+
upworthy
More

Family Shares Embarrassing Perm Photos To Help Autistic Son

When you go to the doctor, you want the latest, greatest treatment. If you have decent insurance, you expect them to cover something that's at least pretty good.

So you can imagine this mom's shock when her insurer told her that the only treatment options for her son, who has autism — treatments that had worked for him in the past — would not be covered based on scientific opinions popular in the 1970s.


Lots of children with autism benefit from applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy. For some, it's the only treatment that works. But many insurers don't cover it, citing research from an era before personal computers. Or Justin Timberlake. Or disposable contact lenses.

ABA, this miracle therapy, is crazy expensive. It can cost up to $50,000 per year. (But don't let sticker shock freak you out, retronauts — DollarTimes tells us that's only $8,088.43 in 1970's dollars.)

(Apparently smocking was a thing in the '70s.)

I learned about this because of a kid named Martin. Martin is a nice kid. He re-creates OK Go videos in Lego and could tell you everything you never wanted to know about every single U.S. president. He just has a bit of trouble with social situations. Sometimes more than a bit.

When he was 4, he did some intensive ABA therapy. It taught him how to talk. It taught him how to use the toilet. It helped him do all sorts of everyday things, from putting on clothes to trick-or-treating.

Years later, he needs some more intensive treatment. Social stuff is getting more complicated as he heads toward the hormonal toxic waste dump that is middle school. In his frustration, Martin began to act out. He threw fits. He started hitting his teachers and family members. His parents decided to see if they could get him back into ABA. It worked a miracle before, and although it was once controversial, it's now accepted as best practice for many people with autism. Martin's parents are well-insured. They both work for the University of Texas at Austin.

But their insurance won't cover the therapy that worked for him in the past. Rather than trust recent studies that show ABA's effectiveness, the insurers doubt the science and reflect skeptical attitudes about ABA from the 1970s.

You remember the 1970s, right? Back when polyester was in, disco was hopping, and gas was leaded?

Martin's mom, Dr. Jennifer Graber, got super pissed off. She's been fighting for him for a long time now, and she has had enough.

The law in Texas actually requires insurers to cover ABA, but UT is exempt. The reasons are complicated, but that's how our insurance system goes. Loopholes and fine print everywhere.

And you know what? Your insurance very well might not cover ABA either. Many states don't require it. You might not find out what you don't have until you desperately need it. Or your friend does. Or your grandkid.

According to Autism Speaks, many states have tried to pass legislation to require insurers to cover ABA. But even within states, like Texas, that have passed reform legislation, loopholes allow large institutions to avoid coverage. There are also several states where efforts to pass reform measures have not succeeded and others in which no reform legislation has been brought forward. There are thousands of children with autism in the U.S. with no affordable access to ABA therapy.


It's time to exit the 1970s. Martin's mom has started a petition to hassle the folks at UT about their retrograde policies, as well as a hilarious/depressing/hilarious Facebook page where people are sharing their reasons the 1970s were, as decades go, suboptimal. You can add your own awkward '70s photos and sign their petition.

I'd like to propose a bigger action. Check out the law related to insurance coverage of autism in your state and if it stinks, write your representatives. You might not have a person with autism in your life right now, but statistically, it's only a matter of time before this hits home.

UPDATE:

Good news! After Dr. Graber's petition got a bunch of signatures, the University of Texas announced that it will begin covering ABA therapy for children with autism in fall 2015! But there are unfortunately still many children with different insurance who don't have access.

True

Making new friends as an adult is challenging. While people crave meaningful IRL connections, it can be hard to know where to find them. But thanks to one Facebook Group, meeting your new best friends is easier than ever.

Founded in 2018, NYC Brunch Squad brings together hundreds of people who come as strangers and leave as friends through its in-person events.

“Witnessing the transformative impact our community has on the lives of our members is truly remarkable. We provide the essential support and connections needed to thrive amid the city's chaos,” shares Liza Rubin, the group’s founder.

Despite its name, the group doesn’t just do brunch. They also have book clubs, seasonal parties, and picnics, among other activities.

NYC Brunch Squad curates up to 10 monthly events tailored to the specific interests of its members. Liza handles all the details, taking into account different budgets and event sizes – all people have to do is show up.

“We have members who met at our events and became friends and went on to embark on international journeys to celebrate birthdays together. We have had members get married with bridesmaids by their sides who were women they first connected with at our events. We’ve had members decide to live together and become roommates,” Liza says.

Members also bond over their passion for giving back to their community. The group has hosted many impact-driven events, including a “Picnic with Purpose” to create self-care packages for homeless shelters and recently participated in the #SquadSpreadsJoy challenge. Each day, the 100 members participating receive random acts of kindness to complete. They can also share their stories on the group page to earn extra points. The member with the most points at the end wins a free seat at the group's Friendsgiving event.

Keep ReadingShow less
Education

3,700-year-old Babylonian stone tablet gets translated, changes history

They were doing trigonometry 1500 years before the Greeks.

via UNSW

Dr. Daniel Mansfield and his team at the University of New South Wales in Australia have just made an incredible discovery. While studying a 3,700-year-old tablet from the ancient civilization of Babylon, they found evidence that the Babylonians were doing something astounding: trigonometry!

