An editorial in
The San Antonio Express-News
The analogy to autism treatment is diabetes.
Just imagine a child is diagnosed with diabetes. Imagine she has to wait two years for lifesaving and life-changing insulin. It would be an infuriating and ludicrous proposition for parents.
That analogy comes from Dr. Melissa D. Svoboda, director of the autism program at The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio.
Her point is this: While not a cure, there is an effective, but expensive, treatment for autism known as Applied Behavioral Analysis, or ABA. It is the “gold standard” and can make all the difference in a person’s life if provided early enough.
But Medicaid in Texas doesn’t cover ABA, private insurance reimbursements are often lacking, and there is a dramatic shortage of experts in the field to make diagnoses.
These are the major roadblocks to the early diagnosis and treatment of autism highlighted in a recent report from the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation.
The analogy to diabetes could spark some discussion
in the autism community. Many object to the
"disease frame."
