James Day has worked in health care for 15 years, but when he realized his son might be on the autism spectrum, he wasn’t sure what to do or where to turn.

“Our firstborn, Luke, was about a year old when we started noticing some signs of cognitive delay,” said Day, general manager for Cigna Healthcare in the Carolinas. “He didn’t react to loud noises or planes flying overhead.”

Day reached out to Luke’s pediatrician. The doctor saw little cause for concern. Day and his wife, Lyndsie, have other family members on the spectrum, and they were not reassured. “Once we started really researching and trying to find information on autism, we knew early intervention was absolutely critical,” he said. They asked the pediatrician for a referral, and he provided three names. When Day tried to set up an appointment, each of the three specialists was scheduling about 13 months out.

Finding a guide to autism knowledge and care

Day’s next step was reaching out to Cigna Healthcare, his employer and health benefits provider. Like all health plan customers, the Day family has access to Cigna One Guide, which provided an autism case manager at no extra cost.

“She identified multiple specialists in our area and helped us arrange an appointment within a matter of days, rather than months,” Day said. Within 45 days, Luke had been diagnosed with autism. “Receiving a quick diagnosis and starting treatment for Luke were critical for his future well-being, and I credit Cigna for helping us find that,” he said.

In addition to helping the Days find speech and occupational therapists and otherwise manage Luke’s care, the case manager guided them to community resources for the entire family that supported them as parents and helped them educate themselves about autism, including possible treatments.

One of the most impactful interventions was applied behavioral analysis (ABA) therapy, which helps Luke handle overstimulation, develop coping mechanisms, and navigate everyday tasks. The therapy transformed Luke’s life while providing invaluable tools to his parents.

Luke was assigned a counselor to work with one on one. “ABA therapy was every day, basically all day, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. The poor guy was exhausted,” Day said.

Shortly after Luke began the ABA program, the COVID-19 lockdown began. The counselor began working with Luke in their home. “It was a huge blessing for us to be able to see the counselor work with him, to see what to do and what not to do,” Day said. “The counselor was able to coach us to work with Luke.”

The counselor also helped Luke learn to navigate his world. “Luke was nonverbal and would frequently have tantrums lasting up to an hour,” Day said. “His counselor became an extension of our family.  Luke learned how to get dressed, go for walks with us through the neighborhood, and be comfortable in daily activities. I have no doubt that ABA therapy, especially early intervention, saved his life.”

Today, Luke is 7 years old, attends school in a typical classroom setting at his local public school, and is ahead of his expected reading level. “He’s doing so many important things and hitting so many strides,” Day said. “We try to take a step back and look at all the progress that he’s made and be happy for that. But as a parent, you’re always thinking future state.”

Focusing on helping other families

Even early in Luke’s journey, Day looked for ways to help other families dealing with autism. As he became active in Autism Charlotte, he found that most of the nonprofit organization’s resources were aimed at school-age children.

“I noticed there were a lot of gaps – getting a diagnosis, helping parents, finding community resources and like-minded families. It was a large void.” To fill that void, he worked with Autism Charlotte to launch Stage One Academy, a preschool program exclusively for children with autism.

On the job, Day said, his experience with his son’s diagnosis has significantly enhanced his ability to empathize with and support clients. He has worked to improve Cigna Healthcare’s autism case management programs and has been a part of initiatives and pilot programs, including one providing at-home care for individuals diagnosed with autism.

Cigna Healthcare also is partnering with actress Holly Robinson Peete to launch All In With Autism, a program that offers families support and resources from diagnosis through adulthood. “At one of the Cigna autism events, Holly Robinson Peete was talking about her own son, who’s impacted by autism. She said, ‘I would never change my son for the world, but I’ll change the world for my son.’ 

“That’s the way you have to think when you’re a parent,” Day said. He and Lyndsie also have a daughter, Kennedy, who is 15 months younger than Luke. “Any parent, even the parent of a typical child, tries to make their life as positive as they possibly can.”