WAFB Channel 9, Baton Rouge, LA |Parents explain the challenges associated with an autistic child
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BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - If a bill by Representative Franklin Foil of Baton Rouge becomes law, insurance companies may have to pay for children's autism treatment in Louisiana.
Eight-year-old Grace Taylor has autism. She was diagnosed at two years old. She's been getting treatment for the neurological disorder ever since. It's a process of repeating commands over and over again until they sink in. The treatment costs between $30,000 and $100,000 a year. "She stopped making eye contact, playing social games, and the most prominent symptom is that any minor transition in her environment induced pretty severe screaming episodes," Mary Elizabeth Taylor, Grace's mother, says.
She says it's a cost they've had to pay, even though it means going into serious debt and possibly having to move out of their new home. "In some states, it is covered by medical insurance. In some states, it is covered by state agencies. Some states, it's done in schools. Here, we have none of those options," she says. So the Taylors had to come up with their own solution. They treat Grace at home, using private specially-trained tutors.
Mary Elizabeth says it is working. They use Mary Elizabeth's salary as a surgeon to pay for it, and even that is not enough. So, you can imagine how other families with lower paying jobs cope. "There are families who mortgage their homes and sell their belongings and who manage to do it." That's why Mary Elizabeth was one of the many concerned parents in the crowd at the Capitol, begging legislators for help from insurance companies. "When there is funding, there will be the ability for physicians to say, ‘Well, your child has autism and this is who you call.'"
A House committee passed a bill by Representative Foil to make insurance companies pay some of the costs for treatment. Foil's bill now goes to the full House for another vote. We'll keep you updated.
Reporter: Caroline Moses, WAFB 9NEWS
