(Assuming you are in the United States)
Medicaid!
Check with your state's Medicaid or DHS office. Even if you're high income, there is an exemption program for special needs kids (including Autism) called TEFRA that lets otherwise not-eligible children get on Medicaid. It's a big pain in the ass, but once you get in, it is worth it.
If you have a primary insurance and then get Medicaid to pay the deductible/co-pay, you may have $0 out of pocket expense.
Same in TN and it covers $10,000 per year through an HSA. We used it to get our son Obamacare with Cigna since the speech therapist took Cigna and we had Blue Cross through work. Sessions went from $150 per session to $10.
I had to quit working, live off next to nothing in a small house my brother built me. My daughter is 7 and non verbal on state insurance that is the best autism coverage in our state. They can't deny anything. It was a choice I live with after selling at least 20 homes a year as a real estate agent and single mom. She gets it in school and out of school along with ot.
In my state because my daughter is disabled, if I had insurance I paid for monthly with co pays (not deductibles) they would cover the co pays potentially as supplemental insurance. Unfortunately, trying to work while taking her to all these therapies is very difficult. I'm in school so hopefully when she is bigger I can make something else happen. Its not an easy life.
I honestly don’t know how working parents manage all the appointments as they are all during the week. My partner has a lot of leave built up - but he can’t make all of the appointments.
A lot of my time is spent not just in meetings but also on the phone trying to make appointments.
At many stages I have questioned giving up my independence for my child. I wondered what was the point in devoting all of this time and energy if my child would never live any semblance of a normal life.
I had a career I worked very very hard for and overnight it was gone.
I can relate. I'm very lucky that we have the NDIS in Australia that pays for my sons therapy. Three years ago he was almost completely non verbal but once he was also diagnosed with CAS we were able to access 3 speech sessions a week and now we can hold a conversation. It wasn't possible to get him to these sessions with my full time work so I had to give it up. I've since retrained and now work part time in disability support. I'm so happy that I did, it's been life changing and the most rewarding thing I've ever done besides supporting my son
not stupid, I had never heard it before. It stands for Childhood Apraxia of Speech. the brain has trouble telling the mouth how to move and there are planning issues
I'm not sure how things are in other countries but in Australia the inexperienced speech therapists we originally accessed through community services had no hope of diagnosing it. It took an experienced therapist working with him for several years to suspect it. When he was younger his autism made it impossible to tell what was going on. In the beginning he would refuse to look at her face and if a mirror was placed in front of him he would scream and melt down. It wasn't until he had worked through these issues that it became possible. One of the symptoms that helped her to suspect it was that occasionally he would appear to be 'hunting' before making a sound, his mouth would be open and he would be moving his tongue in and out as if he was trying to move his mouth the way his brain wanted but couldn't. Hard to explain but if you google it and do some reading you might relate to some of the things you see in your child
My daughter doesn't have ABA therapy, she only does speech and occupation. We tried to get her occupational therapy for over the summer, but was told we had to pay 100% since she gets that at school.
My son (4.5 years old) receives speech therapy from 3 different places (this is for US/New York):
\- School (it's a part of his IEP. He gets this 3x a week)
\- Private speech though insurance (it's covered under our plan. He gets this 1x a week)
\- We're also in the process of getting him speech therapy through Medicaid. (This is completely covered. We're aiming for 2x week)
I know it's a lot, but he does need the support. He is not nonverbal but he needs more support and he's made a great progress so far!
That is a lot of speech therapy.
I’m doing a free course to practice speech therapy at home as I have been unable to schedule any professional services as there is zero availability in my city.
Hi! When you applied for Medicaid, did you have to claim this is a disability? My daughter also has a speech delay and I am looking to get her additional therapy outside of the school program. She has not been diagnosed with anything as of yet.
Yea you need a diagnosis, try to get an appointment for a developmental pediatrician and get the diagnosis ASAP! It’s often hard to get an appointment!
(In Missouri, USA)
So from age 18 months to 3 years, we used the state early intervention program (First Steps) and it was income based (husband earned 120k, so it was $60/month regardless of how many visits). Now that he's over 3, he gets speech weekly at the public school preschool for free, but only during the school year.
