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Considerations to Accessing ABA Therapy Through Insurance
There are many services that can be beneficial for you to explore for your autistic child, including speech therapy, occupational therapy, and applied behavior analysis (ABA), and consulting with your child’s primary care physician or school team for recommendations on services is an important...
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Challenges for Autistic Adults in Navigating the Labyrinth of Healthcare
As I was fortunate enough to have had employment with good healthcare benefits, I did not have to face many of the challenges in navigating the healthcare system that autistics regularly encounter. Nevertheless, because of my involvement with the autism community over the past quarter century, not...
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Cultivating Sensory-Friendly Health Care Environments for Autistic Patients
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a multifaceted neurodevelopmental condition characterized by challenges in social interaction, communication, and limited or repetitive behaviors. Individuals with ASD might also experience sensory sensitivities, such as heightened responses to lights, sounds,...
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Telehealth Service Delivery to Persons with Neurodevelopmental Disorders
In December 2019, the Cerebral Palsy Associations of New York State (CPNYS) partnered with StationMD, a for-profit physician service providing telemedicine to vulnerable populations, to participate in a five-year grant funded by the New York State Department of Health. The Statewide Care Facility...
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Autism Gets an Update: A National Autism Strategy for Canadians
Note: While there are many areas of inequity, this article will focus on diagnosis and support services as seen by the Autistic writer living in Ontario, Canada. Autism in Canada One in 66 Canadians is autistic. Collectively, we face numerous challenges to accessing services and supports,...
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Self-Advocacy in Healthcare: Empowering Autistic Adults to Take Control of Their Well-Being
Navigating the American healthcare system is a challenging task for neurotypical (NT) and neurodiverse (ND) communities alike; however, there are substantially greater barriers to effective care and risk factors identified within the ND community. Research has shown that there are higher mortality...
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Facilitating Health Care Visits: How Can We Prepare for a Therapeutic Visit?
Health care visits can be challenging for individuals with autism and the delivering providers. It is critical that we prepare both the individual and the provider to increase the integrity of the visit and ensure a successful outcome. When I took on my role as Senior Director of Healthcare...
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What Is Health Equity and Why It Matters to Those with Disabilities
According to the 2022 summary of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau's National Survey of Children's Health, more than 14 million children had special healthcare needs. These children, in particular, are more likely to experience chronic physical, developmental, behavioral or...
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Navigating Medical Decision-Making and Insurance for Autistic Children in Divorced Families
Managing the care and needs of a child on the autism spectrum can be a full-time job. In addition to addressing the day-to-day care, educational, and behavioral needs of an autistic child, managing the therapeutic and medical visits can be quite involved, including such challenges as scheduling and...
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Living and Aging Independently on the Autism Spectrum: An Inside View
Having been diagnosed late in life at the age of 44, I lived for the better part of my life on the autism spectrum without myself or anyone else being aware of it. During the time in which I finally knew about this, I was already an older adult and, most recently, a senior citizen. Unlike so many...
