Waiting…
The wait time for a child to be evaluated, for any type of disorder that even remotely falls on the “mental health” spectrum is abhorrent! When a family has a child that is facing a multitude of challenges, but they have zero resources to help their child, it leaves them feeling helpless and desperate. And don’t get me started on the insurance coverage for mental health in this country, I have received so many “we don’t accept your insurance,” “we are out of network with all providers,” or “we don’t take insurance at all you must pay out of pocket and seek reimbursement” that if my hair wasn’t already falling out from postpartum I would have ripped it out by now!
I first contacted our pediatrician about our concerns back in early February of 2017. She promptly wrote a referral and made phone calls to try and get us in as early as possible for an evaluation with a psychiatrist and an OT/PT. Even with the push from a pediatrician we still had to wait 2 months before getting any form of evaluation.
Our initial evaluation was with an Occupational & Physical Therapist, but we were just grateful to be seeing anyone that could give us some answers.
Our appointments with the OT/PT have been great, but what we are learning quickly is that seeing a PT/OT without a full psychiatric work-up feels a lot like putting the “cart before the horse.” There are a lot of practical things that the OT/PT are able to help her with when it comes to daily life, particularly around her fears and her Sensory Processing Disorder, however Roo has co-existing conditions that an OT/PT cannot manage.
We have been on the waiting list for the leading center on Autism in the area for over 6 months, although when we initially were referred, we were assured that based on her age we should have no problem being seen before 6 months. Around the 3 month waiting mark I began calling other providers and that is when the insurance and waiting list frustrations truly set-in.
It is now September, almost 8 months into the waiting list, and still we have not been called to schedule an appointment for evaluation. Getting an appointment is just cracking the door open, once you are offered an appointment, that is usually a few months out as well, so I am anticipating we will not have any additional concrete help until the beginning of 2018. That makes me incredibly sad and frustrated at this broken healthcare system.
