JOIN NYSOTA!
Newsletter
Legislative Highlights
Our Sponsors
SIS: Children and Youth
Help our Special Interest Section Communities Grow
Contribute news, events, and information related to your special interest area. Please submit items and ideas for this section. Contact David Merlo, NYSOTA Web Content Manager at merlodm@ecc.edu or 716 851-1312
Bill Passed in Albany to Make Insurers Pay for Autism Care
By Danny Hakim New York Times June 22, 2010
ALBANY — State lawmakers passed legislation this week that would require insurers to cover autism-related screenings, diagnoses and treatments. The move was a relief for parents of children with autism spectrum disorders, but was sure to increase insurance premiums across the board.
The State Assembly passed the measure Monday night, a few weeks after it passed in the Senate. The measure passed unanimously in both houses.
Legislation To Remove “Retardation” From Agency Name On Its Way To The Governor
By Cara Matthews Albany Watch June 18, 2010
The state Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities will become the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities if Gov. David Paterson signs legislation that passed the Senate today and was previously approved in the Assembly. The name change would make it clear the agency serves people with all kinds of developmental disabilities and conditions, not just individuals with mental retardation.
Should Asperger Syndrome and PDD-NOS be taken out of the new DSM-V?
Some of you have read about the latest change in the upcoming DSM-V. Recently the American Psychiatric Association (APA) proposed revisions to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. They are recommending that Asperger Syndrome be taken completely out of the DSM-V.
MEDICAID OTA ALERT- Your Membership Dollars at Work
NYSOTA has worked over the summer with the NYS Department of Health to secure a change in the Medicaid coverage policy for OTA services in schools and pre-schools. That work has resulted in Medicaid Alert #10-2 "Clarification of Credential Requirements for Occupational Therapy Assistants," dated August 25, 2010.
