More South Dakota parents raise awareness as children go without autism treatments

Patrick Anderson
Argus Leader
Nikole Trull, 4, plays around her living room in Sioux Falls, S.D., Friday, Feb. 1, 2019. The Trull family lost coverage of Nikole's ABA therapy this year due to a loophole for small-group and individual plans.

South Dakota families hope to raise awareness this month as their children go without much-needed autism treatments.

Parents tried to close a loophole for insurance companies this year when some Sanford Health and Avera Health-based plans pulled coverage for children who depended on an intensive form of autism treatment called applied behavior analysis therapy.

A last-minute legislative push failed. Advocacy by parents has spilled over into April, Autism Awareness Month.

Sioux Falls families organized an event to bring together city and state decision makers to learn more about autism. The Autism Awareness in April and Always event is scheduled for 6-8 p.m. April 30 at Augustana University’s Froiland Science Complex, 2001 S. Summit Ave.

Related:After losing autism treatments, 3 moms create nonprofit to help families

Reps. Ryan Cwach and Jean Hunhoff are set to speak at the event about the state’s needs for providing treatment to children with autism.

The insurance arms of Sanford and Avera started telling families late last year that they would no longer cover ABA therapy for individual and small group plans. Parents view ABA as one of the most effective ways of improving language and comprehension skills in children with autism.

The therapy is costly and involves as much as 30 to 40 hours of treatment a week.

The upcoming event at Augustana isn't the only response from families affected by the change to insurance plans.

Earlier this month, a group of mothers in the Watertown and Brookings area announced they were forming Spectrum 605, a nonprofit dedicated to providing mentoring and support to families who lost ABA therapy this year and to other families with a child with autism.