Blind, Autistic Woman Rakes Leaves To Pay For Dental Work.
Filed Under (Uncategorized) by Estee on 06-11-2009
When I read this story I thought of Adam. How a month ago we spent another day in the hospital pulling and repairing his teeth, for indeed he, like many autistic folk, need to be sedated during this stressful experience. I am there helping hospital staff deal with Adam and in turn Adam is managing better and better every year as he matures brilliantly. I am becoming an old hat with hospital staff and they in turn seem to appreciate the calmness and information about Adam I can share. That came with time and experience.
Living in Canada, we do not pay for such visits if we have dental insurance. We do not pay for the hospital visits at all, as we are covered in Ontario under OHIP. We parents have to advocate and teach others how to help our autistic children through stressful periods like this. I hope that Heather will be able to raise the amount she needs.
ESTÉE KLAR
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA
Writer/Curator/Founder of The Autism Acceptance Project. Contributing Author to Between Interruptions: Thirty Women Tell the Truth About Motherhood, and Concepts of Normality by Wendy Lawson. Lecturer on autism and the media and parenting. Current graduate student Critical Disability Studies and most importantly, mother of Adam -- a new and emerging writer.
Must be nice to have dental insurance…. which is one of the issues I have with those that play “outside” the Ont Autism box as it is… So quit bragging about it… You have no idea the “realities” of autism and not having a blank cheque to jump queues and go to the USA if necessary. About having to use Special Services at Home funding for respite, in finding decent respite services, and having to use EA’s instead of paying for your own. That reality exists here as well…. the rest of us have to either pay that hospital dental trip OUT OF POCKET or if you qualify through Assistance for Children with Severe Disabilities, the Province of Ontario pays. I can’t vouch for who pays across the rest of the country because I just don’t know. As you know EACH Province had their OWN Health Insurance. Then there’s the ODSP mess when they become adults. We’re trying to get our will’s sorted, the Hansen trust in place to prevent not receiving ODSP and dental/Rx coverage for our children. OTHERWISE, such coverage does not exist.
We are lucky to qualify for ACSD so our trip to the hospital for dental work was covered. Our prescriptions are covered, less $2/Rx. My dh and I don’t have those luxuries… we pay $$$… but atleast the children do b/c of their dx’s.
I am not complaining about our system. It’s better than the one in the USA…. but their are realities and if you are planning on lobbying the system… you need to learn what they are.