Lack of Dental Care and Pain Management for People with Special Needs

One week ago, I started to have some tooth pain, it did not start out to be a major problem, but I spent Sunday at the dentist's office, and he thought I might need a root canal, drilled a little so my teeth wouldn't bite too hard, but had a wait and see approach. I went to work the next day and the pain started to increase. At 4PM, it suddenly became unbearable, and I was on the phone frantically trying to find an endodontist. I was so relieved to find someone who could see me later that day, I never asked if he took my plan or what he charged. Just charge whatever you like! I was able to work the next day, but then the pain became worse. The next few days, I was on antibiotics, up during the night, pacing and tugging at my hair, pain killers not doing much. During this time, the endodontist almost every day rechecked and reassured me that the pain would go away, and it did- well worth the over two thousand dollars I spent.

Now, let's discuss people with special needs who are on Medicaid and have dental problems, are in terrible pain, and need treatment under general anesthesia, because they don't have the cognitive skills to cooperate with treatment while awake. They wait for months for an appointment because most doctors do not accept Medicaid as the Medicaid paperwork and the low reimbursement rates discourage private doctors from accepting Medicaid, even though many of those same doctors will participate on private insurance networks. Furthermore, because Medicaid has to be renewed annually, sometimes the Medicaid office does not process the paperwork in a timely fashion, these individuals go without insurance. In addition, it is optional for states to cover dental care for adults on Medicaid. These individuals who cannot access care have more aggression and self-injury to cope with their never ending pain, prompting more psychotropic medication use, in addition to putting their families and their direct care staff at risk.

For all the controversy surrounding my brother Matthew and others receiving a two second skin shock, no one is talking about the lack of health care and pain management for individuals with special needs with serious health conditions. I guarantee you, I would have gladly received multiple two second skin shocks (a treatment I tried myself) over what I have been through the past week! I can't imagine what it must be like to be in such severe pain, not knowing if will ever go away, with a never ending wait for treatment.

Electronic devices, Insomnia, Medical and Psychiatric Illness

Lack of sleep contributes to a host of medical and psychiatric illnesses, such as obesity, diabetes, mood disorders and ADHD. Blue light from electronic devices may suppress melatonin and interfere with sleep. According to one study, "Ari Shechter, Elijah Wookhyun Kim, Marie-Pierre St-Onge, and Andrew Westwood, "Blocking Nocturnal Blue Light for Insomnia: A Randomized Controlled Trial," Journal of Psychiatric Research 96, (January 2018): 196-202, doi:10.1016/j/psychires.2017.10.015), blocking blue light with amber glasses two hours before sleep, subjective total sleep time, overall quality and soundness of sleep improved, and improved sleep in individuals with insomnia.

My New Facebook Group: Special Needs Effective Treatment NY

Our administrators include a PhD board certified behavior analyst, another board certified behavior analyst and a speech and language pathologist. We also have occupational and physical therapists to provide information. We plan to provide information on effective treatment for individuals with special needs and stop the overuse of medication as a substitute for applied behavior analysis and inappropriate placements.

My Brother Matthew: From Life-threatening Behavior to a Life without Medication

Last week, I went to visit Matthew. I last saw him with my husband in October when I ran the Bay State Marathon. This time I was with my 17 year old daughter. I was the only driver and as always, the drive seems like it's never going to end. My daughter fell asleep during the ride and I could not play any music, lest I wake her up. So boring. I wish he did not have to live so far away and I could see him more often than three times a year, not have to take that long boring drive up I-95.

I remember when Matthew went there the first time, when I was a teenager myself. Judge Rotenberg Center (known as BRI) back then, the only school in the US that would accept him, told my mother they could pick him up three days after he obtained Board of Education funding, but my mother did not want him to miss even one day of school, so she drove him from the hospital, what Matthew considered home for over five months, to BRI, with my uncle in the back seat to manage any problem behavior. He was obese. drooling, and barely able to be heard from all those medications he was taking. During the ride, he was anxious where he was going, and for once he went a few hours without sleeping from all those medications.

When Matthew got there, Matthew cried he wanted to go back to the hospital. My mother told him, "You're a boy and boys go to school." A lady gave him a toy school bus and told him he would be riding one later that evening. He finally got distracted watching Wheel of Fortune, and then we left him there. My mother then paid for me to go to driving school so she could have a second driver. We visited him every three weeks.

Fast forward 29 years later. I am now a mother of a child of autism myself and in the car with my now teenage daughter. I go see Matthew, alert, medication free, all excited to see me, go out to dinner and look all the maps I brought him. After dinner he enjoyed a piece of the chocolate brownies I baked for him and his housemates and staff. The next two days we go to museums, he knows all his bird sounds. He is so happy.

The next day, I am on a long drive home, 5 1/2 hours, going on city streets to avoid traffic on the interstate. I am fed up driving at night and holding myself back to drive faster than the speed limit, just wanting to get home. Again I wish, he could live near me, but then I realize, he's happy, content, and that is what really matters.

Police Officer Impersonator aka NY State Senator Sponsors Bill to Cut My Brother's Funding

Recently, NYS Senator Martin Golden sponsored S 3655-A, a bill which would prohibit any student from receiving funding for the Judge Rotenberg Center, as if even one student receives an aversive, even students without aversives cannot receive funding. Aversives saved my brother's life. According to articles in the NY Post, NY Daily News and NY Times, Senator Golden was a passenger in a car. The car drove in a bike lane to get around traffic, and Senator Golden wanted to pull over a bicyclist, Mr. Brian Howard, who was blocking him, so stated he was a police officer, displayed a fake placard and threatened to take him to the precinct. When the bicyclist tried to film him, the car drove onto oncoming traffic and passed a traffic light. That car has a history of more than 30 traffic violations including running red lights and speeding in school zones. In 2005, Senator Golden ran over a 74 year old woman. Just as he faked being a police officer, in this proposed legislation, he fakes he is doing this out of concern for individuals with special needs.