Tis the Tism.<\/a> Children can be misdiagnosed by providers who don\u2019t specialize in autism diagnosis, she said.\n<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019ve had parents come to me with a slew of letters of diagnoses \u2014 obsessive compulsive disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, anxiety, attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder \u2014 but not giving an actual autism diagnosis. And really, that\u2019s the underlying cause. And they\u2019ve gone to multiple different doctors, but they can\u2019t get in for an actual, real autism evaluation,\u201d Wiener-Avraham said.<\/p>\n
Wiener-Avraham also said some evaluators won\u2019t see children over the age of 6; others won\u2019t see children under 4 years old.
\nSearching for services<\/p>\n
Once a child is diagnosed, they qualify for Medicaid insurance through the state and can be enrolled in certain services, but families enter an all-new obstacle course of getting those services.<\/p>\n
Vicky, Wiener-Avraham, Diedenderfer and Michael Updegraff, a father in Upper Macungie Township whose son is autistic, said the services offered by the state and in the Lehigh Valley are great, but accessing them can be a hardship.<\/p>\n
Wiener-Avraham said that this goes for schools and care in the community. She said when she moved to the Lehigh Valley, she attempted to enroll Azriel, now 11,\u00a0in private school but was told that even though he qualified for services, other children needed them more than he did, and he wouldn\u2019t receive them.<\/p>\n
\u201cOften they will word things in a way where, \u2018Yeah, they would benefit from it, but it\u2019s not necessary. We\u2019d rather them be in the classroom more than being pulled out.\u2019 Even if the child really needs services. And I\u2019ve heard lawyers tell school districts and tell special education directors, \u2018If you cannot provide the services for the child because you\u2019re understaffed, don\u2019t qualify them for it.\u2019 And that is a huge problem, a huge problem. Because our kids who are in need of these services, which the school system should be working on them, they\u2019re being told to go elsewhere. And elsewhere has a wait list,\u201d Wiener-Avraham said.<\/p>\n
Updegraff said just working around bus schedules can be challenging. This is something many working parents have issues with, but his son\u2019s autism also means that changes in routine can lead to problems.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe gets upset if he gets dropped off at a different spot, he\u2019s very particular where the bus drops him off, so it\u2019s not as easy as, \u2018I\u2019ll just have a neighbor pick him up.\u2019 He could have a full-on screaming meltdown,\u201d Updegraff said.<\/p>\n
Updegraff added that beyond school, getting services in daycare can be a challenge. Normal daycare is not necessarily an option, as his son Michael, 8, would need an aide with him at all times for the daycare to provide services to him, and when that aide has time off, he needs to take time off to watch his son every day.<\/p>\n
Updegraff said that after enough headaches with daycare, he eventually quit his job so he could take care of his son. He now works at the Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit, where he makes half as much as he did at his previous job.<\/p>\n
Just as in schools, autistic children may be denied or delayed from receiving care in the community. Wiener-Avraham\u2019s daughter Ashira, 6, is also on the autism spectrum. Wiener-Avraham said she had a much easier time getting Ashira diagnosed than her son and she was able to access services through Pennsylvania\u2019s early intervention program, which she said were stellar. However, her daughter was denied other services until she turned 4 years old.<\/p>\n
Updegraff said when his son was placed on a six-month wait list for speech therapy services, he and his wife ended up paying $75 per hour out of pocket to see another provider.<\/p>\n
Services closer to home?<\/p>\n
There\u2019s another issue complicating services for some parents: distance.<\/p>\n
Vicky said it\u2019s not by choice that she drives two hours five days a week \u2014 there is another Pennsylvania Mentor site, 10 minutes away from her home in Fogelsville, in Upper Macungie Township. But she said she can\u2019t get approval for him to go there from Magellan Behavioral Health, the company contracted to manage behavioral health services for Medicaid members in Bucks, Lehigh, Northampton and several other counties. She has been attempting to appeal to Magellan but has had no success.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Magellan would approve him to go to Fogelsville, it would be a 20-minute drive a day, which I could make in a lunch break. I wouldn\u2019t have to be on unpaid as FMLA anymore,\u201d Vicky said.<\/p>\n
Updegraff said he\u2019s in much the same situation. The family also lives in Fogelsville but also has to drive to the Pennsylvania Mentor in Bethlehem for their son\u2019s services, as often as five days a week during the summer, because Magellan won\u2019t approve them to get services closer to home.<\/p>\n
