Policy Statement on Expanding Access to Care for the Autism Community
Background
With the continued rise in the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), both with and without co-occurring intellectual developmental disorder (IDD), clinical services are experiencing increasing strain, resulting in treatment delays. Health professional workforce shortages in autism-related child healthcare services and the evolving developmental challenges faced by patients with autism across the lifespan both contribute to challenges in delivering timely, individualized care. And, despite most states mandating insurance coverage for ASD-related services, mandates may not apply to all plans and to all ASD treatment options.
Providers typically recommend that families of children with autism seek applied behavioral analysis (ABA) for their child to improve social interaction, communication, and adaptive skills. However, research suggests that a broader range of developmental interventions is also effective in enhancing skills in these domains. Examples of other effective interventions that focus on improving social communication skills include developmental relationship-based interventions (DRBI) and naturalistic developmental-behavioral interventions (NDBI). Given long waitlists, workforce shortages, and restrictive insurance policies, it is crucial for providers to inform families about all effective treatment options and to prioritize timely access to care.
To ensure that all patients and families impacted by ASD/IDD have access to the full range of ASD/IDD interventions, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) recommends:
- Physicians and other clinicians should consider a full range of evidence-based treatment options—not just ABA—when recommending care for individuals with ASD/IDD.
- Public policies should support the training of qualified professionals to provide timely, evidence-based interventions and promote appropriate telehealth use to improve access to care.
- Insurance policies should cover the entire continuum of evidence-based interventions for ASD/IDD across the lifespan, avoiding rigid, predetermined lists of approved treatments.