Most historians have credited the Greeks with creating the study of triangles' sides and angles, but this tablet presents indisputable evidence that the Babylonians were using the technique 1,500 years before the Greeks ever were.

Keep ReadingShow less
Family

Dad takes 7-week paternity leave after his second child is born and is stunned by the results

"These past seven weeks really opened up my eyes on how the household has actually ran, and 110% of that is because of my wife."

@ustheremingtons/TikTok

There's a lot to be gleaned from this.

Participating in paternity leave offers fathers so much more than an opportunity to bond with their new kids. It also allows them to help around the house and take on domestic responsibilities that many new mothers have to face alone…while also tending to a newborn.

All in all, it enables couples to handle the daunting new chapter as a team, making it less stressful on both parties. Or at least equally stressful on both parties. Democracy!

TikTok creator and dad Caleb Remington, from the popular account @ustheremingtons, confesses that for baby number one, he wasn’t able to take a “single day of paternity leave.”

This time around, for baby number two, Remington had the privilege of taking seven weeks off (to be clear—his employer offered four weeks, and he used an additional three weeks of PTO).

The time off changed Remington’s entire outlook on parenting, and his insights are something all parents could probably use.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

Terrified, emaciated dog comes to life as volunteer sits with him for human connection

He tries making himself so small in the kennel until he realizes he's safe.

Terrified dog transforms after human sits with him.

There's something about dogs that makes people just want to cuddle them. They have some of the sweetest faces with big curious eyes that make them almost look cartoonish at times. But not all dogs get humans that want to snuggle up with them on cold nights; some dogs are neglected or abandoned. That's where animal shelters come in, and they work diligently to take care of any medical needs and find these animals loving homes.

Volunteers are essential to animal shelters running effectively to fill in the gaps employees may not have time for. Rocky Kanaka has been volunteering to sit with dogs to provide comfort. Recently he uploaded a video of an extremely emaciated Vizsla mix that was doing his best to make himself as small as possible in the corner of the kennel.

Kanaka immediately wanted to help him adjust so he would feel comfortable enough to eat and eventually get adopted. The dog appeared scared of his new location and had actually rubbed his nose raw from anxiety, but everything changed when Kanaka came along.

Keep ReadingShow less

Christine Kesteloo has one big problem living on a cruise ship.

A lot of folks would love to trade lives with Christine Kesteloo. Her husband is the Chief Engineer on a cruise ship, so she gets to live on the boat pretty much for free as the “wife on board.” For Christine, life is a lot like living on a permanent vacation.

“I live on a cruise ship for half the year with my husband, and it's often as glamorous as it sounds,” she told Insider. “After all, I don't cook, clean, make my bed, do laundry or pay for food.“

Living an all-inclusive lifestyle seems like paradise, but it has some drawbacks. Having access to all-you-can-eat food all day long can really have an effect on one’s waistline. Kesteloo admits that living on a cruise ship takes a lot of self-discipline because the temptation is always right under her nose.

Keep ReadingShow less
Health

Woman's felony charge for 'abuse of a corpse' sheds light on the realities of miscarriage

Let's start with the unspoken and uncomfortable fact that miscarriages at home usually happen in a toilet.

Woman's felony charge after miscarriage highlights need for education.

Content Warning: This story discusses pregnancy loss details that may be uncomfortable for some readers.

Losing a pregnancy is not something anyone can prepare for. There's no course you can take to tell you what to expect, how you'll feel or what to do after the miscarriage occurs. It's not something that's widely talked about, even in conversations about miscarriage.

About 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage in the first trimester and 1 in 5 in the second, according to the March of Dimes. Many women who reveal they've lost a pregnancy talk about how difficult it was emotionally, but they rarely talk about the lack of information from medical professionals or the details of the process of miscarrying. It makes sense because it's hard enough to discuss pregnancy loss, and to go into detail may be much worse on their mental health.

There also may be a level of shame attached to the process, partly because the topic of miscarriage is still taboo but also because many at-home miscarriages happen in the toilet. It's an uncomfortable truth that haunts people who have experienced the process. But the truth of the matter is, hospitals don't usually admit you for a miscarriage; they send you home with little to no instructions on what to do after it happens. So to people who have experienced the pain of a miscarriage at home, it makes sense that a woman in Ohio, currently on trial for "abuse of a corpse" would have no idea what to do after miscarrying.

Keep ReadingShow less
Education

Woman's wild story of surviving 14,500 ft skydive fall because of fire ants is a must read

It's usually a bad thing to land in a mound of fire ants at 80 mph. But not if you're Joan Murray.

Canva

Picture of a fire ant. Eek.

You have a 50% chance of surviving a fall of 48 feet, roughly equaling a 4-story building. The mortality rate rushes all the way up to 90% when you fall 84 feet, the distance of a 7-story building.

So if you’re falling from a whopping 14,500 feet, just over two-and-a-half miles, you can safely bet that you’re most definitely not getting out alive.

But one woman did. And that’s not even the wildest part of her story.
Keep ReadingShow less