Dear Associated Press,
We are writing in response to your recent story, Parking lot plea by mom to CEOs leads to autism therapy for child. Thank you for sharing the powerful story of MaShel West and her son. We appreciate that an initial diagnosis of autism can be a daunting experience for many families. This is compounded by the overwhelming number of treatment options being marketed to parents of children with autism, many of which lack any scientific evidence of effectiveness.
For more than 50 years, educational and behavioral interventions and supports based on Applied Behavior Analysis have been shown to be safe and effective for helping children with autism increase communication, social skills, and functional life skills, and decrease challenging behaviors. Though these types of interventions are so important, West’s initial situation is reality for many families, in that many insurance companies do not provide coverage for ABA-based interventions. It is encouraging to hear that her employers recognized the importance of this treatment in their decision to provide coverage for it.
For more information about how families might obtain health insurance coverage for evidence-based interventions for their loved one with autism, we invite your readers to visit our website, the Association for Science in Autism Treatment. On our website, we also share information about the importance of evidence-based interventions for children with autism, the ways in which evidence-based interventions meet the needs of the whole child, and other resources that may help parents advocate for their child with autism.
All individuals with autism have the right to safe and effective treatments. While we applaud the effort West put forth to ensure her son received the best treatment, it is our hope that in the future parents do not have to go to the same lengths to access the services they need. The time is now for ABA to become a staple of health insurance plans throughout the United States, and around the world. Thank you again for sharing this story!
Sincerely,
Sarah Cummins, MA
Dr Erin Leif, PhD, BCBA-D
Association for Science in Autism Treatment