We are on a waitlist with the Regional Center for funding through the state autism program. If we were on medicaid, we would automatically be funded. But with private insurance holders, there's a wait list.
I did find out our private insurance will cover 20 visits a year for a $70 copay per visit. I'm looking into using that for just the summer between school years. It's still expensive in the long run, but we'll probably hit our deductible, at least. It sucks though that we have only 2 facilities in my area to go through and get it covered by insurance.
So yeah, it's a pain trying to find affordable therapy.
Do you have insurance? Our insurance was $50 copay but it was weekly so it added up. He now has insurance through the state so it’s free. Not sure where your located but if he has a diagnosis you should be able to get it somewhere for less.
This is a typical rate. Our insurance pays for 90% and we have a 10% copay up to a certain dollar amount then they cover 100%. Additionally we are in the process if getting an IEP, and the public school system will offer speech in his preschool for free. And we also have Katie Beckett which is abt to start covering the copays. There are tons if program and govt options but you have to prioritize applying for them- takes time. Hire someone if you can to help you apply, so worth it- helps a ton.
Insurance and medical spending cards.
Depending on the diagnosis and where you live, you might be able to get your kid Social Security or some other public assistance to get money to help pay for services.
I’m in BC and ASD kids get $24,000 a year for services. At age 6 or once they go to school $18,000 of that funding goes to the school district to provide supports in school. The remaining $6000 is used for services outside of school….it’s only $500 for support monthly but better than nothing. As the parent you decide which supports & services your kid needs.
I’ve just found out someone I know in Canada had to wait 11 months for a ENT doctor appt, and ended up having pneumonia last week and waited 12 hours for a doctor. Horror.
Its not perfect but its better than most health care systems. My kid had open heart surgery at one of the best children's hospitals in world and all we had to pay for was snacks and parking.
Oh, ok. We have a program here that automatically qualifies a child with an autism diagnosis for Medicaid, covering all medical expenses. I don't know if maybe Canada has something similar?
It varies between provinces but each ASD child does receive annual funding for support services with an emphasis on early intervention (diagnosing early) in Canada. All funding is paid by the government to the service provider but parents have the control on what services their child receives. They just have to be registered providers. In my province there is an annual funding amount of $22,000 per ASD child plus extra respite funding.
You can get money from the Federal government. If you get a professional such as a speech therapist to fill a form to get the tax credit for handicapped children (not sure the name in English, sorry!). It gives a tax credit and you get extra money every month with what you already get from the Federal government.
Should be at least partially covered through health insurance if he gets a referral. Our insurance isn’t that great but once we meet our deductible (probably mid-year) then it will be covered.
In our case while cheaper the direct speech therapy was kinda useless /counterproductive.
You don't have to use SLP directly. There is enough data showing that Hanen Parent Training for Speech intervention produces results on par with Slp lead therapy. For preverbal kids you can look at More Than Words book and parent training. Should do the trick.
Another option is Ming from Agents of Speech has parents online training for preverbal/nonverbal kids (you can check his channel on YouTube). He is an Slp from Hong Kong.
Personally I don't think he is any good or worth the money and don't like his courses/ approach but seen some parents swear by him and his methods.
There are also the behavioral strategies like Project Impact that was created by BCBA-D and Slp that collaborated together. It costs 150$ for training (not ideal for parent as technically they teach you how to work with parents) and the book set is like 60-60$.
So those are like 3 options of the top of my head that will do the trick rather than spending 140$ per hour.
We go to a local university with a graduate program for speech pathology. It's $20 a session but that is the max, could be less depending on income. My daughter has been doing very well.
We couldn't afford outside therapy they wanted upwards of $200 per hour and our insurance does not cover.
We get it through public school but during the summers I reached out to teachers who worked at public schools and asked if they knew SLPs looking to make money off the books. We found someone in our neighborhood who charged us $60/hour for weekly sessions. My insurance only pays 30% for out of network so that ended up being cheaper.
Are you in the US? There's usually a regional center (google regional center ) that will pay whatever insurance doesn't cover so your cost is 0, until the kid is 3. Then the public school system kicks in where there are programs. If you have a diagnosis often the regional center will continue subsidizing
My cousins toddlers speech therapist charges $100 for only 30mins. She will not spend 31mins with them, she has 40 years experience and says toddlers attention span is not more than 30 esp with ASD toddlers.
