My name is Magdalena and I am the mother of a beautiful 6-year-old girl named Paloma. Paloma was diagnosed with severe Autism when she was 2-years-old.

It’s been four years of physical, emotional, and financial struggles. Trying to find the means to provide for the therapies, diets and all medical needs for our daughter has taken a tremendous toll in our family. We constantly struggle fighting the school district since it is incapable of providing what my daughter needs.

Our private insurance would only cover 20-hour sessions of speech therapy a year! My daughter is non-verbal and 20 hours of speech therapy is sadly a joke. Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), which is the only scientifically proven therapy that really helps people with Autism, was not covered at all. It is horrible to know that there are means and ways to help your child, but not being able to give her help is killing us.

We recently found out that with the new Health Care Reform (Affordable Care Act) we are finally able to provide our daughter with the ABA that she desperately needs. We are so happy. It’s been the first great news we have received in these past 4 years.

Please, I beg you do not take this away from us. Please do not take the only chance my daughter has to become the best that she can be. ABA can do this for her, but unfortunately we cannot afford it without the help of this Health Care Reform law, or ACA.

Magdalena Clark is a MomsRising.org member in Houston, Texas, and the proud mother to Paloma and Ulises Clark.