he did this 4 times.  One time, Julie got him to crawl into bed with us, but he simply wouldn't settle down no matter what.  She had to get up with him and take him back to bed.

We've tried everything we can think of at this point.  We've tried TV noise, silence, music, people talking (church recordings) and everything we can come up with to relax him. 

We know he can't help it, but something has to be done, but I wish I knew what.  This affects everyone else in the family because he wakes up the kids so their sleep is broken up and Julie is getting less than 4 hours of sleep a night (often less) and I'm only getting 5 or 6.  She then has to take care of Mary Rose (who is 8 months) and Jackson all day and nothing can get done in the house while he's awake because he can't be left alone for even a moment.

It's just so exhausting.