Scott,

We were at Ft Bragg for 4yrs until we were assigned to recruiting in
March. We had our son in ABA and we were using ECHO.. at the time she
did not have workers and she did the therapy herself. Now she is
qualified for ECHO and the DEMO project..After leaving Bragg we
realized how lucky we were to be at the base. We lived on post so he
could attend the DODDS school district and we had no problems what so
ever. Medical wise Womack had everything we needed for him. There is
a Dev. Ped on staff and their EDIS program is awesome also... We are
now applying for a reassignment thru recruiting to go back to the
area since where we are there are no services available.

Also we are Army.

Melissa













--- In militaryfamiliesautismsupport@yahoogroups.com, "Campbell,
Scott A LTC MIL USA ATEC" <scott.alan.campbell@...> wrote:
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> Folks, we got info today that the top six Army locations for
dependents
> with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are (in order from the
highest
> number): Foot Hood, Fort Bragg, Fort Campbell, Fort Lewis, Hawaii
and
> then the National Capital Region (Northern VA, DC and Southern MD).
> These six location account for almost 50% of the dependents with an
ASD
> who are enrolled in the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP),
and we
> know that a significant number are not enrolled in EFMP.
>
> My question is: Who from any of these locations is currently
getting ABA
> therapy paid for by TRICARE under the Extended Care Health Option
(ECHO)
> Program or under the ABA Demo program? If you are, which program?
I
> would to get a total from all six locations of how many Army-only
> dependents with an ASD are getting ABA therapy under either of these
> programs. Sorry to the Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast
Guard;
> but I only want responses from Army families or their ABA provider
by
> Friday, 19 December. I will try to send out the totals before the
> holidays. Please CALL me if you have any questions. Thanks very
much!
> Scott
>
> Office 703 681-9426
> Home 703 241-2640
>
> 1. The Organization for Autism Research e-newsletter for
> October/November 2008 is at
>
http://www.researchautism.org/resources/newsletters/2008/October_2008.
as
> p. It is specifically for military families with individuals with
an
> autism spectrum disorder.
>
> 2. "DOD and CDC: Studies Suggest a Possible Link Between Multiple
> Vaccines and Injury" dated 2 December 2008 by David Kirby from the
Age
> of Autism blog at
> http://www.ageofautism.com/2008/12/dod-and-cdc-stu.html#more and at
> http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/12/03/autism-linked-to-vaccines.
>
> "It looks like the CDC may have missed a memo to itself on vaccine
> safety. One very contentious issue in the vaccine-autism debate has
> been whether a certain subset of genetically susceptible children is
> unequipped to handle the early and intensive US immunization
schedule -
> including kids like Hannah Poling, who developed autism after
receiving
> nine vaccines at once. The theory is that some people with abnormal
> immune or metabolic systems might become overtaxed by the fever,
> inflammation and/or other stresses sometimes caused by multiple
> vaccines. Many doctors and scientists scoff at the notion that
someone
> could be injured by getting too many shots at once. They say that
people
> of all ages, including babies, can handle multiple exposures at any
> given moment. For example, the CDC's website says that simultaneous
> multiple immunizations are safe for children with "normal" immune
> systems. And Dr. Paul Offit, a prominent pediatrician and wealthy
> vaccine co-inventor, says that kids can handle simultaneous
exposure to
> the antigens contained in 100,000 vaccines - without any harm
coming to
> them. So, the CDC says that multiple vaccines are safe for
everyone (at
> least in infants). But now, we learn that a collaborative program
> between the CDC and the Department of Defense says that multiple
> vaccines may not be safe for everyone (at least in adults being
> inoculated for military service). "We have preliminary findings
from
> one of our many on-going research studies that suggest a
relationship
> between adverse events and multiple vaccinations exist. These
findings
> will require validation, but heighten our concern for the current
> clinical practice of multiple vaccinations." That rather remarkable
> statement came from US Army Colonel Renata J. M. Engler, MD,
director of
> the Vaccine Healthcare Centers Network (VHCN) a "collaborative
network"
> of the Defense Department - and the CDC. She went on to say
this: "The
> more drugs one is exposed to, the greater the likelihood of having
an
> adverse event so as vaccine numbers increase, and (sic) we will see
more
> people who have efficacy or safety issues." ..."
>
> 3. "The Pentagon -- A Voice of Reason on Vaccines and Autism?
> <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/the-pentagon---a-voice-
of_b_1
> 48490.html> " dated 4 December 2008 by David Kirby from The
Huffington
> Post blog at
> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/the-pentagon---a-voice-
of_b_14
> 8490.html.
>
> "When it comes to fighting autism, maybe we should send in the Army.
> Autism and the military have a deep history together. Children of
> service members are reportedly almost twice as likely
> <http://www.ageofautism.com/2008/07/autism-in-the-m.html> to have
> autism (1-in-88) than those in the general population (1-in-150).
> Meanwhile, the Department of Defense quietly spends millions in
taxpayer
> dollars researching the possible causes of autism at
> far-from-the-spotlight centers around the country. Recently,
several
> documents have been brought to my attention which, when viewed
together,
> suggest that the Department of Defense has legitimate concerns about
> vaccine injuries and their possible connection to autism, perhaps
more
> so than other branches of the Federal Government. These documents
raise
> several questions that I am currently trying to get answered from
DOD
> officials:
> 1) Autism may be an "adverse event" of Tripedia (DTaP) use.
According
> to the website of the Vaccine Healthcare Centers Network, run by
DOD and
> CDC, autism is listed as an "adverse event"
> <http://www.vhcinfo.org/subpage.asp?page=vaccines/vaccine_dtap>
> associated with use of the Tripedia triple vaccine for diphtheria,
> tetanus and pertussis. My questions are: Why does autism appear
here?
> Does VHC consider autism to be a possible adverse event of DTaP
use, or
> has it simply been reported that way by parents?
> 2) Patients who have bad vaccine reactions should avoid multiple
> vaccines in the future. According to this VHC slide
> <http://www.vhcinfo.org/Vaccination/SE13.htm> , any patient who has
a
> "Systemic Event" following immunization - defined as "symptoms and
signs
> of illness after vaccination" and "any reaction that does not
involve
> the injection site" - should avoid multiple vaccines in the future,
if
> possible. My questions are: Is that standard DOD policy? Is there
an
> alternative schedule for these patients? Does this advice apply to
> children of service members as well? Why is this information not
shared
> with civilian doctors and pediatricians? ..."
>
> 4. "Study shows families' financial strain from autism" dated 30
> November 2008 from the Associated Press at
>
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/11/30/20081130autismcosts.
ht
> ml and http://www.news8.net/news/stories/1208/574049.html.
>
> "More than half a million U.S. children have autism with costly
health
> care needs that often put an unprecedented financial strain on their
> families, national data show. Compared with parents whose youngsters
> have chronic health care needs but not autism, those with autistic
> children are three times more likely to have to quit their jobs or
> reduce work hours to care for their kids. They pay more for their
kids'
> health needs, spend more time providing or arranging for that care,
and
> are more likely to have money difficulties, the study found. "This
is
> the first national survey that looked at the impact on families of
> having kids with special health care needs," said lead author
Michael
> Kogan, a researcher with the government's Maternal and Child Health
> Bureau. The results are from a nationally representative 2005-06
survey
> of nearly 40,000 children with special health care needs. These
children
> have a broad range of chronic conditions, including physical and
mental
> illness, requiring more extensive than usual medical care. A total
of
> 2,088 children with special health needs had autism, which
translates to
> about 535,000 kids aged 3 to 17 nationwide, the study authors
said. The
> study appears in December's Pediatrics, being released Monday.
Autism
> typically involves poor verbal communication, repetitive behaviors
such
> as head-banging, and avoidance of physical or eye contact. Affected
> children often need many more types of treatment than kids with
other
> chronic conditions, including speech and behavior therapy and
sometimes
> medication. Kogan said that may explain the disproportionate strain
on
> their families. Jacquie Mace, whose 12-year-old son, Austin, has
> autism, said the study presents a "very realistic" picture of the
> challenges affected families face. Mace said she spends "easily
$15,000
> to $20,000 out of pocket" yearly on supplies for behavior treatment
she
> provides for her son. She's still working to pay off a $7,000 bill
for
> dental work Austin had last year. He has to be sedated and
hospitalized
> for dental care because he can't sit still in a chair, Mace
explained.
> Austin's health insurance doesn't cover any of it, she said. Some
> states require insurers to cover certain autism treatment while
similar
> proposed measures are pending in others, including Illinois. Mace
> hasn't had to quit her job helping local families find autism
resources,
> but knows of many parents who've had to leave work to care for their
> autistic kids. She is divorced - another common casualty, she
said, of
> the challenges of caring for autistic kids."
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>