Posts Tagged ‘TEFRA’
What is TEFRA? And How Can it Help My Family?
When my son was diagnosed with autism at age three, I remember hearing about services available. I heard about Medicaid. I heard about Social Security. I remember inquiring and realizing that we over the income limit. Which at the time was fine because I never believed we would actually need services. Or help. Both my husband and I worked. We had good health insurance through my husband’s employer, Wells Fargo Bank. We assumed that everything would be covered. We assumed wrong. Good health insurance often only covers a small portion…
Read MoreTen Services Available to Help With Your Autistic Child
When my child was diagnosed with autism I thought the help would start rolling in. I firmly believed that getting the diagnosis would be the hard part. Once we had that we would start helping him. Maybe you will be one of the lucky ones where everything falls into place. In most cases that’s simply not true. Helping your child will feel more like an exhausting game of trial and error. You’ll spend time googling and wondering what your next steps should be. You’ll hear about other families that have…
Read MoreGetting Medical Assistance (Medicaid) for your Disabled Child
The number one question I receive as an Autism mom is what benefits do I get for my son and how did I obtain them. Cooper receives Medical Assistance through the state. This is also known as Medicaid. I will gladly tell you what I know about the program. He also receives a few other services but I will save those for a different post. First, you need to find out what your state offers for benefits. Please understand that every state is different. Here is the link to the Federal…
Read MoreDescribing how Autism Affects our Family…in 4 Sentences or Less.
I have been working on this TEFRA paperwork for the last couple of days and there are a few questions that just suck. I am so sick of answering stuff like this. Describe how your child’s challenges affect your child and family. I read it and then reread it. The box for the answer could hold 4 sentences tops. What can I put in this freaking box that will make it make sense. And who is going to be reading this? Does the person know what it’s like to raise…
Read MoreAutism Tricked Me
Prior to Cooper, and even up until a few months ago, I had very specific thoughts about autism. I am pretty sure I was using information from TV shows or from conversations with other people. I assumed all autistic kids had repetitive behaviors. That they all lined things up or spent time spinning wheels or pinwheels or anything round. I also assumed they were very highly intelligent. I also pictured a lot of self soothing or stimming. Most specifically, a lot of rocking back and forth. And I always thought…
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