School Based Services (SBS)

I received a consent form in the mail listing the services Dane receives from the school district.  It said that the school district has been accessing Medicaid reimbursement for medically related services provided for Dane.  The WI Medicaid School Bases Services Benefit offers a way for my local school district to receive federal funds to help pay for IEP special education programs and related services in the IEP.  SBS allows the school district to bill Medicaid with no cost to families.

This program has been available to school districts in WI since 1995 and changes have occurred over that time.  The most recent is that the WI Dept. of Public Instruction notified WI schools of a change in federal law obligating school districts to obtain parent consent prior to accessing Medicaid SBS benefits.  Prior to the change, parents gave consent to the school district to bill Medicaid when parents signed up for the WI Medicaid Assistance Program.  The school system now needs to ask parents directly for written consent.  In this process the school needs to ask for my consent directly but will not result in denial or limitation of community based services provided outside the school district.

I had to cancel the case worker observation for Dane because he had his therapy.  The observation will also be his annual ISP were we tell her how he is acting or if anything new is going on.  Tuesdays are such a rush getting home from work and getting Dane out of school 20 minutes early to make it to his therapy appointments 40 minutes from home.  I have been making it a routine to get McDonalds drive through because he is hungry after school.  I usually waited until after his therapy to get him something to eat but it's fast and its food.  I try not to buy the Happy Meals but when I do get the kids one it really makes them happy.  For Halloween they got a happy meal bucket they can use for trick or treating.  That would have been nice to know they can get something they will actually use.  Allyson calls it her Easter basket.  I keep correcting her but it's funny to hear her call it that.

Case Worker Observation

I knew it would be like this.  Our case worker came by at 4 pm today to observe Dane and how severe his autism is.  He did everything she asked him to do within an hours time.  She asked him questions while I watched his sister.  He mostly played with his water table but took the time to bring me a broken screw that was sitting on my deck.  She asked him to bring the screw to me.

Allyson, my daughter, was playing with her push mower that blows bubbles and I needed to get the mail.  I took her by the hand thinking I had time to get it without Dane noticing.  Dane and his observer were on the other side of the house so I thought it would be safe.  Just as I was back on my side of the street with my mail, Dane seen that I got the mail without him.  He ran and grabbed it out of my hand and went to put it back into the mail box, closed it, and then took the mail back out.  He was on the verge of a meltdown.  His eyes were wide open and it looked like he was going to cry his eyes out.  That was adverted by him getting the mail.  If I did not let him, things would have gotten ugly with his emotions.

I took the mail into the house and then got Allyson her 4 wheeler power wheels ready for her to ride on.  The case worker had Dane fill a cup with water and put 3 dandelions in the cup.  He pulled out the flowers and counted, "1, 2, 3." and put them in the cup.

I am clueless to some of the things she asked of him because I was busy keeping his sister away from him.

The case worker asked me what kind of discipline I use.  I told her it depends if were inside or outside.  If we are outside, I told her we go back in the house if he doesn't listen.  If we're inside, I take his toys away.  I told her we tried "time out" with him but he would kick down the door.  Time out never worked because of that.  I told her that not going to Grandpa's house was how I disciplined because he always looks forward to going there.

Dane was a perfect angel during the whopping hour observation.  If she could only see what he's like when she isn't there to observe his behavior the other 23 hours of the day.

Therapy Drama

Over a month ago we were set to have my sons "intensive therapy" to treat his autism. The day of the appointment, the center called and canceled. They said that one of their doctors went to the emergency room. I can understand that. Even doctors get hurt. The center said that "They would call back and set up another appointment."

Days turn into weeks. They did not call back. What's going on here? We call them and again, "We'll call you." Another week goes by. Same answer. This is getting a little ridiculous. Our case worker called us to see how things are going with my sons therapy. We tell her that they never called us back.

Our case worker calls the center and asks, "What is going on?" The center tells our case worker that, "We canceled our appointment with them!" We explain to our case worker what happened and within a couple days we finally got him a new appointment to start his therapy.

Is this a problem of mixed communication or did they have no intent on calling us back due to budget cuts? A co-worker of mine also has not heard back from this center for his son with autism. Something just doesn't seem right here.