Finding Resources

Well we made it through the weekend. It was probably our hardest weekend in a long time but we made it all in one piece...or as close as possible. ;) I was so happy to go to school today and immerse myself in my classes in the land where autism and tube feedings don't exist.

When I got home it was time to get working on a plan. I contacted our local CARD office (autism center) and requested their help. She is requesting that I set up a team meeting with Little Man's teacher, the CARD liaison and me. We'll go over behavior plans and resources and see what we can come up with as far as handling his behaviors and issues with unstructured time.

Then I contacted a nursing service the kids' CMS nurse referred me to. Mainly I was hoping to find someone who can administer Beans' feedings when I'm not around as no day care center or after school program is willing to take on that liability. While on the phone I asked if they did any sort of personal care support for autistic kids and what do you know - they do! I'm meeting with the intake specialist tomorrow to begin the process. There are a lot of hoops to jump through but the nursing service gathers all the information and then will petition insurance to cover it. Cross your fingers here!

Lastly I contacted the local Association for Disabled Persons about their Medicaid waiver program. There is a long, long wait list (5 years) but if - and it's a big if - Little Man is approved it will open a whole range of services available to him. Respite care, incontinence supply coverage, personal care assistance, behavior specialists, and life skill support among other things. They do not provide services for people with autism spectrum disorders, they have to have a diagnosis of specifically autistic disorder which I'm fairly certain he does. They'll be sending me the intake packet then we'll have an interview and hopefully, hopefully at least Little Man will be approved. This will make an incredible difference in what is available for lifetime support and independent living for him.

All of these take time to process so I'm hanging on by a thread but as long as noone comes along to snip it we'll make it. I may not be sane at the end but I wasn't sane when I started either. ;P