When J. A. was first diagnosed with autism at 21 months old, her parents knew there was no time to waste when it came to getting her the proper rehabilitation and therapies. They realized that every moment that she wasn't receiving treatment was a moment lost and a moment that her development would regress. As their only child they would leave no stone unturned, starting with the Early Steps Study at University of Washington. Much to their disappointment, they were selected as the control group; the specialists only observed her condition, no direct intervention. J.'s doctors had prescribed ABA therapies to her parents, but unfortunately it was not covered under Medicaid and they didn't have the resources to pay for the dosage prescribed privately. They were able to secure 5 hours of neurodevelopmental therapy a week, but saw little progress. J.’s mother said it was a horrible feeling as parents to not be able to secure the appropriate help their daughter needed.

They began to look for alternative means of getting their daughter ABA therapy and did whatever they could. J.’s mother even drove to other cities to find other services in addition to the sessions J. was already going to at the birth-three center.  She eventually heard about a parent support group through the birth to three center and met Arzu Forough who told her about the different laws that could lead to appropriate services for J. With Arzu’s encouragement, J.’s mother began to work towards her suggestions and finding ways to secure medicaid coverage. A few months before J. turned 3, they were introduced to psychologist and behavior analyst, Dr. Elizabeth Grevey, who began working with J. and little by little, she began improving. It was a difficult process at first, but as they began to see the fruit of their efforts, the struggle proved to be very well worth it. Though some of the services were covered under J.’s neurodevelopmental benefits, ABA was still denied.

The A. family focused their attention on getting J.’s therapies covered under her insurance as they continued to struggle to pay out of pocket for the therapies. They sacrificed greatly in order to ensure that their daughter was getting the proper care and often had to forgo on a lot of basic essentials. The A. family is one of the many families that have benefited from the WAAA settlement that ensured the coverage of ABA therapies for children with autism under Medicaid. J’s is thriving due to the intensive and individualized medical treatment care she has received and her parents are seeing the improvements she is making day after day. J.’s mother says she is very proud now to live in Washington and is excited to see our state is taking further strides in conquering autism through appropriate medical interventions. She feels that it would be important to begin looking towards the public education reform as she says, “We see school staff who aren’t trained in effective instructional strategies or ABA, and the difference in the progress our daughter has made with ABA is huge.” Washington Autism Alliance & Advocacy is continuing our mission to fight for the rights of children with autism to appropriate healthcare and education as we strongly feel that all children with autism deserve to be given every opportunity to become productive members of their communities regardless of their family's funding sources.