Their Story
My name is Tracey, I’m 51 and the mother of Colton who is 10.
Colton has level 3 nonverbal autism. He has the diagnosis’s of SPD, PICA, ARFID, MERLD, self injurious behavior, abnormal gait, scoliosis, severe anxiety, asthma, hypotonia, chronic constipation and feeding difficulties. My child did not chew until he was 5 years old. I feel it’s important to note that Colton is still on a baby bottle and can only take puréed baby foods. He is on Boost 1.5 formula to maintain weight and it is his sole source of nutrition.
We are currently on the HCB waiver utilizing the PDS option after failing to find a caregiver under traditional services.
Currently the only services that Colton receives is speech therapy through a home health agency. We need Occupational Therapy and physical therapy services but cannot find a provider. My son was on the waiting lists for ABA through several providers but was never allocated a spot. We were advised at age 8 that my son has aged out ABA services. We have also never been able to obtain feeding therapy unless we were willing to travel out of state several times a week.
As of today we are on the MP waiting list, close to the top of the list. In which we hope to finally obtain behavioral support services.
The cuts to Medicaid have me worried that my son will lose his current therapy and we will be unable to obtain any therapy in the future. We could potentially lose our DME provider that provides his Boost Kids 1.5 formula due to provider cuts. But most importantly, I’m an aging parent. If these cuts continue and something happens to me my son will have absolutely nowhere to go and no waiver to obtain housing other than an institution.
Please reconsider the cuts to Medicaid. Families lives truly do depend upon this.
Thank you. Tracey Nickles for Colton Hammonds