Parent pushes for funding for autism services
6:34 p.m. Thursday, September 20, 2007
The first year of her life, Mike Wasmer's daughter Kate developed normally.
"At one year of age she had three words. She was saying mommy, daddy, and kitty,” Wasmer said.
Right after her first birthday, her parents noticed a drastic change.
“She started losing her speech. She was limited to just saying kitty, everything was kitty. She would look at me. I was kitty She would look at my wife, she was kitty. And then she lost that altogether,” Wasmer explained.
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Information about autism is available from www.kscoalitionforautism.org.
Her behavior changed, too.
"Anything out of the ordinary would send her into a major tantrum,” Wasmer told us.
A pediatrician said she was a slow learner. After months of waiting, and checking with two other doctors, Kate was diagnosed with autism. She was 2 years old.
After Kate's diagnosis, the state would only pay for eight hours a week of therapy, much less than the recommended 25 hours of intensive training.
The Wasmer's paid for extra help.
“Her private therapy cost us approximately $35,000 a year,” Wasmer said.
But Mike says his family was lucky. They could afford it. Many can't and are desperate.
“The most difficult thing as a parent is a sense of isolation,” Wasmer said.
That's why Mike is urging the state to approve more funding, more services and more outreach for families like his.
November is the deadline for the task force to turn its recommendations in to the state, and, as for Mike’s daughter Kate, she's in third grade, doing well academically, but still needs help socially.
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