I support the regulations of ABA as they are currently written. My six-year-old daughter was diagnosed with autism three years ago and it’s taken all that time for my private insurance to finally begin covering ABA treatment. However, she will age out in January when “early intervention” and the autism bill designating coverage by age expires. While I am grateful for the help, we will have benefitted from only one year of ABA coverage. I’ve gone through great lengths to personally fund ABA treatment as a single mom because it’s the only research-based evidence proven to work best during these critical years. And every day the clock is ticking. The truth is these kids require ABA a lot longer. Why would anyone want to limit access now? Let’s not take ten steps backwards when we have finally begun to get some traction on autism awareness and access to affordable ABA therapy. It’s opened doors of progress, particularly speech, for my daughter that would have otherwise been closed. I heard her name her colors for the first time at three-years-old when I hired an in-home ABA therapist to work with her in the next room. I stood in the kitchen crying tears of joy and disbelief when I heard that precious voice answer “yellow,” “green,” and “blue” when asked to name the color she saw. I swore she knew these things cognitively but it was ABA therapy that pulled this out of her for the world to see in her very own words. Parents are desperate for help to show the abilities of these beautiful children. Please don’t create another barrier to autism treatment. These kids will thrive with continued ABA support, and most importantly, increased access to ABA. If it's not broke please don't try to fix it.  

Respectfully,

Kelly Smith