ABA Therapy and Autism Resources

What is ABA? Applied Behavior Analysis is the process of systematically applying interventions based upon the principles of learning theory to improve socially significant behaviors to a meaningful degree, and to demonstrate that the interventions employed are responsible for the improvement in behavior

Getting Services in Texas

I will tell you how we got services for my own child, and that only 30% of autistic children will ever have access to ABA therapy. First and foremost I think the BEST resource for families and providers in the Autism community is Autism Live. Jump on YouTube and start watching their biweekly show. Speaking of Autism live, they partner with CARD who have a home based program called Skillz. CARD offers full scholarships for the SKILlz program which is an online ABA program parents do themselves.

There are a few grants out there for services but they a few and far between. The first place to go is to the employer, ask the insurance person in HR to have a single policy inclusion for ABA if it's not already covered. Ask for a single policy copay waiver, this is almost unheard of as not collecting copays can be considered insurance fraud, but some insurance companies will drop copays if appealed.

If they make less than 50k they can get SSI. That money should be used to pay copays. Medicaid that comes with SSI can be used to pay speech and OT copays, but not ABA, as it is not a service covered by Medicaid.

Depending on the age of the child either ECI or special ED can provide therapy , although the services are too infrequent and not adequate to make meaningful change, however some therapy is better than no therapy.

Go to Families for Effective Autism Treatment support meetings in North Richland Hills. Parents are a wonderful resource to each other and can tell each other tips and tricks they used to get services.

Assure them that unless rich, every single autism parent has been there. Sadly it's been my experience that 90% of parents just throw their hands in the air and give up. No matter how severe the autism the child can improve their level of functioning! So encourage them not to give up, and keep watching Autism Live. That program has been invaluable to me.

Good luck.
 
Also as a side note i would encourage them if they are willing and able to move to another state. Colorado is the closest state that offers much better access to care than Texas. In fact Texas is one of the worst states to live in if you have a disability.