Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Autism? Walk it off, kid.

I did it! (once)
So, I've been getting involved with our Utah government to try and get legislation passed that would force insurers to stop excluding autism.

Big news!  So, Utah Republicans have come up with a way to help 800 children with autism get the therapy they need.  I'm glad that some kids will get help.  I have some concerns though.

According to the Children's Defense Fund, there are 868, 000 children living in Utah.  From what I understand, Utah's autism rate is higher than the national average at 1 in 77.  That means we have about 11,000 autistic children.

So, 800 kids will get help when 11,000 need help.  Hmmm.

I'm going to a town hall meeting tomorrow night to learn more.  I'll try to stay positive.  Meanwhile, Ben is having a really hard time getting to sleep tonight.  Potty training has been going well at school, but not so much at home.  Poop.

4 comments:

  1. What??? You're having potty training issues? Didn't you read those blogs I linked you to?

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  2. Amazing, no? I must say, that particular comment post is the best thing I have to tell people about when I meet them IRL. Thanks, Jim!

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  3. I don't know what the deal is between "venues". Lily is a totally different kid at school than at home. That's not to say she's totally tackled potty training there either, but she's typically more willing to try there than she is at home.

    What'd you learn at the town hall meeting?

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  4. I learned that our state legislature fears looking liberal in upcoming elections. They apparently likened any insurance mandate to ObamaCare. I also learned that the insurance lobby is strong here.

    They killed the bill we were hoping for and came up with a new "compromise" bill that will provide assistance to some 800 kids between 2 and 6. I read somewhere that there are 860,000 kids in utah, and the autism rate is 1 in 77. That leaves a lot of kids out in the cold.

    grrr.

    i was glad we got involved though - i met a bunch of parents of autistic kids and learned a good bit about our state government.

    -j

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