Retyping, as first go got eaten :(
Thanks, Totoro! It's so good that family got the dx well before age 6, as they will fund way more before that age. (Though our assessor made a comforting case for why it was better that my son didn't.)
Yeah, a family can apply for the reimbursement system once the child turns 12 (not before). It will be helpful because I'll be able to track exactly what's being billed, what's available, etc. It will also open up the pool of service providers available.
I and others have made some fabulous efforts in advocating (I used to do it professionally), and a few things have flown but most haven't. That means we end up with essentially what we started with, but lost time and reduced energy. So, now I generally allocate the whole amount to one counsellor and let her do her thing. It had proven ineffective, anyway, to break the 40-50 therapist hours into, say, 20 hours per year for SLP and 20 hours per year for OT. Yeah, I've trained myself to provide most of his therapies...but even I figured I should stop short of attaching braces to his face ;)
My best workaround with AFU so far has been to locate registered clinical counsellors that are trained to offer EMDR. This way, we can access the therapy that works, while it fits their billing system. I've been hoping to find an RCC that does neurofeedback. We're not near Victoria, but I'll contact Elizabeth anyway. Sometimes people can work their magic over a distance, or provide leads.
Yeah, so far I've just refused to get updated assessments until they provide him with one of the free spots. I mean, everyone (school, etc) is ignoring the one we have, so why would I spend $2000 or more on another document they ignore? I won't.
Yep, in regular contact with ACT :)
The support dog agency that came in to give a presentation to us said the waitlist for a dog was 5-20 years, and for most people closer to the latter. I'd been hoping to get him one when he was little. (Very interesting field. Volunteers house and train the dogs, but the funding still only allows training of too few dogs per year.)
Thank you for the list of charities helping with ASD stuff! Also thanks for caring in general, as well as for helping that family long term! I'm sure they're very grateful! (I have a neighbour who, as of two hours ago, is on the hunt to find me a spouse that will do paperwork, admin, advocacy, etc. Hee.)
All this noted, it's more future surprises I'm considering insurance for. I might try another thread on that specifically (and not throw any red herrings into it).