The High Cost of A Family's All-Out Battle with Autism

HOUSTON -

When Hurricane Katrina came crushing down on the City of New Orleans Tim and Irma Pfister clung tightly to their beloved community refusing to be dislodged.

But three years later a much more intimate, more permanent and menacing crisis demanded a different course.

"After Katrina my practice grew, his job was secure our house there had no damage, but we had to make that decision to give up our careers and friends and family to come to Houston," said Irma.

For the Pfisters that world altering event was sparked by a diagnosis of autism.

A physician, Irma recognized the tell-tale signs in her little boy Sean. It was a hefty dose of heartbreak made worse by the absence of cutting-edge treatment in their recovering hometown.

"It was like no, we have to come and do what we have to do," said Tim of the tough decision to cut ties and re-locate to Texas.

Speech therapy, nutritional therapy, occupational therapy, auditory integration therapy, hyperbaric therapy and chelation therapy - all for the love of Sean, all to help their son someday find his place in this world.

Parents of kids on the autistic spectrum call it "throwing everything against the wall and praying something sticks."

"As a parent this is what you are supposed to do," said Tim.

"You want to leave this earth knowing that we've done everything that we could," added Irma.

For Sean, the most consistent and beneficial response has come from a widely respected educational technique known as Applied Behavior Analysis.

Delivered one on one with a trained therapist, ABA allows education by first enabling recipients to control the autism driven behavior that disrupts learning.

"This is the one therapy that does help. It's not a cure, but it's the therapy that helps these kids enormously. We decided to go with ABA full time to the tune of $4,000 a month which, was not paid for by insurance," said Irma.

$4,000 a month, 12 months a year, for the past 8 years. A staggering cost for an underinsured treatment that has become the standard of care.

"We're looking at $60,000 a year," said Irma.

"Higher," says Tim.

It is an enormous sacrifice for even a pair of well-paid professionals, both fully aware that most families fighting autism simply can't muster the means to do as much.

"There are so many people who arn't able to and that's really, really hard," said Tim.

Hard to know that unlocking potential, bit by bit, is often a matter of time, expertise, endurance and money.

"If the politicians would give us tax credits on this it would be an enormous help," said Tim.

Meanwhile, the fight continues for Sean and hundreds of thousands of young people very much like him. It is a struggle waged by weary mothers and fathers armed with one part hope and two parts unconditional love.

"You know, it humbled me," said Irma who hopes her son will some day hold a job.

SEE: http://www.myfoxhouston.com/story/26146272/the-high-cost-of-a-familys-all-out-battle-with-autism

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