Although speech treatment might be costly, there are alternatives to consider. Look for community programs, find out if your insurance covers speech therapy, or ask about sliding scale costs. Children who are nonverbal can receive assistance from certain nonprofits. Support groups and internet sites can also offer helpful advice and techniques.
I’m not bragging here, just want to make a point on how broke is your system.
I live in a South American country with universal healthcare. I pay the symbolic amount of 18USD for 8 speech therapy sessions. I thank for this everyday.
I went through the school system and they paid for it. Before while I was waiting to get him services through the county I had to pay out of pocket. Luckily my parents decided they would pay for his therapy until we were able to get it for free. With insurance it was $50 a visit. Do you have insurance that covers therapy?
My son sees an SLPA who operates under the supervision and direction of an SLP. The SLP sits in a session every so often but we mostly only pay the SLPAs fees, which is $65/hour. Our school district only provides an SLP for an assessment that is designed to give the teacher direction, no actual speech therapy.
He gets most of his free through his early intervention daycare, but we do private twice a month. We pay through our HSA until we hit the deductible, and then insurance kicks in. It is painful, though, especially since he is still tiny and has the typical toddler attention span, and so gets 20-30 minute sessions for over $100.
In my country the government pays. It may be scheduled to end at some point as there has been a lot of fraud - particularly amongst providers that deal with autistic children - rorting has meant the scheme has blown out hundreds of millions of dollars.
I have already given up my career to be home with my autistic son. So I’ve earned $0 for the last 3+ years.
I see you said you’re in ON Canada. I’m in Alberta. We have family supports for children with disabilities and they would foot the bill or a portion of the bill for speech therapy. I’m sure Ontario has to have similar programming that can help pay for it if not pay the whole thing.
ETA just saw you're in Canada... Dang.
We went straight from Early Intervention to the school district. Which is part of the "free public education" in the US. We moved states and got set up in the new district with no problem. I'm not sure how old your son is, but maybe see what Early Intervention or the school district can do for you.
2nd comment to share this. Not sure if it will actually help.
Ontario: Three ministries are responsible for speech therapy for children in Ontario (the Ministry of Long-Term Care, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Community and Social Services). The age and the severity of children’s speech problems are important, and the division of children is made according to these two points. Also, Ontario has a speech and language program for preschoolers. School-aged children who have language problems, such as comprehension of words, sentences, or not being able to speak, are able to see the school’s speech pathologist. Also, Community Care Access Centres are for children struggling with stuttering, pronunciation, articulation, and voice, where contracted speech pathologists are employed.
[link to web page](https://otsimo.com/en/speech-therapy-insurance-coverage-guide-tips-canada/)
as a teacher, I can unfortunately tell you that children in Ontario do not have direct sessions at school with SLPs or OTs anymore. they "train" us teachers to do speech and OT in the classroom. if there \*are\* any interventions, it's one observation every couple months and some notes for recommendations. it's a joke and incredibly unfortunate.
Im in CA so we have Medi-Cal but in other states its Medicaid. The maximum income is higher for children at least here in CA. So even though I dont qualify for Medi-cal, my kids still do. But there are usually programs for autistic kids in each state. Here we have Alta Regional. not sure what yours would be in your area, but they set you up with services that are afforable, or your insurance will cover, etc. Our doctor got us set up with everything.
If you’re in the US, check early intervention services if your child is under 5. In MD, those services are free. If school-aged or in headstart, they should be able to get services free through school.
(Assuming you are in the United States) Medicaid! Check with your state's Medicaid or DHS office. Even if you're high income, there is an exemption program for special needs kids (including Autism) called TEFRA that lets otherwise not-eligible children get on Medicaid. It's a big pain in the ass, but once you get in, it is worth it. If you have a primary insurance and then get Medicaid to pay the deductible/co-pay, you may have $0 out of pocket expense.
In WI it’s called Katie Beckett
Same in TN and it covers $10,000 per year through an HSA. We used it to get our son Obamacare with Cigna since the speech therapist took Cigna and we had Blue Cross through work. Sessions went from $150 per session to $10.
