VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A new report is offering hope for military families with kids with autism.
Kristina Johnson's family is one such family. Her husband is in the Navy. They live in Virginia Beach. News 3 met Johnson as she was taking her three-year-old daughter, Sophia, to receive applied behavior analysis services.
Applied behavior analysis, or ABA, is a type of therapy for people with autism.
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It helps Sophia identify things and communicate her wants and needs. But the therapy isn’t easy to come by for military families.
“I think it’s definitely stressful," Johnson said about the struggle to get her daughter the service.
TRICARE, the military's health insurance provider, doesn’t offer ABA as a basic service like many civilian insurance providers do. That means military families have more steps to go through to get the services.
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A frustrating hurdle for families, knowing how beneficial the services can be.
“Ever since she’s started, she’s grown and hit milestones that I know if she were not here I would be, like, ‘What am I supposed to do about this?’" Johnson said.
In September, the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine released a report on the study the organization did of the military health care system’s current process for providing the services.
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One goal of the study was to determine if TRICARE should offer ABA as a basic service. According to the report, the answer is yes.
Johnson is excited.
“I grew up with a nephew and a brother who are on the spectrum and saw how my parents kind of struggled with that," Johnson explained.
The report also recommends ways to improve ABA policy, implementation, and oversight.
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“It’s a fantastic step. It’s a huge step in the right direction," National Coalition for Access to Autism Services representative Julie Kornack.
The NCAAS is a national advocacy organization. Kornack also works for the Center for Autism and Related Disorders.
“a I’m hopeful that the Congressional Autism Caucus and the many members of that do see this report and decide that they can put some pressure on the Department of Defense or take other action," Kornack said.
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In the meantime, Johnson has this message for families considering ABA.
“It is going to be hard, because there are some days where you’re not going to have to want to go and your child isn’t going to want to go. But, I think pouring that investment into your child is the best love that you can try to get," Johnson said.
