From Jessica, a Washington parent
My son has severe autism. He is non-verbal with aggressive and self-injury behaviors that became more difficult to manage in his teens. We were in crisis for years with little to no resources that actually helped.
He was in and out of Seattle Children’s psychiatric unit from 2021-2022. By end of 2022, we had a serious incident that had us needing out-of-home care. The system was very complicated and difficult to navigate and took several months to get what he needed. It is a long story, and it was a long, hard journey. He now has what he needs and I am very thankful, but it took a lot while he was in limbo—it felt like the wait to nowhere for several months.
This experience highlighted that we need more resources in all areas! In my son’s case, he fell into a gap in services. Once community-based services were not enough, there was nowhere to go.
While this was not in time to support Jessica’s son, Seattle Children’s Hospital recently opened a psychiatric urgent care program offering same-day in-person and video visits for children and teens ages four through 17 across the state who need urgent mental health support but don’t need emergency department services.
