Anyone get services/therapy for Pica?

[Guest guest]

Hi there! I'm Serena and I've got a 2 1/2 year old who is autistic, non verbal

and has Pica. Our insurance (Garland ISD's self funded piece of junk) claims

that they cover Pica because it is a medical diagnosis, but when I ask them WHO

to take to in order to get treated, they shrug their shoulders. I've

asked our SLP with ECI, our private O/T, our private P/T, the awesome folks over

at Callier and the pediatrician, and everyone's stumped as to who would actually

do any sort of therapy with regards to 's Pica. I was really hoping it

would get better as he got older and put things in his mouth less often, but

it's actually gotten much worse in the past few months, and it's time to seek

out help.

So.......what I can find online is that treatment would be behavioral in nature

(which makes sense to me), but I need to know if they're talking about a BCBA or

another therapist. Anyone with a kiddo with Pica actually have it treated

behaviorally? And if so, who did you use? I'm in the Dallas area, and I'm

willing to travel.

Oh, and while I've got the subject of Pica on the table, can anyone recommend

extra ammo that I might need when fighting to get a personal aide of

some sort once he starts PPCD this fall? With the Pica, there's NO WAY it'll be

safe for him to be in a situation where he's not one on one. I've already had to

call poison control a couple of times because of the things he's eaten, and I'm

very careful with him. He needs to be safe in PPCD, and the pediatrician is

happy to write a letter stating that he'll need to be in a one on one situation.

Is there anyone else who I should go to in order to verify this need? Any chance

anyone else on this list is in the Garland ISD and has been successful getting

one on one care during PPCD?

Thanks so much!

Serena

[Guest guest]

Since you will be getting him treated for the pica, ask the therapist or BCBA to write a formal letter stating that this is what is necessary.  Ask that the letter be included in your child's permanent school file.  Keep a copy of the letter in your home educational notebook.

if your child has a DAN! physician, I'm sure they might be able to help and would also write the letter --actually usually with the doctor, they have you write the letter and then they will put it on their letterhead and sign it.

With Pica I am sure they might want to do some testing to see if any deficiencies are to blame.  That might be a good place to start.