When Christine and Eric Prigge's son, Gus, was 18 months old, they suspected something was amiss. Gus, who has a twin brother, did not respond to his name, made very little eye contact, didn't play with age-appropriate toys and seemed distant.

At the time, Christine expressed her concerns to Gus' pediatrician, but was told developmental disabilities in young children could not be diagnosed until 3 years old. At Gus' next appointment, Christine voiced her observations again and was again told that she would have to wait for a diagnosis. This time, Christine didn't settle for the doctor's response, and started talking to friends about her son's behavior.

"Six months later, I spoke with a friend who has a neighbor with an autistic child. She got names and numbers for us to call to get things checked out and the journey began," says Christine.

Today, Gus is 3 ½ years old and considered in the mild-to-moderate autistic range. The recommended treatment is 35 hours a week of intensive in-home behavior therapy, but because Wisconsin currently does not mandate insurance coverage for kids diagnosed with autism, the Prigges were forced to pay for Gus' therapy out-of-pocket.

Although both Eric and Christine are college graduates with professional jobs -- Eric is a fleet manager for Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporate and Christine is a middle school teacher -- the two professional parents could not afford the annual treatment costs that range between $30,000 and $70,000, depending on the number of therapy hours.

"Some Wisconsin parents are waiting years to receive help in the cost of treatment through the Wisconsin Medicaid Waiver, and out-of-pocket autism treatment is so expensive it is cost prohibitive for many Wisconsin families," says Kathryn Luttkus, grants manager of Easter Seals Kindcare Southeastern Wisconsin.

The Prigges turned to non-profit organizations for additional help, including early intervention with Easter Seals.

"Easter Seals has helped not only Gus but our family," says Christine. "Our friends at Easter Seals not only helped my son, but held my hand, listened to my concerns, felt my pain and helped dry my tears. I can't thank them enough for all they have done for us."

A few months after Gus' diagnosis, his twin brother Max was diagnosed with a milder form of autism called Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified.

"In many ways, Max was a much harder diagnosis to take. We had hoped that Max would help Gus through some of his challenges rather than having so many of his own," says Christine.

According to Easter Seals' statistics, there was a 200 percent increase in the number of children diagnosed with autism in the last 10 years, making autism more prevalent in kids than Downs syndrome, childhood diabetes and cancer combined.

"In Wisconsin, a child is diagnosed with autism every day," says Luttkus.

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