CALIFORNIA INSURANCE: Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Rules Against Insurance Companies in Autism Treatment Case

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James Chalfant ruled that Kaiser Permanente’s refusal to pay for a child’s autism treatment runs counter to California’s Mental Health Parity Act.

Judge Chalfant wrote in his October 20th ruling, “A refusal to pay for . . . services based on the fact that the provider is not licensed is inconsistent with the intent of parity”.

Talk About Curing Autism Newsletter: IHSS Alert for California Families

U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken ruled today that the state cannot go forward on November 1 with its planned cuts of In-Home substantial harm, damage and injury which would result. The Judge said that the state’s Functional Index rankings were clearly not based on need, that essential services could be withdrawn arbitrarily, and "people could lose something irreplaceable – the ability to remain safely in their homes.

What’s Left of Lanterman After the Cuts?

This summer was a tough as I have ever seen it in special education. Districts and Regional Centers were reeling from the fall out of the budget. The question seemed to be “Where to cut when we have already cut so much and we never had enough to start with.”

Among a hierarchy of concerns, one at the top of the list was how to deal with changes in the Lanterman Act that govern the provision of behavioral services, the most troubling of which were provisions requiring regional centers to use the least costly of comparable vendors to provide a ABA services (§ 4648, new subd. (a)(6)(D)); and disallowing Regional Center to pay for educational services. §4648.5(a)(3)

News From the Front

By Heather Zakson, Esq.

“If the Board had authorized the proposed regulation, thousands of children would have been stranded without their aides and therapists.

And the public schools, unable to provide for these students’ needs, would have been in legal jeopardy with no way to implement IEPs.”

Prescott AZ: World’s Oldest Rodeo: Benefiting the Autism Spectrum Center

From Prescott Arizona:

From “Ropin’ Out Autism”
Join in at the Prescott Rodeo Grounds for the 3rd Annual Cowboy Charity Event benefiting the Autism Spectrum Center for Educational and Neurological Development School – Roping starts at 9:00 AM on Saturday, October 17th – For more information, contact Angie at (928) 443-9290 or Tammy at (928) 710-3816

News From the Front

By Heather Zakson, Esq.

“If the Board had authorized the proposed regulation, thousands of children would have been stranded without their aides and therapists.

And the public schools, unable to provide for these students’ needs, would have been in legal jeopardy with no way to implement IEPs.”

Autism: Life Afterwards

A long time ago, I was just starting out and having kids. I had 2 children within one year three hundred and fifty eight days and I was in awe of how unexpectedly wonderful it was to bear witness to the beginning of a new person.

I was thirty-four years old when my worst fears were confirmed. I remember leaving UCLA after hearing that my beloved, four-year-old blue-eyed boy had autism.

My boy! How could this happen to me when I was so in love with him?

And where had he gone anyway? The cute, cuddly wonderful baby had been replaced by someone unfamiliar who had strange interests, ritualistic behaviors, didn’t speak much and was frequently unhappy.

Ages 4-6 were the hell years where we started ABA therapy and I braced myself for the worst. What does it mean to have a child who will never grow up? As wonderful as babies are, one expects that they will naturally progress to the next stage.

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