Overstimulation - By Anonymous

Quickly after birth, my family and I knew our son was developing differently. He was in Early Intervention (EI) for speech and social-emotional development. Our experience with Early Intervention was fantastic. However, despite our asking for an autism evaluation, we didn't receive one before he aged out of EI and transitioned to an Early Childhood Education classroom. His teachers agreed that he needed to have an evaluation, so we started the long process.

We just assumed insurance would cover an autism evaluation because it is pretty greedy not to. We were so wrong. The place doing the evaluation let us know that it wasn't covered TWO DAYS before the first half of the evaluation, which also happened to be the week of Christmas. He would not be seen if we didn't pay at least $1900.00, which was only half of the total cost of the evaluation. With only one parent working, this was not possible. Our son had to wait until we could save that money. We did not get in for another four months.

Our son was diagnosed with Autism. That's where it stopped. There were no resources or services offered, not even a list of resources. Just a short handout on what autism is, which we had already researched for a couple of years at this point. We were lost in the web of therapies (what therapies does he need, why are there so many, and why do they cost so much?), arguing with insurance, calling health departments, and searching online for charities. Meanwhile, our son missed out on any interventions, aside from those provided through his IEP (Individualized Education Plan) at school.

I consider myself well-versed in research and finding all the things, however, this felt like drowning to me; it should not have been this hard. The worst part was if he had just been referred for an evaluation during Early Intervention, the cost of that evaluation would have been covered.

What my family needs most is something that helps with social skills. Making friends is a challenge for my son and frequently he expresses that he is lonely. Also, a truly inclusive public-school experience would be nice. He has been placed BACK into a self-contained classroom because his stimming was "disruptive." I am not a disability expert, but I feel like that is not the least restrictive environment.