Diedenderfer said she too drove her son to Bethlehem, but was able to start getting to services closer to home at the Fogeslville Pennsylvania Mentor site. Now she drives 10 minutes one way instead of 30 minutes or more, but she had to fight insurance for that.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing is easy. They don\u2019t make anything easy to get. The entire process for people who maybe don\u2019t have the resources to do so, it\u2019s very challenging. I will always fight \u2014 I will drive to the end of the world for my kid to get services because I am able to do that. However, there are a lot of families that can\u2019t do that and that\u2019s really frustrating for me as a mom because I see how much I\u2019m putting into it and I\u2019m still not getting everything I need,\u201d Diedenderfer said.<\/p>\n
Sevita Health, the parent company of Pennsylvania Mentor, declined to comment for this story. Magellan did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
Parents and providers\u2019 issues with Magellan have reached Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley, who said he is investigating.<\/p>\n
According to information Pinsley provided to The Morning Call, from 2021 through the end of 2025, Magellan received 20,311 requests for intensive behavioral health services from Lehigh County residents, and denied 125. During the same time period, 182 complaints of dissatisfaction with either a provider or Magellan were filed with the county, and 169 grievances over a denial for service by Magellan were filed. About 21% of grievances led to a decision being overturned.<\/p>\n
According to the county, service denial rates are monitored on a monthly basis and discussed with the Pennsylvania Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services on a quarterly basis. The county and Magellan also work together to determine and address the access needs of members, but not all services have standard requirements for access that are set by the state.<\/p>\n
The future<\/p>\n
A new center that Good Shepherd Rehabilitation plans to open this year could help alleviate some of the issues families are facing.<\/p>\n
The Autism and Neurodevelopmental Wellness Center, which is set to open this fall in Upper Macungie, has been codesigned by the community with the demands and needs of neurodivergent individuals and their families in mind, according to Good Shepherd.<\/p>\n
The center will have licensed counselors providing treatment based on evidence-based modalities and therapies, including developmental, individual-differences and relationship-based frameworks and applied behavior analysis therapy. It will also hold classes, art and music therapies.<\/p>\n
But another element of the center is support. A care navigator will be available to help families and individuals with insurance, referrals and connecting with community agencies, Good Shepherd said. And the center will also serve as an environment where neurodivergent individuals and their families can relax and connect with others like them.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us, your voices made one thing unmistakably clear: Our region is ready for something more \u2014 something collaborative, inclusive and built with the community at the center,\u201d Carry Gerber, vice president of advancement and marketing at Good Shepherd, said during a news conference.<\/p>\n
While Good Shepherd\u2019s center will provide more options and services to parents and families, it alone will not fix the broader regional issues of provider availability and access.<\/p>\n
Wiener-Avraham said it is never too early for parents to start advocating. The state\u2019s early intervention program is there and available for parents. She said waiting until later or until there is absolute certainty will just mean more time on wait lists. She encouraged parents to trust their instincts even if doctors tell them to wait. And if a doctor or a teacher suggests you look into getting your child evaluated, definitely don\u2019t wait.<\/p>\n
She added that parents should try to get on every wait list they possibly can when they are trying to get their child evaluated. There is always a chance that someone will cancel and you are the person who can fill the time slot.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a difficult journey and you don\u2019t need to do it alone. Parents should seek out support groups, other parents to help guide them along this journey because that\u2019s where I started,\u201d Wiener-Avraham said. \u201cThis is why I started Tis the Tism. To help parents through the waiting process. What can I do right now? My kid is 5 years old and peeing in public because they don\u2019t know the social skills. How can I stop this behavior right now? My kid\u2019s having tantrums and won\u2019t leave the house. I can\u2019t even get them to school. The school\u2019s not helping. There\u2019s no therapy in place. There\u2019s no diagnosis. What could I do now? Reach out to parents.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Being a parent is a full-time job, but for Misty Vicky, whose son, Wyatt, is autistic, it can…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":244753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120,1057,182,139,432],"class_list":["post-244752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news","tag-health","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-top-stories-tmc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Misty](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/TMC-L-autismparent_2.jpg\")
Misty Vicky and her son, Wyatt, who is on the autism spectrum play in their backyard Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Allentown. Vicky, like many other parents in the Lehigh Valley, faces myriad struggles and challenges ensuring that her child receives the services and treatment that he needs and deserves. (April Gamiz\/The Morning Call)<\/p>\n