You find the therapist and we will pay them.

Sigh.

So I found out that DR. Kimberly Ray possibly shut her practice down b/c her husband (who also practiced with her) passed away earlier this year. I'm sorry for her loss. I wish TRicare would have been doing their jobs and checking up on the providers to be sure that there is someone in every area to offer these services to kids with autism b/c I know that Jayden is not the only autistic child in MS with Tricare insurance. So I called the case worker and she finally called me back today and said "We were not aware that Dr. Kimberly Ray is no longer in practice. What you can do is go to this website and see if you can find a BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst) in the area who would be willing to add their name to our provider list. Otherwise, the closest provider on our list is Monroe, LA."

First of all, Monroe is an hour and a half drive from here. You can't expect a typical 2 yr old to ride for that long and then be expected to sit through extensive therapy. Second of all, it's YOUR job to find providers for the list. I just don't get it. It's amazing how the health care field just does not take developmental delays seriously. This will affect him in the future if he doesn't have the therapy he needs. It's already affecting our family life. I wish these people would begin to put themselves in our shoes. There is ONE lady out here in MS who has been helping me with this fight and she has a daughter with Downs Syndrome, so she knows better than I do how hard this can be. But of course, I won't let this road block stop me. I've already sent emails out to 3 BCBAs in the area. They are out here, they just don't want to deal with TRicare and I can't say that I blame them. My hope is that one of them will be willing to get on the provider list though. The ECHO program is only for active members in the military and there are not many here in teh Jackson area, so it's not like they will be bombarded with claims. I hope someone steps up.

We do have a back up plan though. Jayden's developmental pediatrician faxed over his evaluation and his diagnosis to Early Itervention. There is a Board Ceryified ASSISTANT Behavior Analyst who works through EI and she does behavioral therapy for any child that needs it, but autistic children are priority. She was full 2 weeks ago when I spoke to EI about the therapy but she was able to make room to get Jayden his therapy. He has an evaluation on Friday and hopefully therapy will start on the following week and it is covered through EI. I've learned not to get relieved so soon when I think things are finally working out b/c when they don't I get very upset, so we'll have to wait and see how everything goes on Friday...