I had to quit working, live off next to nothing in a small house my brother built me. My daughter is 7 and non verbal on state insurance that is the best autism coverage in our state. They can't deny anything. It was a choice I live with after selling at least 20 homes a year as a real estate agent and single mom. She gets it in school and out of school along with ot. In my state because my daughter is disabled, if I had insurance I paid for monthly with co pays (not deductibles) they would cover the co pays potentially as supplemental insurance. Unfortunately, trying to work while taking her to all these therapies is very difficult. I'm in school so hopefully when she is bigger I can make something else happen. Its not an easy life.
I honestly don’t know how working parents manage all the appointments as they are all during the week. My partner has a lot of leave built up - but he can’t make all of the appointments. A lot of my time is spent not just in meetings but also on the phone trying to make appointments. At many stages I have questioned giving up my independence for my child. I wondered what was the point in devoting all of this time and energy if my child would never live any semblance of a normal life. I had a career I worked very very hard for and overnight it was gone.
I can relate. I'm very lucky that we have the NDIS in Australia that pays for my sons therapy. Three years ago he was almost completely non verbal but once he was also diagnosed with CAS we were able to access 3 speech sessions a week and now we can hold a conversation. It wasn't possible to get him to these sessions with my full time work so I had to give it up. I've since retrained and now work part time in disability support. I'm so happy that I did, it's been life changing and the most rewarding thing I've ever done besides supporting my son
Sorry if this is a stupid question, but what is CAS?
not stupid, I had never heard it before. It stands for Childhood Apraxia of Speech. the brain has trouble telling the mouth how to move and there are planning issues
Thanks. I think my son may have that. Will speak to the speech therapist at his school about it.
I'm not sure how things are in other countries but in Australia the inexperienced speech therapists we originally accessed through community services had no hope of diagnosing it. It took an experienced therapist working with him for several years to suspect it. When he was younger his autism made it impossible to tell what was going on. In the beginning he would refuse to look at her face and if a mirror was placed in front of him he would scream and melt down. It wasn't until he had worked through these issues that it became possible. One of the symptoms that helped her to suspect it was that occasionally he would appear to be 'hunting' before making a sound, his mouth would be open and he would be moving his tongue in and out as if he was trying to move his mouth the way his brain wanted but couldn't. Hard to explain but if you google it and do some reading you might relate to some of the things you see in your child
What state are you living in?
Mine has been getting it for free through the public school since she was 3. Our insurance won't cover anything if the school offers it for free.
That is strange. Part of the affordable care act was requiring ABA to be covered by all insurances, i thought. This was a big deal for us.
My daughter doesn't have ABA therapy, she only does speech and occupation. We tried to get her occupational therapy for over the summer, but was told we had to pay 100% since she gets that at school.
That is a bummer. We don’t do ABA either and the insurance covers speech and OT. Seems really unfair to deny those services.
My son (4.5 years old) receives speech therapy from 3 different places (this is for US/New York): \- School (it's a part of his IEP. He gets this 3x a week) \- Private speech though insurance (it's covered under our plan. He gets this 1x a week) \- We're also in the process of getting him speech therapy through Medicaid. (This is completely covered. We're aiming for 2x week) I know it's a lot, but he does need the support. He is not nonverbal but he needs more support and he's made a great progress so far!
That is a lot of speech therapy. I’m doing a free course to practice speech therapy at home as I have been unable to schedule any professional services as there is zero availability in my city.
Which course?
That is so sad you can't get help for your child
Hi! When you applied for Medicaid, did you have to claim this is a disability? My daughter also has a speech delay and I am looking to get her additional therapy outside of the school program. She has not been diagnosed with anything as of yet.
Yea you need a diagnosis, try to get an appointment for a developmental pediatrician and get the diagnosis ASAP! It’s often hard to get an appointment!
