Hi, never thought it would get this bad or I'd try something like this, but I need help. I have three children, the oldest, age 12 is autistic. He was diagnosed at age 2.5 and fairly severe - non verbal, self injurious, food allergies, bowel problems, incontinent, tantrumming etc etc. Through lots of research I found out about the various biomedical options available for treating autism and began to obtain them for my son.
These treatments are all done by "alternative/complementary" medicine doctors, none of whom take medical insurance. I submit my bills to my medical insurance company and they're mostly either not accepted due to it not being an approved treatment method by the AMA - ie: Chelation to remove toxic metals, or after reducing cost to what the insurance considers "reasonable" they then apply the deductible and the 80/20 split. Usually this comes up to just about nothing. These bills have totalled $30,000 - $40,000 per year for the last 6 years. It only adds up to a few thousand in medical deductibles as a refund on taxes
These medical treatments - chelation, diet, supplements, GI/neurological treatments etc along with behavior therapy, have all helped my son immensely - he is now verbal to the point of beginning conversational, has ever evolving imaginative play and social skills and tantrums, although still there, are decreasing.
It's all very stressful on my family both emotionally and financially. Thank God for credit cards and being able to refinance our home (we're on our third time). Although my husband has a decent job, I have not been able to work (I did accounting in my former life) due to the demands of having a disabled child. Just this year he was home for two months while I searched for a better placement after he was booted from district school due to behaviors. What job would let you take two months off, not to mention the times I need to attend meetings, or pick him up. There is also noone that can watch him due to his behaviors, my husband and I haven't had a night/day alone in 8 years.
I would be more than willing to help out anyone with the medical knowledge I've gained as well as any bookkeeping help or whatever else I could do as a trade off. Our credit cards are almost at their limit, we still have two to three years of treatments left and I'm running out of ideas on what to do for financing. I want to give my son the best chance he can at having as normal a life as possible.
Thanks for any consideration
