Anyone had success getting RDI covered by Medicaid??

[nayma]

hi. the title pretty much sums it up. also, wondering if anyone is in the greater cincinnati area, and has any experience with RDI consultants within a few hours of cincy? i interviewed one (who i loved), but she's not covered by the autism scholarship. the other i've spoken with seemed nice, but i wasn't thrilled. of those of you with RDI backgrounds, how important have you found the consultant - i.e., does it work to have a mediocre consultant, or does it really make a difference to have someone great? thanks, ladies.

[sbgrace]

Our first consultant was not good. We had a rotten six months and I was frustrated. She may have been especially bad/she is no longer a consultant. They do heavily weed out people and she was new. We transferred to someone 14 hours away and did distance consulting. She is a fantastic consultant though of course that distance made things hard. Recently we switched to someone in Indiana and I'm really happy with how things are going. I guess I'm going to say the consultant does affect the experience and results but it's you working the program that really makes the difference. Therefore, if you have a consultant who is trying and using resources available I think it is better than not doing RDI at all. Especially if that person will start you at the start and methodically work through (rather than trying to figure out where your kid is and start at that point). Our first consultant (the bad one) didn't know what to even assign us and was vague and took forever to review videos and all kinds of horrible. I doubt that is typical esp. w/someone who isn't brand new and, essentially, on their way out!

I'd talk to others who are using the consultant who is covered under the scholarship (she should provide you names/that is professional and what I asked when we were switching both times). I don't know if medicaid will cover RDI. In Indiana our insurance does cover it but they cover all autism therapies by law and the trail has been blazed there prior to us/I didn't fight that fight, you know? Did the first consultant you talked to know whether that is possible?

[nayma]

rachelle, thanks for replying. i did recently speak to someone who uses this (columbus) consultant, and they had mostly good things to say about her. they also had heard a few things about the consultant in indy - mostly that she seemed really busy, and couldn't always get back to folks right away. are you using the consultant in indy? do you think she's a good fit for someone new to RDI? both the woman i spoke with and the woman in indy are covered by the ohio autism scholarship, so that's good.
also, just wanted to let you know that it sounds like there's a group of RDI moms that meet here in cincy - just for support, camaraderie, etc.). i know you're about an hour away, but if you're ever interested in joining, they sound like a really welcoming group.
thanks, again! - katie