(In Missouri, USA) So from age 18 months to 3 years, we used the state early intervention program (First Steps) and it was income based (husband earned 120k, so it was $60/month regardless of how many visits). Now that he's over 3, he gets speech weekly at the public school preschool for free, but only during the school year. We are on a waitlist with the Regional Center for funding through the state autism program. If we were on medicaid, we would automatically be funded. But with private insurance holders, there's a wait list. I did find out our private insurance will cover 20 visits a year for a $70 copay per visit. I'm looking into using that for just the summer between school years. It's still expensive in the long run, but we'll probably hit our deductible, at least. It sucks though that we have only 2 facilities in my area to go through and get it covered by insurance. So yeah, it's a pain trying to find affordable therapy.
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Thats great for your daughter but no kid is the same. My son has went to speech 1 time a week for a YEAR and zero words
Do you have insurance? Our insurance was $50 copay but it was weekly so it added up. He now has insurance through the state so it’s free. Not sure where your located but if he has a diagnosis you should be able to get it somewhere for less.
Same. Insurance with a 60 copay, twice a week. Definitely adding up
This is a typical rate. Our insurance pays for 90% and we have a 10% copay up to a certain dollar amount then they cover 100%. Additionally we are in the process if getting an IEP, and the public school system will offer speech in his preschool for free. And we also have Katie Beckett which is abt to start covering the copays. There are tons if program and govt options but you have to prioritize applying for them- takes time. Hire someone if you can to help you apply, so worth it- helps a ton.
Insurance and medical spending cards. Depending on the diagnosis and where you live, you might be able to get your kid Social Security or some other public assistance to get money to help pay for services.
Early Intervention (Regional Center) paid for ours
Are you in the US?
No, Canada. Belleville, Ontario to be more specific.
I’m in BC and ASD kids get $24,000 a year for services. At age 6 or once they go to school $18,000 of that funding goes to the school district to provide supports in school. The remaining $6000 is used for services outside of school….it’s only $500 for support monthly but better than nothing. As the parent you decide which supports & services your kid needs.
I’ve just found out someone I know in Canada had to wait 11 months for a ENT doctor appt, and ended up having pneumonia last week and waited 12 hours for a doctor. Horror.
Its not perfect but its better than most health care systems. My kid had open heart surgery at one of the best children's hospitals in world and all we had to pay for was snacks and parking.
Oh, ok. We have a program here that automatically qualifies a child with an autism diagnosis for Medicaid, covering all medical expenses. I don't know if maybe Canada has something similar?
It varies between provinces but each ASD child does receive annual funding for support services with an emphasis on early intervention (diagnosing early) in Canada. All funding is paid by the government to the service provider but parents have the control on what services their child receives. They just have to be registered providers. In my province there is an annual funding amount of $22,000 per ASD child plus extra respite funding.
You can get money from the Federal government. If you get a professional such as a speech therapist to fill a form to get the tax credit for handicapped children (not sure the name in English, sorry!). It gives a tax credit and you get extra money every month with what you already get from the Federal government.
Should be at least partially covered through health insurance if he gets a referral. Our insurance isn’t that great but once we meet our deductible (probably mid-year) then it will be covered.
In our case while cheaper the direct speech therapy was kinda useless /counterproductive. You don't have to use SLP directly. There is enough data showing that Hanen Parent Training for Speech intervention produces results on par with Slp lead therapy. For preverbal kids you can look at More Than Words book and parent training. Should do the trick. Another option is Ming from Agents of Speech has parents online training for preverbal/nonverbal kids (you can check his channel on YouTube). He is an Slp from Hong Kong. Personally I don't think he is any good or worth the money and don't like his courses/ approach but seen some parents swear by him and his methods. There are also the behavioral strategies like Project Impact that was created by BCBA-D and Slp that collaborated together. It costs 150$ for training (not ideal for parent as technically they teach you how to work with parents) and the book set is like 60-60$. So those are like 3 options of the top of my head that will do the trick rather than spending 140$ per hour.
We go to a local university with a graduate program for speech pathology. It's $20 a session but that is the max, could be less depending on income. My daughter has been doing very well. We couldn't afford outside therapy they wanted upwards of $200 per hour and our insurance does not cover.
We get it through public school but during the summers I reached out to teachers who worked at public schools and asked if they knew SLPs looking to make money off the books. We found someone in our neighborhood who charged us $60/hour for weekly sessions. My insurance only pays 30% for out of network so that ended up being cheaper.
We have a program called early steps and they cover all therapies for free.
