Dedicated to meeting your needs...

The title of the post is the first thing you see when you visit our insurance company's website. Oh, the irony. Emma's pediatric neuropsychologist Dr. V. works for the same umbrella group as the insurance company. It's all "one big team". Allegedly.

While Emmy's team of doctors have been absolutely fantastic -- compassionate, engaged, and dedicated to providing what Emma needs, the insurance company is doing the opposite.

Dr. V called the insurance company on Emma's behalf yesterday, and was also told that it was unlikely Emma would receive coverage for services until she is 2. So she wrote a letter: 

To Whom It May Concern;

I am the neuropsychologist who evaluated Emma Morgan (DOB: 11/6/2012), at the request of her neurologist because Dr. S. questioned autism. Emma has global cognitive delays, and she is being evaluated for a genetic disorder. She has a twin brother who has some developmental concerns, but there are clear differences in social development. At such a young age, what we look for regarding the early signs of autism is eye contact, joint attention, imitation, and interest in one's surroundings. Emma is not showing any eye contact. When held for feedings she will look up and make no reference to her mother. She does not look up or towards new people entering a room, coming home from work, or when her name is called. Emma shows no awareness of new environments or what is going on around her. She does not play with toys appropriately for her age (e.g., emptying container, putting back in, playing with cause and effect toys). Instead, Emma holds onto an object and just carries it around with her. She does not attempt to share the object with others and does not seek out others for play or enjoyment. Emma spends a long time just staring out one specific window, and she holds her body in a very atypical position for extended periods of time (head on metal plate, "V" position). While her brother also presents with global development delay, there is a very striking difference in social connectedness. Emma's cognitive delays cannot fully account for her social disconnection, as even young babies as early as 6 months of age return smiles, imitate expressions such as making "raspberries" and engage in eye contact (e.g., when holding a baby for feeding, they often look at mother/caretaker). The lack of eye contact has been found to predict the diagnosis of autism in as young as 12 month olds (barring no blindness or other visual acuity issue, which Emma does not present with).

I understand there is an age requirement for insurance approval. I hope that Emma's particular situation can be taken into consideration and an exception be made. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Dr. V., Ph.D., ABPP-CN
Pediatric Neuropsychologist

We hope we hear back from the Insurance company with a reversal of their ridiculous decision. For now we will leave them unnamed. 

We'll keep fighting.

K&A