Dear Governor Polis,

  I am a single mother of a 5 year old non-verbal autistic boy. His name is Aidyn. He is the most handsome, smart, funny and sweet little boy in the world. He requires substantial support and daily assistance. He is level 3 ASD. Meaning he may never speak and that he requires a lot of hands on care basically 24/7. He has been in his Autism center since he was 18 months old. I was extremely lucky to have a pediatrician that paid enough attention to the signs and realized that he may be autistic and assisted me to get him tested. I was fortunate to have caught this very early and tackled it almost immediately! From that moment forward, it has been a petrifying nightmare and there is NOTHING on this planet like the fear inside of a mother for her child that cannot socially, verbally or physically always function every day. This world is a cruel place and not everyone is understanding of children in his position.

 I do not have much assistance with Aidyn. There is also not a handbook for this. Nobody helped me or showed me what to do. None of his physicians told me about the ways I could get him assistance, therapies, into centers. None of it. I researched and read and researched and read!!! My love for him endured and I never stopped until I got answers! I am still almost 6 years later, trying to figure out what he needs. Or how to handle a child with ASD on his level. If I had a dollar for every sleepless night, every scream filled tantrum because he is so beside himself he cannot tell anyone what he needs I would be wealthy. I was dropped from Medicaid for him over 5 times and have had to sacrifice my jobs and careers just so that I can keep him situated. This in turn affected both my children and our livelihoods as I needed to at least produce a home for us and put food on the table at the very least! I couldn't "make too much money" or they would drop him from Medicaid, jeopardizing his therapies and him being in the center I got him into. After about the 5th time of them kicking him off Medicaid due to making 300$ too much BEFORE taxes I finally found out that I could apply for him to be on Disability Medicaid! Why was this information NEVER passed onto me when he was born?! Not everyone wants to be on state assisted programs but in my situation I cannot afford his center alone! I financially cannot make enough money to pay every day bills rent, groceries, clothes, etc, on top of his center costs! His Medicaid status is ESSENTIAL for his survival!!  As well as all of the other children enrolled in his center with him!!! IN ORDER TO GET THE ASSISTANCE FOR THEM TO STRIVE YOU HAVE TO BE WILLING TO STAY HOMELESS AND JOBLESS! EVERYONE makes too much money to be on Medicaid if you actually have a career and work every day!!!

  Not to mention with every change in Medicaid, for the people unfortunate to have ASD the assistance that they are lucky enough to get, is CONSTANTLY ever changing and constantly reduced!!!  Causing the centers to lose money, not be able to pay their employees what THEY DESERVE and struggle to keep their doors open!! THE PEOPLE RUNNING THESE CENTERS AND THE BCBA'S AND THERAPISTS ARE HEAVEN SENT!!!! I KNOW for a FACT that not everyone can do this job! I do it every single day because Aidyn is my child, but they do NOT have to do this!!! They choose to!! They love these children and advocate for their conditions EVERY SINGLE SOLITARY DAY!!! THESE THERAPISTS BARELY MAKE ENOUGH TO SURVIVE AND THIS JOB IS HARD!!! But thanks to his group of therapists he is almost potty trained!! They told me he would never do this AND HE HAS!! They also said he would never speak AND HE IS NOW SAYING THINGS!!! I never gave up on him and neither did they! We worked together to achieve his goals and he is thriving and he is HAPPY!!! Lowering the assistance guidelines for centers like my sons is terrifying, not only for me but for every other parent going through the same thing I am! These children need this help!!! Please don't take it from them!!

I write this passionately because without Aidyn's therapists and us advocating for him and him being so very lucky for him to be able to attend Action Behavior Center, I do not know where he would be!!! Not to mention the support, help and research they have provided to me!!!! We have to fight for him and get him future benefits and supports as he ages. My son may never speak. My son may never be able to experience not having a caregiver for the rest of his life! I live in fear for something happening to me every day and him being left in this world where people like him are judged, their assistance doesn't matter and is always reduced and taken away, where he and so many others are not understood and nobody cares to learn about why this happens to them!!! 

I implore every single person that I have in my life to help me fight for not only Aidyn, but for every child and adult that has been diagnosed with ASD. These centers are crucial and they ARE beneficial!!! THE MEDICAID REDUCTIONS AFFECTING THEM ARE UNJUST! We support other countries and their people, but are so unwilling to see what is happening to our own children!!!! I will fight every day to ensure that people learn about this condition and learn that they are really the sweetest, smartest kids. They did not ask to be born with this! They did not ask for their lives to be this way!! They may not be able to express their feelings and needs but they have beating hearts and functioning brains too!! By lowering the Medicaid assistance yet again, it does nothing but lower the abilities for helping them and it is not beneficial!!! The services that these type of centers provide is crucial!!! As it is, it is almost impossible for a working family to even receive the help that they already need on a daily basis. This subject really needs to be discussed more. I cannot imagine being in a situation worse than my own, and I know families in my sons center that face even more difficult struggle than my own. I am fighting for every mother and father with an ASD child, we need this Medicaid assistance. The centers that take care of our children deserve to have the tools and support and to be paid better for what they do!! I really hope that this petition helps and creates some kind of sympathy for children like Aidyn. I really hope this ends here.

Thank you so much for those that have signed this and continue to fight ASD as a family,

Thank you for your time!

Tera Rogers