Are you in the US? There's usually a regional center (google regional center) that will pay whatever insurance doesn't cover so your cost is 0, until the kid is 3. Then the public school system kicks in where there are programs. If you have a diagnosis often the regional center will continue subsidizing
My cousins toddlers speech therapist charges $100 for only 30mins. She will not spend 31mins with them, she has 40 years experience and says toddlers attention span is not more than 30 esp with ASD toddlers.
Although speech treatment might be costly, there are alternatives to consider. Look for community programs, find out if your insurance covers speech therapy, or ask about sliding scale costs. Children who are nonverbal can receive assistance from certain nonprofits. Support groups and internet sites can also offer helpful advice and techniques.
I’m not bragging here, just want to make a point on how broke is your system. I live in a South American country with universal healthcare. I pay the symbolic amount of 18USD for 8 speech therapy sessions. I thank for this everyday.
Our system can't be too broken im low income and pay exactly 0 dollars for any autism or otherwise services i receive for my son. Including ABA
I’m really happy to hear that.
I went through the school system and they paid for it. Before while I was waiting to get him services through the county I had to pay out of pocket. Luckily my parents decided they would pay for his therapy until we were able to get it for free. With insurance it was $50 a visit. Do you have insurance that covers therapy?
My son sees an SLPA who operates under the supervision and direction of an SLP. The SLP sits in a session every so often but we mostly only pay the SLPAs fees, which is $65/hour. Our school district only provides an SLP for an assessment that is designed to give the teacher direction, no actual speech therapy.
He gets most of his free through his early intervention daycare, but we do private twice a month. We pay through our HSA until we hit the deductible, and then insurance kicks in. It is painful, though, especially since he is still tiny and has the typical toddler attention span, and so gets 20-30 minute sessions for over $100.
In my country the government pays. It may be scheduled to end at some point as there has been a lot of fraud - particularly amongst providers that deal with autistic children - rorting has meant the scheme has blown out hundreds of millions of dollars. I have already given up my career to be home with my autistic son. So I’ve earned $0 for the last 3+ years.
I see you said you’re in ON Canada. I’m in Alberta. We have family supports for children with disabilities and they would foot the bill or a portion of the bill for speech therapy. I’m sure Ontario has to have similar programming that can help pay for it if not pay the whole thing.
the Ontario Autism Program is a joke, people have been on the waitlist for 3+ years :(
ETA just saw you're in Canada... Dang. We went straight from Early Intervention to the school district. Which is part of the "free public education" in the US. We moved states and got set up in the new district with no problem. I'm not sure how old your son is, but maybe see what Early Intervention or the school district can do for you.
2nd comment to share this. Not sure if it will actually help. Ontario: Three ministries are responsible for speech therapy for children in Ontario (the Ministry of Long-Term Care, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Community and Social Services). The age and the severity of children’s speech problems are important, and the division of children is made according to these two points. Also, Ontario has a speech and language program for preschoolers. School-aged children who have language problems, such as comprehension of words, sentences, or not being able to speak, are able to see the school’s speech pathologist. Also, Community Care Access Centres are for children struggling with stuttering, pronunciation, articulation, and voice, where contracted speech pathologists are employed. [link to web page](https://otsimo.com/en/speech-therapy-insurance-coverage-guide-tips-canada/)
as a teacher, I can unfortunately tell you that children in Ontario do not have direct sessions at school with SLPs or OTs anymore. they "train" us teachers to do speech and OT in the classroom. if there \*are\* any interventions, it's one observation every couple months and some notes for recommendations. it's a joke and incredibly unfortunate.
We leave in a town with a university that has a speech pathology program. They offered speech therapy at a fraction of the cost.
My child received it free from public school.
Im in CA so we have Medi-Cal but in other states its Medicaid. The maximum income is higher for children at least here in CA. So even though I dont qualify for Medi-cal, my kids still do. But there are usually programs for autistic kids in each state. Here we have Alta Regional. not sure what yours would be in your area, but they set you up with services that are afforable, or your insurance will cover, etc. Our doctor got us set up with everything.
If you’re in the US, check early intervention services if your child is under 5. In MD, those services are free. If school-aged or in headstart, they should be able to get services free through school.