As Autism Awareness Month comes to a close, WAAA parent Lindsey Miller shares the joy of parenting his autistic son, Kaze. “I’m grateful to my son,” Miller enthuses, “he’s given me the opportunity to have experiences other parents with typically developing children won’t have.” Now 6 years old, Kaze is a completely different child than the one his parents were trying to figure out when he was 2 years old. Today Kaze is progressing on pace and talking at a level equivalent to his neurotypical peers, but it wasn’t always that way.
Miller and his wife, Elizabeth, first noticed that Kaze wasn’t developing as anticipated when he was approximately 18 months old. Kaze didn’t have any words and generally preferred to not interact with people, playing alone long periods of time.
After enduring a six month long wait list, Kaze was officially diagnosed with autism. Lindsey and Elizabeth tackled the demands of parenting a child with special needs head-on. Armed with the knowledge of the challenges Kaze would be facing, the Millers immediately enrolled him in speech therapy and occupational therapy, along with preschools like Boyer and the EEU. Through parenting classes with the EEU and Rite Care of Washington, the Millers gained additional knowledge and skills to better help Kaze thrive.
Miller points out, “the road has had a few bumps along the way.” Despite the diagnosis, Miller’s health insurer, Regence, refused to cover ABA therapy and would cover only a limited number of speech and occupational therapy sessions. Upon learning of their rights to coverage under the Washington State Mental Health Parity Act, Miller reached out WAAA for assistance. Teaming up with lawyer Ele Hambuger, the Millers pursued an arduous class-action lawsuit against Regence. With many late nights grinding through the lengthy appeals process, two years later the Millers won their case, resulting in changes to Regence’s policies to provide coverage for not just the Millers, but for all families impacted by autism. Miller feels privileged for his role in the case. “I got to take part in a class-action lawsuit that resulted in justice for everyone across the state of Washington,” he reflects.
Viewing his experiences with Kaze as a gift, Miller notes, “I’m actually really glad I have a special needs child. He’s wonderful and quirky and has opened up my world in ways I never knew would be possible.” Recognizing Kaze’s strengths, Miller marvels at his son’s imagination, observing, “although people stare at the park when he pretends to be a T-Rex for hours, I think his complete dedication to it is incredible. He really embodies the T-Rex and won’t break character for anything.”
Meeting Kaze’s needs has bolstered Miller’s outlook. He enthuses, “the things I learned in my parenting classes were applicable for many other aspects of my life, and helped me learn how people think and the best ways to motivate them.”
Miller sees the gift of having a child with special needs, “because I have to be more involved in his education and progress, I’m required to spend more time with him. Coming home from a high stress job, often the last thing I want to do is work extra hard to be a good parent. The joy and love I experience, though, in giving my all to my family is incomparable. My hard work is immediately rewarded.”
Looking ahead, Miller eloquently expressed, “when I look back on my life once I’m old and my kids are grown up and have kids of their own, I will have no regrets. I will have thrown my life into raising my son and my typically developing twin girls, and will have reaped all the rewards of a life well spent in the love of my family.”