Missouri resident Jessica Mantonya can’t leave her 5-year-old son, Aiden, with baby sitters because if they were to hurt him, he wouldn’t be able to tell her what happened. Mantonya’s son has autism.
It is a neurological disorder that one in 52 boys and one in 82 children in Missouri face according to a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
No cure for austim has been found, but applied behavior analysis therapy has been shown to improve functioning later in life, according to MU’s Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders. It is recommended that children spend 25 to 40 hours a week in the therapy, which costs thousands of dollars.
In Missouri, health insurance doesn’t cover it.
That may soon change if the Missouri General Assembly passes legislation that mandates health insurance companies cover autism.
Mantonya lives in Lincoln and used to work in downtown Boonville. She said the key to treating autism is early intervention, something she said Aiden has received more of than many other children.
A bill that would mandate that insurance companies pay up to $36,000 yearly for autism therapy has been passed in the House, so the two legislative branches must now reconcile their bills.
