Prescription
Therapy begins with a physician referral — often called a prescription or a script. Download our one-page form, take it to your child's next doctor appointment, and have the office send it back to us.
Get the prescription form
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Starting is as easy as 1–2–3
Getting your child started with therapy can be intimidating. It does not have to be. Here is the whole process in plain language — the prescription form to bring to your doctor, how we match your child to a clinic and a therapist, and exactly what happens after you reach out.
The process
Three steps to your child's first session
We walk families through this every day. You are never doing the paperwork alone — an onboarding specialist picks up wherever you get stuck.
Location & availability
Tell us which clinic is easiest for your family and when your child is available. From there we place your child with a therapist suited to their specific needs and establish treatment start dates.
Contact us
Call us or send the Get Started form. We verify your benefits for free, explain what your referral and insurance actually require, and get your child's evaluation on the calendar.
Start the conversationStep 1 — the referral
Download the prescription form
A physician referral is the one piece of paper that unlocks everything else, and most families get it at a regular check-up. Our form gives your child's doctor a single page that already spells out what we need — no guessing, no second appointment.
- Download and print it. One page, standard letter size. Print it at home, at work, or at the library.
- Bring it to your child's next appointment. Your pediatrician, family doctor or specialist — whoever knows your child best — completes and signs it.
- Ask the office to send it back to us. Most offices are happy to fax it over directly at (888) 268-4124 — the number is printed on the form. Or call us at (989) 860-0846 and we will give them the right number and tell them exactly what we need.
No printer? Not sure what to ask for? Call (989) 860-0846. Our onboarding specialists do this all day and will work it out with you — before you ever fill out a form.
Game Changer prescription form
The referral form to take to your child's physician. Bring it to the appointment, or have the office fax it back to us once it is signed.
Download the prescription formDownloads a PDF (79 KB). You will need a PDF reader — every phone and computer has one built in.
Already have a referral from your doctor on their own form? That works too — send it with your Get Started request.
After you reach out
What happens next
No waiting and wondering. Here is the sequence, start to finish, once your Get Started form lands with us or you pick up the phone.
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We call you back within one business day
A real onboarding specialist — no phone trees, no automated callback queue. Leave a message any time and we return it the next business day.
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We verify your benefits — free
Before anything begins we check your Medicaid, county community mental health or commercial coverage and tell you in plain language what to expect. No charge, no obligation, no surprise bills later.
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We help you get the referral
If you do not have the prescription yet, we tell you exactly what to ask your child's doctor for, and what to do with the form once it is signed.
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We match a therapist and set start dates
Using your clinic choice, your child's availability and the needs you have described, we place your child with the right therapist and schedule the evaluation.
If your child has Michigan Medicaid
Medicaid families start with the county
Medicaid autism and behavioral services are arranged through your county community mental health office rather than directly through us. Call their access line, ask for a screening for your child, and name Game Changer Therapy Services as your provider when services are authorized. We help you through every step of it — including the phone calls.
Bay-Arenac Behavioral Health
For families near our Bay City clinic and across Bay and Arenac counties.
Saginaw County Community Mental Health
For families near our Davenport Ave, Shattuck Rd and Weiss clinics.
Community Mental Health for Central Michigan
For Midland-area and central-Michigan families.
Not sure which office covers you, or whether your plan is accepted? Call (989) 860-0846 and we will point you to the right access line — or read the full breakdown on our insurance & Medicaid page, including what families in each county actually pay.
Keep going
Where to go from here
Get Started
Tell us a little about your child. It takes a couple of minutes, and an onboarding specialist calls you back within one business day.
Insurance & Medicaid
What is covered, what you will actually pay, and the county-by-county Medicaid pathway — explained without the jargon.
Parent guides
Answers to the questions families ask us most — ages served, what an evaluation looks like, and how the four therapies fit together.
Answers
Getting-started questions, answered
Do we need a referral before therapy can start?
Yes. Services begin with a physician referral — often called a prescription or a script. Download our prescription form, take it to your child's next doctor appointment, and have the office send it back to us. If your child has Michigan Medicaid, autism and behavioral services are arranged through your county community mental health office instead — and we help you through that too.
What is the prescription form for?
It is the written order from your child's physician confirming that therapy is medically necessary. It is one page, it lists exactly what we need from the doctor, and it is the document that lets us move to evaluation and treatment.
What if our doctor uses their own referral form?
That is completely fine. Any written physician referral works — ours is simply a convenient one-page version that spells out what we need. If you are not sure whether what you have is enough, call (989) 860-0846 and we will check it with you.
How much does it cost to find out whether we are covered?
Nothing. We verify every family's benefits before services begin, at no charge and with no obligation, so you know exactly where you stand before anything starts. See how coverage works.
How soon will you get back to us?
An onboarding specialist calls you back within one business day. You can leave a message any time at (989) 860-0846 and we will return it the next business day.
Which clinic will my child go to?
You choose. We have five clinics across Bay City, Saginaw and Midland. Your clinic choice and your child's availability are what we use to match them with a therapist and establish treatment start dates.
Can anything start before an autism evaluation is finished?
Often, yes. Occupational therapy and speech therapy can frequently begin before an autism diagnosis is complete, so your child can start making progress while the evaluation is still in process.
Ready when you are
You have the form. We'll handle the rest.
Tell us a little about your child and one of our onboarding specialists will walk you through the referral, verify your insurance for free, and match your child with a therapist at the clinic that fits your family.