We just had to change from a great policy to a mediocre one. Look up letter of medical necessity and gap request. I'm pursuing both of these to get better benefits.

I could write so much on this topic. I'm both a mental health provider (although not for children) and a parent with a special needs child.I'm only able to use my insurance OON for most of my child's providers. And don't get me started on the tutors -- that's another small fortune!

At the same time I appreciate why a lot of doctors don't take insurance. They pay shockingly little and demand a lot of information from providers. It simply isn't worth it to many therapists to be on insurance panels getting $80/hr when they can charge more than double that and maintain control over their caseload. As a parent paying this, however, I sympathize with you all.

OP here. Our insurance provides zero benefits for out of network. I think we will have to switch next year but it is a lot of money in the meantime. And, like a pp said, no guarantee that any of it will help.

I feel like the social skills group is a good therapy. My son is learning how to communicate with peers. This is the main area where he has difficulty. But I know that this type of therapy is a long-term commitment but so is OT or any other therapy. Even though insurance isn't accepted, I don't have a lot of choices.

I think that OP will have to try some therapies and see what is working and what is not... Something most of us have had to do. We sunk money into a couple of places that turned out to be wastes of time and money. But I like the combination of therapies that we have in place now.

No one has a crystal ball. There is no real road map and it is maddening bc we do waste our child's precious time and our hard earned money with no guarantees.