Lily Bean's Autism Therapy
Donation protected
Hello, and thank you so much for visiting.
We are Tom and Rachel Baker and our daughter is Lily Bean. Lily was born here in Minnesota in 2007, and is now seven years old.
When Lily was three, it became apparent that something wasn't right. Instead of talking, Lily was withdrawn and quiet. Any sort of verbal expression was mostly continuously repeating snippets of dialogue she'd already heard. This is also known as echolalia -a term we would ultimately become very familiar with. Lily also had a very hard time with certain sounds. For example, she would having incredibly long and violent meltdowns if a baby was near her and especially if they were crying. We would literally drop whatever we were doing and evacuate. Additionally, while she had hit her early developmental milestones, she seemed to have plateaued and wasn't continuing to achieve them. After taking her to specialists for hearing, speech and occupational therapy plus going through a barrage of psychological and social assessments, we were told that she could be on the autism spectrum. It took another two years to obtain the documentation and medical diagnosis required from the state of Minnesota to enroll Lily in a school that could meet her needs. By this point, she had missed out on a critical period of development, and it was necessary for her to receive full time, one-to-one therapy to give her the life skills she needs. Little did we know how difficult a road this would be for our family to travel. But we have come a long way and Lily is a great little girl.
It's June and Lily is now on the cusp of her third year at the Center. Her therapists and doctors are pleased with her progress and are hopeful that with continued therapy, Lily may be able to integrate into public school and lead a happy and healthy of life. Rachel and I have everything to be thankful for: we have a beautiful girl who is sweet, loving, and full of joy. We are both employed full time, and we work hard to make ends meet and take care of Lily. We are grateful that there is so much hope for Lily's future. Without her current program at the MN Autism Center, Lily's would quickly regress back to where she was three years ago: uncommunicative, withdrawn and struggling to function in society.
Despite the fact that we have private health insurance, in order for her to attend MAC, Lily has to have Medical Assistance through the state. Per the MN Department of Human Resources: Medical Assistance-TEFRA (MA-TEFRA) is for children with disabilities whose parents have too much income to qualify for other Minnesota Health Care Programs or who qualify but the cost would be too high. The amount we are required to pay for this assistance is based on our gross annual income which does not take into account any of our day to day expenses (bills, groceries, mortgage, etc). Despite the fact that legislation was passed in an attempt to decrease the parental fees for TEFRA, ours increased. Not to mention we frequently have to make special purchases for Lily to help to her with her sensory issues that wouldn't be usual for most households (for example certain types of clothing or shoes). These items tend to be a little bit more expensive making it very difficult to budget, let a lone be prepared for an emergency.
To that end we are requesting any donation you can find it in your hearts to give. The amount we’re hoping to raise will be for Lily to attend the MN Autism Center for two more years. Anything raised beyond that would be used to pursue extracurricular activities that Lily hasn’t been able to participate in due to our financial status. She shows interst and talent for both dancing and music. Thank you so much for your love and generosity. We are very grateful for anything you can give.
Please visit Lily's facebook page at:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lily-Bean/408356596003449
Link to an article about the Minnesota Autism Center in Eden Prairie.
http://southwestmetromag.com/minnesota-autism-center-eden-prairie
An interview with Rachel from a local bloger about Lily.
http://www.yesandyes.org/2013/08/true-story-my-daughters-autistic.html
Lily's favorite place to go is Valleyfair. We like to use Valleyfair in line with her therapy. Teaching her how to wait patiently in lines, tolerate crowds, handle loud noises, and even cope with being in the proximity of an infant or toddler.
This is a video taken in North East Minneapolis at Grumpy's where a benefit show was taking place for St. Jude's Childrens Hospital. Lily got to perform on stage with Alicia Corbett who was so kind to have her up on stage to sing with her.
Prior to attending the Minnesota Autism Center Lily would not have been able to deal with the crowd or the noise, but since has now taken a liking to being on a stage and performing in front of people.
Lily would like to thank everyone for donating, liking and sharing her facebook page, and for helping her stay at the Minnesota Autism Center.
