Will health care reform affect Medicaid?

Posted by Katy Beh Neas on August 18th, 2009

It came as no surprise to those of us here at Easter Seals to hear the very first question at President Obama’s health care town meeting in Montana last Friday. It came from a woman who has a son with autism — she is worried about her son’s health care.

I’m an MSU student. I have a son that suffers …Read More » »

Walk With Me TV appearance was “totally cool”

Posted by Bob Glowacki on June 24th, 2009

Last week Milwaukee Fox 6 TV featured an interview about our June 19 Walk With Me event.

The interview gave me an opportunity to spend some quality time with Stephanie Mayer and her son, Kyle. Kyle …Read More » »

Safeway earns Easter Seals’ All-Time Top Corporate Partner designation

Posted by Beth Finke on May 22nd, 2009

Easter Seals recently designated Safeway Inc. its All-Time Top Corporate Partner. Man oh man, do they deserve that honor!In their fundraising campaign during April (Autism Awareness Month), Safeway invited customers to support Easter Seals services for people with autism and other disabilities at checkout. In just one month, Safeway raised $8,824,141! Safeway employees also raised an additional …Read More » »

Keeping autism and other disability services a top priority

Posted by Beth Finke on May 18th, 2009

During his first months in office, President Obama has already signed the State Children’s Health Insurance bill (a top priority for Easter Seals) and designated funds in the economic stimulus package to go directly to programs that improve the lives of those with autism and other disabilities.

Easter Seals President and CEO Jim Williams visited the White House recently to personally …Read More » »

Adults have autism too: World Autism Awareness Day

Posted by Patricia Wright on April 2nd, 2009

Today is World Autism Awareness Day, and that gives me a chance to let you know about the autism services and treatments Easter Seals makes available to families living with autism. A number of wonderful organizations research and study the cause and cure for autism — Easter Seals stands out as the nation’s leading provider of services and support …Read More » »

Accessing stimulus funding if you’re not on public aid

Posted by Katy Beh Neas on March 12th, 2009

A comment to our post called The stimulus plan: what’s in it for people with autism? prompted me to write more on this issue, because it’s an impoirtant one. The person who commented asked whether parents can access economic recovery funds if their children do not receive Medicaid or Social Security benefits.

The details of how states are going to …Read More » »

Third time’s the charm: Extreme Makeover this Sunday

Posted by Beth Finke on March 5th, 2009

Remember our blog post last March about the Extreme Home Makeover show? Back then, actress Marlee Matlin had appeared on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to present a $50,000 college scholarship to Stefan Vardon. Stefan’s parents are both deaf and his younger brother has autism. Matlin is an amazing advocate for people with disabilities and is …Read More » »

What can we do? How Easter Seals North Texas responded to budget cut threat

Posted by Jennifer Friesen on February 25th, 2009

Easter Seals North Texas has an Autism Treatment Program (ATP) that is primarily funded through a $1.25 million grant contract with the Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services (DARS).

In 2008, we, along with three other service providers in Texas, received the funding to provide applied behavioral analysis (ABA) services to children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). …Read More » »

The stimulus plan: what’s in it for people with autism?

Posted by Beth Finke on February 23rd, 2009

Here’s an understatement for you: that stimulus package President Obama signed into law last week is huge. It’s a bit daunting, too. To help sort through all the changes, the Disability Policy Collaboration (The Arc of the United States, combined with United Cerebral Palsy) lists the amount of increased spending disability specific programs will receive from the time the …Read More » »

Autism bill likely to pass in Wisconsin

Posted by Bob Glowacki on February 12th, 2009

I’m so excited to share news from the great state of Wisconsin! We have a governor and legislature that will vote to cover autism through health insurance — it’s one of the first action items of the new legislature. The passage of this bill means that the current waiting list for autism treatment can be cut by one third. …Read More » »