How can I make the school district pay for ABA program?

Question

My son is autistic and I want ABA program for him , preferably at home , will the school pay for that or my insurance ?

Answer 1

If your child has a IEP a parent advocate can help you with some information also. In some states macaid pays.

Answer 2

If the school district cannot offer in any program, what your child needs, they must pay for the service from someone else. If you have insurance, that's even better!

Answer 3

Your school district should have a Special Education Coordinator/Administrator. check with him or her to see what is available for home teaching in the ABA area and who is qualified to work with same.

As for the insurance, if you are asking about state,(ie Public Aide or Social Security) you need to have discussions with your son's case managers. If you are referring to Private, (ie Blue Cross or Humana) you need to check with your insurance representative.  Take Care.

Answer 4

My son recieves aba. First we had to get approved for funding from "regional state board for diabled" then we had to contact Columbia university (waiting list for 1 yr).. Regional had to get funds from a program in our county that had money stored for YEARS on taxes called SB40 board. Once we got started it was simple but I do not want to do it at school. My son is mildly and between daily speech and 2 times a week out of school therapy and once a week ot at school I am afraid he would miss too much acadamics. Not only that when u first start aba they tend to get frusterated easier. schools not a good place for that. At home youu will have to hire a babysitter that u can train how to do it. There is no insurance that will pay or even any other programs. if you did pay it would be a tax write off. But if your like me I dont have the money to pay for one or the trust.

Answer 5

It depends what your school district has to offer for your child. The school district has to provide your child an educational program that benefits your child. You can't demand a methodology directly, but you can make sure to request enough goals that it would be difficult for the school to adjust those in a typical school program. You can also request regular updates and data on an on-going basis. Many school districts now have ABA school based programs for children with autism. So make sure you find out details on what your district has to offer.

www.wrightslaw.com has good information on getting services for your child, advocating and case law on other parents who have taken districts to court for ABA programs.

Also www.insurancehelpforautism.com has some information on trying to get services from your insurance company. This website is based on California law but has some links for other states and resources.

Answer 6

The school will have to cover the cost for in home therapy if they do not provide the services in the district.  If the services are provided in the district then any services provided outside of the school setting will be out of pocket for you.  

Find out if the district offers this programming and go from there.  It is your right to have services provided for you child under the IDEA laws!

Answer 7

Ask your Regional Center. I did and my daughter qualified for 4 hrs a day, 5 days a week in the home. It is completely free. Another option is to look into ABA schools in your area. And one more option is to have an ABA therapist written into your son's IEP. They will come into the classroom once or twice a week to work with him and train the staff on using ABA with him. All of this is no cost to you, but you have to ask for it....or demand it if necessary.

Answer 8

There is no provision in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act that provides for private therapy at home, no matter what kind of service it is unless the student is designated as hospital homebound. For this you need a doctor's note diagnosing a medical condition that makes coming to school impossible.

The district may already provide a program that uses ABA techniques, you might check with the Director or whoever is in charge of the autism program.

You are going to have to file for a "due process" hearing with an administrative law judge if the school district does not have such a program and you don't agree with the placement. Find your Procedural Safeguards book that you were given at every IEP meeting and read how to proceed if you don't agree with the IEP team. Bear in mind that you will have to offer some kind of proof that the education being provided is not helpful to your child. You may want to find an advocate to help you.

You may also ask the school district about the McKay scholarship that is available to every disabled child. They pay at least part of the tuition for a private school. Check to see if there are any ABA schools in your area and then see if they are on the school district list.

It will be much easier for you to use your own insurance than to try to force the school district to pay for private services for your child. They would love to provide such services for every child, but the pot of public money is so limited that they will fight you every step of the way. They have many children to serve.