We are Tom and Rachel Baker and our daughter is Lily Bean. Lily was born here in Minnesota in 2007, and is now seven years old.
When Lily was three, it became apparent that something wasn't right. Instead of talking, Lily was withdrawn and quiet. Any sort of verbal expression was mostly continuously repeating snippets of dialogue she'd already heard. This is also known as echolalia -a term we would ultimately become very familiar with. Lily also had a very hard time with certain sounds. For example, she would having incredibly long and violent meltdowns if a baby was near her and especially if they were crying. We would literally drop whatever we were doing and evacuate. Additionally, while she had hit her early developmental milestones, she seemed to have plateaued and wasn't continuing to achieve them. After taking her to specialists for hearing, speech and occupational therapy plus going through a barrage of psychological and social assessments, we were told that she could be on the autism spectrum. It took another two years to obtain the documentation and medical diagnosis required from the state of Minnesota to enroll Lily in a school that could meet her needs. By this point, she had missed out on a critical period of development, and it was necessary for her to receive full time, one-to-one therapy to give her the life skills she needs. Little did we know how difficult a road this would be for our family to travel. But we have come a long way and Lily is a great little girl.
It's June and Lily is now on the cusp of her third year at the Center. Her therapists and doctors are pleased with her progress and are hopeful that with continued therapy, Lily may be able to integrate into public school and lead a happy and healthy of life. Rachel and I have everything to be thankful for: we have a beautiful girl who is sweet, loving, and full of joy. We are both employed full time, and we work hard to make ends meet and take care of Lily. We are grateful that there is so much hope for Lily's future. Without her current program at the MN Autism Center, Lily's would quickly regress back to where she was three years ago: uncommunicative, withdrawn and struggling to function in society.
Despite the fact that we have private health insurance, in order for her to attend MAC, Lily has to have Medical Assistance through the state. Per the MN Department of Human Resources: Medical Assistance-TEFRA (MA-TEFRA) is for children with disabilities whose parents have too much income to qualify for other Minnesota Health Care Programs or who qualify but the cost would be too high. The amount we are required to pay for this assistance is based on our gross annual income which does not take into account any of our day to day expenses (bills, groceries, mortgage, etc). Despite the fact that legislation was passed in an attempt to decrease the parental fees for TEFRA, ours increased. Not to mention we frequently have to make special purchases for Lily to help to her with her sensory issues that wouldn't be usual for most households (for example certain types of clothing or shoes). These items tend to be a little bit more expensive making it very difficult to budget, let a lone be prepared for an emergency.
To that end we are requesting any donation you can find it in your hearts to give. The amount we’re hoping to raise will be for Lily to attend the MN Autism Center for two more years. Anything raised beyond that would be used to pursue extracurricular activities that Lily hasn’t been able to participate in due to our financial status. She shows interst and talent for both dancing and music. Thank you so much for your love and generosity. We are very grateful for anything you can give.
Please visit Lily's facebook page at:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lily-Bean/408356596003449
Link to an article about the Minnesota Autism Center in Eden Prairie.
http://southwestmetromag.com/minnesota-autism-center-eden-prairie
An interview with Rachel from a local bloger about Lily.
http://www.yesandyes.org/2013/08/true-story-my-daughters-autistic.html
Lily's favorite place to go is Valleyfair. We like to use Valleyfair in line with her therapy. Teaching her how to wait patiently in lines, tolerate crowds, handle loud noises, and even cope with being in the proximity of an infant or toddler.
This is a video taken in North East Minneapolis at Grumpy's where a benefit show was taking place for St. Jude's Childrens Hospital. Lily got to perform on stage with Alicia Corbett who was so kind to have her up on stage to sing with her.
Prior to attending the Minnesota Autism Center Lily would not have been able to deal with the crowd or the noise, but since has now taken a liking to being on a stage and performing in front of people.
Lily would like to thank everyone for donating, liking and sharing her facebook page, and for helping her stay at the Minnesota Autism Center.
Organizer
Thomas Baker
Organizer
Mound, MN