My New Role with SPaN

I am happy to announce that recently I have become a member of SPaNs board. I am fulfilling the role of Vice President of Programming for the organization. SPaN is the Special Needs Advocacy Network, which helps families advocate for their child with special needs. As a person who has a disability I grew up going through this process. I am very excited to be a member of this organization and am looking forward to help coordinate events in hopes of educating families who need guidance for their child.

Check out their site: SPaNmass.org

Special Education Advocacy Network Events in the month of May

 During the month of May I worked as a Special Education Advocate by educating parents and professionals on various topics associated with special needs. The first training kicked off in Cohasset, which focused on “Creating A Vision”. This workshop is to help parents develop future goals for their children through their children’s lens. No vision is too big! We emphasized that the parents should, no matter how extreme or unrealistic it may seem, let their child pick the vision. It may not always be realistic, but it is essential to try to best accommodate the children with their own unique vision. Maybe they want to be a pilot, but they are visually impaired, it is still possible to find them a position that may still work in the aviation field that will still give them the opportunity to be as close as possible to their vision.

            The second workshop was based on “Student Discipline” in Arlington. This workshop was based off of schools regulations and knowing your child’s rights in their program.  As parents, you should always read the school handbook! This is the best place to start and it is often overlooked. Many times the handbook can be found as a PDF on the schools website, but typically it is also sent home with the child at the beginning of the school year. This training went into depth about the types of punishments the schools implement and the rights of the parent in this situation. We also went into detail about how important it is to let the teachers or the staff associated with your children know about your child’s IEP and circumstance. This is the best possible solution for your child success in the school.

            The third presentation was a “Basic Rights” workshop. This took place in Everett and was a bit different than the other workshops we have been apart of. This workshop included a Spanish/Portuguese interpreter. This workshop is to let the parent know their basic rights when it comes to their child and their disability. It mainly focuses on the IEP or 504 Plan associated with your child’s disability.

            It has been incredible to be able to be apart of something that I am very familiar with being someone who went through this process as a child and now being able to teach it to others.  Sometimes parents don’t even know where to begin, but with these various trainings that SPAN has created it makes the process that much easier.

For more on this topic and for more information on the trainings please visit SPANs website below: SPANs Website

New Law Mandates Increased Access to Services for those with Autism

Massachusetts became the 23^rd state to pass legislation expanding health insurance coverage to children and adults with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The law which was approved by the Governor on August 3, 2010, went into effect on January 1, 2011. With students returning to schools across the Commonwealth, it is important to explain what is and is not covered by the new law, and what schools’ obligations continue to be under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

ARICA (An Act Relative to Insurance Coverage for Autism) mandates specific private health insurance providers to cover an expanded range of services for those on the Autism Spectrum. In particular, the law requires these insurance companies to cover “medically necessary” care including: habilitative or rehabilitative care, pharmacy care, psychiatric care, psychological care and therapeutic care.  

ARICA is only applicable in Massachusetts, so it only affects Massachusetts residents who have ASD and are enrolled in private health insurance plans. It applies to most private health insurance policies but does not apply to policyholders with MassHealth /CommonHealth. You should check with your individual insurance provider to verify the effect of the new law on coverage.

While this law is a huge victory for families who have loved ones with Autism, it does not diminish a school’s need to provide a free and appropriate public education. For example if a student now receives occupational therapy outside of school due to the reduced cost, but the IEP states that the student should receive occupational therapy during the school day to meet the student’s needs, the school cannot eliminate the therapy during school hours just because the student is now receiving therapy outside of school. The school must take into account what the student’s needs are in order to succeed in school and receive a free appropriate public education. The new law does not mandate reimbursement to schools and school districts for providing these services.

Hopefully the new law will lead to students receiving increased services outside of school allowing them to be more successful as they progress through their educations.