HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -
Families of 23,000 military children with Autism fear treatment could be cut after next week.
One military mom contacted Hawaii News Now because she's concerned about losing services for her son.
5-year old Gabe Lee's ease doing exercises with his therapist, despite the presence of a news camera is a testament to his Autism treatment.
According to his mom Kristina, "He's a different boy. He would have just been doing his own thing. Tunnel vision into it."
She fears changes by Tricare, the military's health care program, will threaten his progress. Change always poses challenges for treatment, especially for military families dealing with deployments.
For Gabe, this chatterbox clammed up when his dad deployed. "When my husband returned from deployment" explains Lee "on the pier, he ran up and Daddy I missed you. He just talked a mile a minute."
Gabe starts a new school next week, the same time changes kick in for Applied Behavioral Analysis, or ABA therapy.
Starting July 25th, there will be standardized testing every six months. If benchmarks aren't met, services can be cut.
Another change? Waivers are needed every year to get ABA treatment longer than 2 years or past age 16.
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Military families fear cuts to Autism therapy