Meet Amara!

Amara has graced us all with her vibrant personality and contagious smile. We always knew there was something very special with our beautiful girl. Just after she turned two, Amara’s speech stopped improving. Although very expressive, there was a noticeable plateau in her ability to communicate. As time passed, a few quirky characteristics were noted that peaked suspicion. Amara has marked impairments in multiple areas of her development. She experiences delays in several areas of adaptive functioning, including: socialization, communication and learning skills. After deciding not to wait 2 years on the CHEO wait list, we sought a private assessment that determined Amara is in fact on the spectrum. She was diagnosed with Level 2 Autism.

Amara requires input by a number of specialists including: speech language pathologist, occupational therapist, nutritionist, life skills expert, behaviour analyst, psychologists and medical specialists with expertise is ASD. These therapies will vary in intensity throughout her life. This therapy is extremely costly, and is unfortunately only very minimally covered by insurance. Given her level of need Amara requires substantial support throughout her day in order to manage daily expectations and independent behaviour.

At this time the psychologist and speech therapy are partially covered with insurance, but these funds are quickly exhausted with the number of hours required to help Amara. Occupational therapy is, unfortunately, not covered by insurance and costs $150/ hour.

Amara requires Applied Behaviour Analysis intervention. This is a scientific approach to understanding and teaching socially significant behaviours. ABA is aimed at supporting her development in communication, socialization, daily living skills, play, motor, and behavioural domains. These ABA sessions last 3.5 hours ($250 per session). Amara has received a recommendation of 5-6 sessions per week (approximately $1250 per week). Depending how many sessions we choose, insurance will only cover approximately 1-2 months of therapy.

These are numbers that, of course, cause a tremendous amount of stress. ABA therapy is extremely helpful and will be a long-term intervention option for her. Unfortunately, government funding has been said to take year(s) to receive and will not cover all costs. The younger the child, the higher probability for success; therefore, we must begin now.

We are kindly reaching out to ask family and friends if you are able to help Amara. You can help by sharing our GoFundMe Page or by donating to help Amara receive the best intervention possible.

Why fit in when you were born to stand out? -Dr Zeus