Adopting a child with autism

There are is a spectrum of a child labeled with "Autism"...therefore different levels of functioning, from mild to severe. If the child is adopted through the state or fostercare, they will remain on State Insurance until 18 years old or longer if deemed disabled by thier condition. This covers medical and therapies included. Yes, it can cost $60,000 per year but you will not pay anything, the state does. This high price generally pays for Intensive In home behavioral Treatment for children with Autism. It is designed to be a 3 year program to correct or lessen some of the behaviors that austisic children have with the idea of possiblibly make them higher functioning. In the school system the children are usually on an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) this ensures thier education needs are being met with thier specific needs. In our state, the public school system has Early Childhood Education starting at 3 years old an IEP can be requested. I would read everything you can on the various types of Autism...from PDD-NOS to Aspergers. The greatest issues with a child is huge Sensory Issues, Lack of Social Awareness and limited communication. Our AD (5) is labeled PDD-NOS. Her behaviors are severe. She does receive In home Intensive Behavioral treatment, she has a home health aide (she requires one-on-one supervision at all times), she attends a special Ed. kindergarten, has an IEP, she has a County Disability worker and takes multiple medications (due to her behaviors). She has been deemed Disabled by the state and she is low functioning therefore will require life long care. She has been with us since her birth at 24 week gestation premature birth and profound drug exposure. Some of her developmental disabilities are due to that but around age 2 we were seeing signs of autism and she was tested twice and given the PDD-NOS diagnosis. Understand these children are hign needs and you will spend almost every waking hour of thier day assisting them, teaching them, correcting them and fighting for them and what they are entitled to. Is it draining? Yes, if you let it be. I changed my whole outlook after knowing this was MY lifelong committment to her. You have to have a strong mind to relate to the limited world they live in. Do I absolutely adore her...YES! Do her behaviors drive me absolutely bonkers....YES!! But you will not meet another child like her...she is so unique, so needy but so incredible. Good luck in your journey. It would be beautiful to consider adopting a child with Autism. Just make sure you have the resources in your county/state to provide him/her the services they will so desperatley need. Best Wishes.

I think it depends on your parenting style, actually. I don't really pay for anything except the "normal things" like swim lessons and activities. I do pay part of my son's daycare, thought county allows me to use some funds that normally pay for therapy for daycare (since it is mainstreaming). I am considering adding some massage therapy to his regime for gastro reason, and I'd have to pay for that. That $60,000 figure is folks using in home services that aren't covered by insurance. For instance I know someone who has a ABA tutor come in for 4 hours everyday after school. My approach is more along the lines of Floortime/DIR and RDI. We just live life and that's his therapy. It works well for my son who is on the "severely impacted" side of classic autism. He does get OT and ST. I strongly encourage you to get to know some autistic people prior to adopting a child with autism. There have been great foster parents that weren't able to handly my little guy's quirks for even a weekend....and he didn't even bite them! Contact your local Autism Society or ARC or even your area's separate setting school---these groups are always looking for volunteers. Normal day....I'm not sure that we have normal days. My son also has some brain damage and PTSD, so with the scatter skills, every day has the potential to be an on day or an off day. On days, he's my little giggle monster. Bright, happy, so eager to please---tries so hard. Oh, I forgot he is non verbal. On bad days, well Spawn comes to visit. Head butts, screams, bites, pinches, yanks handfulls of hair out of my head, scratches, spits etc. But he is the joy of my life :)

I am autistic and would love to answer any questions you have. You can PM me.

Since you posted back in Jan you may or may not have adopted yet, I hope either way I can help with some of your questions. Autism ranges from high to low functioning, & depending on the age of the child at adoption you may not know for years to see what that particular childs issues will be. We have adopted 3 children with special needs, and have an 18 yr old boy with Down Syndrome, a 9 yr old girl with autism & fetal alcohol syndrome and an 8 yr old boy with autism who is much more severe than our daughter. Our daughter came to us as a foster child at 2 days old, long story short at 2yrs old we finalized on her adoption. She showed signs like lack of eye contact, not wanting to be cuddled & so on & was diagnosed shortly after her 2nd birthday with PPD. She qualified for adoption subsidy, it started with the basic rate and is now at the exceptional rate, ea. state has different rates. Hers is around $1800 a month here in NY. There will always be something they need for their sensory & educational needs, but the subsidy helps with that a great deal. If you adopt privately most states don't offer subsidy. I would chk into that first so you have some additional income to help raise the child. I'm 57 now and my wife is 46, I don't know if we could have done it as young as you both are. It's a challenge to say the least. Some children are flight risks and will run off from you, others have no fear of anything and it's a constant policing of their activities, others are higher functioning and have quirks, but the school system is the worst thing of all, they want to do things their way, sometimes make bad decisions concerning your kid. Most autistic kids have "meltdowns" and cannot handle certain situations, colors, sounds, smells, textures. My daughter at 2-4 would scream every time we'd go to a store and stop the stroller, turn a corner, anything you didn't expect, she did it. I remember pulling into the bank, driving up to the outside ATM and it had a red wall. She looked panic strickened and screamed everytime. Long story, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. I would research autism for at least 3 mos. before adopting, seek adoptive parents, forums etc doctors, psychologists, anything you can so when the :evilgrin: hits the fan, you are somewhat prepared for the splatter:flower: