What do you do…….
September 5, 2008 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
What do you do when your income is less than the cost of therapy for your autistic child? That’s the situation facing Dan and Sharon Springer, the parents of 8-year-old Joy Springer, in Nevada. According to KRNV today, Joy’s family also faces the loss of $1000 from Acumen, a state-funded program, due to a state budget crisis. And, Joy’s father is facing unemployment when the branch of Citibank that he works at shuts down. He says:
“We just try to take it one day at a time…..There’s lots of programs out there that stress one day at a time and that’s what we are doing.”
Words to reflect on, one day at a time.
I’ve never been in this boat and hope never to be, but for one year, we dedicated my entire income (we’re a two-income family) to therapies/therapists for our son. That included the income for a full-time nanny/therapist and the OT, speech, and Floor-Time appointments. Essentially, I worked to pay for these things.
Not a second of regret. We both feel that without that year from age 4 to 5, TH would be in a very different place right now.
This family is facing something that a lot of families may be facing: joblessness in the face of pressing special needs. The report from today for unemployment was not a good one.
what do you do? your kids don’t get therapy, you learn to do it your self. both L and K have made huge strides from once a week visits from birth to three, free in WI untill age three. I use those visits to learn all I can so I can make theraputic play part of everyday life.
I am a single mom of two, and I face the “one day at a time” reality every day. I’m grateful that my son’s needs are met in his school setting and I have very rarely had to pay out of pocket for anything up to this point (he’s 7). It’s tough times in the U.S. right now — the recession affects everyone — I hope the new administration can help, not only in general wrt the economy but also with our current healthcare and education crises. Personally, *that* is the friend I want in the White House.
The California Regional Center system is out of money due to no budget yet in the state. They funded floortime and feeding therapy and social skills.
Luckily we get funding for camp from another org, but RC is the go between.
We are barely making it on one income and the GOV wants to take almost $500 a month from me to balance the budget. Raise sales tax so all are treated equal.
One day at a time is all we can do, at my house it is feast or famine. I might have to get sucked back into the payday loan places if my deposit is late since car ins is due Monday.
Since I was a single mom for most of our autism journey (6 years out of 10, I think), we just learned to do without some things that the kids would have had other. Fortunately we lived in Ontario so therapy was paid for, but sometimes there just aren’t any choices. You learn to get competent at navigating the system, you advocate, and you learn to accept that no matter what you do, your kids may not get everything that they need. As far as I know there are very few places (if any), that will fund anything that you want for your kids. It is horrendous (and a very short-sighted decision by governments), but you do the best that you can with the resources that you have and just keep going.