Military families with special needs children

allnurses Guide · May 1, 2009

I am interested in the experiences of any military families (medical or nonmedical) with special need children related to health care services provided, accessibility of programs, education, or anything else. I am considering a career in advanced practice nursing in the AF or Navy and have an autistic child. I want to know how the services/coverage provided by Tricare compares with those available in the civilian world. Also, how do you view the effect of military life on your child/children. Any input is appreciated!
Thanks!

In general I have found that the care we have received for our one daughter in the military far exceeds what we got on the outside. For example: There is no qualms/no arguments with insurance companies in sending your child to a specialist. There is never really any thought of money when your child needs something.....now there is still the normal red tape, but overall I think the military is great place to have special needs child. I know several other military persons with special needs children and for all of us it is one of the major reasons we stay in the military.

There is a post by TraumaRus under I think AF life that gives a pretty good post on how children do in the military. In general this what we have found the younger the kids are the better/more fun they have with moves, but when they become teenagers the problems of leaving friends seem to outweigh any benefits of moving, at least to them.

I would recommend the AF or USPHS if you are worried about moving a lot. The time between CONUS PCS tours in the AF are now 4.5yrs and as far as I know you can potentially stay at one assignment as long as you want in USPHS.

I hope that helps!

PNP09 · May 1, 2009

Thanks, it does.

With autism we have basically had no coverage for any of the therapies that are critical for autistic children (Speech, OT, ABA). I pay out of pocket for anything that we do outside of the public school system. Our insurance company hasn't gotten on board with covering services for autistic children. Looking over Tricare, it seems that the military has programs available, I just wondered how easy they were to access and if there were exhaustive waiting lists.

Thanks for your input!

Unzie · May 1, 2009

I too have an autistic son. We adopted him from India. Not only did we recieve some finanical help from the USAF, but the care he recieved was top notch. We were stationed in Vir, Tex and Germany. While there, he recieved counseling, special needs schooling, meds, and of course attention to his medical needs. Other than our time taking him to appointments, it cost us nothing. I can't imagine the cost if we were not in the military. I am proud to say he will graduate high school this year (he is 20, but he did it) and has passed his driving test! I did need to get approval from the base we were going to in Germany before we could actually PCS there, but this was to ensure they had the proper facilities to meet his needs. Ramstein AB Germany was very large hospital and approval was no problem, but some of the smaller bases may not be able to support special needs and therefore may not allow you to PCS there. Jason has high functioning PDD-NOS so counseling was his biggest need (and still is) but because of his councelers he currently takes no meds and copes with the daily stresses of life 10,000 times better than we ever thought he would be able to! If i can be of further assistance please ask!

PNP09 · May 1, 2009

Thank you so much! That is wonderful that he is graduating, I pray for the same successes for my son. I hadn't considered that the base size might affect his services, but I guess it makes sense. I know that in the civilian world, more autism services are available in the larger cities as well. Do you have any information as to how difficult it is to utilize civilian providers if you are at a smaller base?

Unzie · May 1, 2009

If the base can not provide services for your son, Tricare will authorize you to go civ providers. (That's how we keep Jason in counsiling here in Fl.) Only problem with Tricare is: 1. you have a small co-pay if you have Tricare prime but you have to find an in-network provider: 2. Regular Tricare allows you to go anywhere you want but more of the cost is passed on to you. As with any insurance, we have found many poor providers but many good ones also. It's a hit and miss unless you know someone that has used the provider. It's bad enough riding the Autism rollercoster, but then add the insurance and provider rollercosters and it can seem overwhelming! Every time you PCS be prepaired to start from the begining. New providers want all new histories, new tests, new everything! That was the worst, starting over with Jason everytime we changed bases.