The Parents' Organizational Guide for Autism

The POGA System was designed by a mother to help herself, her family, and most of all her autistic son. At the time of diagnosis, mountains of
information and paperwork began to pile up on her – medical tests,
doctors appointments, intervention programs, education planning, dietary regimens, supplements, financial record keeping, new treatment research, and the list goes on and on. Within two months of diagnosis, overwhelm
had already begun to set in. There was an impending avalanche about to come down on the family if action wasn’t taken to manage all of this more effectively. Something had to be done immediately.

Fast forward to a year and half later... attending yet another introduction meeting with yet another new doctor…The practitioner says to her, almost apologetically, "Do you have records of his past treatments, tests, prescriptions your son has been on, and any idea of progress that has been made or not during this time"…Without missing a beat, she raised a 3-ring binder from her bag. It was labeled "Medical ’03 –’04. She then proceeded to deliver a 10-minute recap of her son’s entire medical history, leafing through her binder that was filled with custom made forms and tabbed locaters of her son’s lab work and treatments. When she wrapped things up, there was a moment of silence in the room. Apparently, the doctor wanted to gather himself a bit before spinning the binder around on his desk to get a better look and blurting out, "WOW, WHERE DID YOU GET THIS?" It was then that she realized how much other parents could benefit from her system (not to mention the professionals who are trying to serve those parents and their children).

When handling all of the huge challenges inherent in tackling autism, organization of your child's data can sometimes mean the difference between getting a critical treatment or service or not. As any parent of an autistic child can attest…THE PARENTS ARE THE CASE WORKERS! No one else can organize and manage all of our kid’s info…It’s all on us! Parents are therefore forced to be the primary managers in every aspect of treatment and care of their special needs child or children. For many parents this can be more than a full-time job. A good organizational system that allows you to quickly reference everything becomes a critical ally in the battle for getting your child the proper care at the proper time.