A Florida federal trial court decision (orally) on Friday found that ABA therapy is not experimental, but rather the standard of care for treating autism and medically necessary under the federal Medicaid EPSDT standard.

The judge's order isn't just a victory for Florida's Medicaid Eligible children with autism but could set a precedent for cases throughout the country.  This morning a lawsuit  was filed in the U.S. District Court in Seattle regarding Medicaid managed care ( J.E. v. Porter).

When I began advocating for children with special needs, my oldest son with autism, now 15 years old, was just a toddler. Our education and social services'  budget, like so many others around the country, was shrinking dramatically, tough decisions needed to be made about where the limited monies would be allocated.

Back then in my naiveté, the arguments that I made to our local and state officials largely revolved around the fact that providing appropriate support for children like Shayan was simply the right thing to do.  I learned quickly that school boards and government officials are not particularly swayed by "the right thing to do." So I started talking about money.

But I didn't just talk, I always backed it up with data.  Fast forward many years, and there's much more irrefutable data available on the enormous financial toll when autism going untreated.  We've always had a choice: either spend some money now in order to enable a generation of kids to participate in and contribute to our society , or pay exponentially more later when we have a generation of adults who are wholly reliant on us because we didn't give them the skills they needed to be even partially self-sufficient when we had the chance. I wonder, though, if that idea is simply too vague to really sink in and impact the Medical Administrators who urge clinical review committees to vote NOT cover the treatment for children with autism.

So when arguments based on compassion seem to fall on deaf ears, or when reminders of our sacred responsibility to care for one another (no matter what the level of need may be) as members of a civilized society go nowhere, and our lawmakers tell us that individuals and churches will care for those in need, send them this  note  as a reminder that one way or another, we will support those in need.

If you or someone you know is unable to get autism treatment covered by insurance or Medicaid, please refer them to this link:Washington Autism Alliance & Advocacy.  We are dedicated to removing all barriers to insurance coverage of effective autism treatment in the state of Washington.

Thank you for your support!

Arzu