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I’m a huge fan of fitness gadgets. If there’s a new wearable making waves, chances are I’ve already tried it or at least added it to my wishlist. Over the years, I’ve been wowed by a few and let down by many. From tracking every step with an Apple Watch to analyzing my workouts with a Garmin, I’ve tested just about every fitness tracker on the market. So when I started noticing the Oura Ring showing up on the fingers of wellness influencers, elite athletes, and even friends who don’t usually care about this stuff, my curiosity kicked in.
The Oura Ring promised something different: a sleek, screenless wearable that focused less on how many workouts you crushed and more on how well you recover, sleep, and handle stress. I ordered the sizing kit, picked out the Rose Gold color, and committed to wearing it every day. And while I wouldn’t use it as my sole fitness tracker, especially for in-depth workout stats, after three months, I can confidently say the Oura Ring changed the way I think about fitness. It helped me shift from obsessing over numbers and calorie burn to understanding my body’s rhythms and prioritizing recovery.
In this article, I’ll break down what the Oura Ring actually does, how it compares to other fitness trackers I’ve used, and the surprising ways it influenced my habits, mindset, and overall wellness routine.
The Oura Ring is a smart ring developed by Finnish company Oura Health Ltd. Unlike the wrist-worn trackers most of us are used to, the Oura Ring collects health data from your finger, an ideal place for picking up accurate signals like heart rate and body temperature. It gathers metrics on activity, sleep, heart rate variability (HRV), respiratory rate, and body temperature, then syncs all of that data wirelessly to a companion app via Bluetooth.
Before you even receive the ring itself, you start with a sizing kit. Oura sends a set of plastic rings in various sizes and asks you to wear your chosen size for 24 hours to ensure it fits comfortably during both day and night. Once you’ve locked in your fit, you place your order. The latest version, the Oura Ring Generation 4, starts at $349 and goes up to $499, depending on the color and finish. There’s also a monthly membership fee ($5.99/month) for full access to insights and trends.
Design-wise, the Oura Ring is sleek and minimal, more like a piece of jewelry than a fitness device. It’s lightweight and surprisingly comfortable to wear 24/7, even while sleeping or showering (it’s water-resistant). There’s no screen, no buzzing notifications, and no flashing lights, just a simple, subtle band that quietly tracks what’s happening under the surface.
So what exactly does it track?
Here are the standout features:
Unlike the Apple Watch or Fitbit, the Oura Ring isn’t trying to be your digital assistant or workout coach. There’s no screen to check notifications, no GPS for running routes, and no wrist buzz to break your focus. Instead, it’s more like a quiet observer, collecting high-quality data and translating it into actionable insights, especially around sleep, recovery, and long-term wellness. For those who want a minimalist, non-intrusive approach to health tracking, it’s a standout.
Getting used to wearing the Oura Ring was surprisingly easy. I already wear rings and other jewelry regularly, so having a ring on 24/7 didn’t feel out of place. That said, it is a bit bulkier than a typical band – more noticeable than a wedding ring, but not distractingly so. If you’re not used to wearing jewelry, it might take a few days to adjust. Still, it never interfered with daily activities, workouts, or sleep.
While the ring itself is sleek and subtle, the app took a little more time to get comfortable with. It’s packed with data, some of which I’d never really paid attention to before. Heart rate variability? Respiratory rate? I had no idea what those numbers meant or why they mattered. I had to do some digging, but once I understood the basics, the app became incredibly intuitive and useful. The dashboard is clean, and each section (Readiness, Sleep, Activity) offers easy-to-digest insights, along with deeper metrics if you’re the data-nerd type.
Pretty quickly, checking the app became part of my morning routine. I’d wake up and immediately look at my sleep and readiness scores. And yes, it influenced my behavior. I started trying to go to bed earlier just to see if I could nudge my scores higher. I took more rest days without guilt when my readiness was low, and I often felt better for it.
What impressed me most in those early weeks was how eerily accurate the ring seemed. One night, after indulging in some late-night pizza and beer (we’ve all been there), I woke up feeling groggy, and my sleep score reflected it. The app gently asked if I had eaten too close to bedtime, noting that it could disrupt my sleep. I was shocked it picked up on that, but also a little impressed.
Another moment that caught my attention was when the ring flagged “signs of strain” in my body. I didn’t feel sick at the time, but the next day, I came down with a cold. It’s wild when your wearable knows you’re getting sick before you do.
And then there was the time I flew to Copenhagen. I’m a very nervous flyer, and the app noted that I’d experienced significantly higher stress levels, specifically, 11 hours and 30 minutes more stress than usual. I couldn’t help but laugh, as it was pretty spot-on.
Oura made me shift my focus from chasing numbers to actually listening to my body. Instead of obsessing over closing Apple Watch rings, I started tuning into what I needed, and the difference was huge.
With Oura’s daily readiness score, I started respecting rest days instead of feeling guilty about them. If the app suggested I was in recovery mode, I’d skip the workout or opt for something gentler, and I felt better in the long run because of it.
I used to think sleep was just a side note to fitness. Oura changed that. The ring showed me how things like exercising before bed or eating late really disrupted my sleep quality. Once I prioritized rest at night, my energy during workouts improved dramatically.
Oura helped me notice patterns I used to ignore, like subtle signs of stress or illness. Whether it was a dip in heart rate variability or a spike in temperature, the ring flagged it early. That helped me adjust my workouts, rest when needed, and stay healthier overall.
After three months of wearing the Oura Ring daily, here’s what stood out – the good and the not-so-good.
As I mentioned earlier, Oura helped me shift from a numbers-obsessed mindset to a more intuitive, balanced approach. It encouraged me to tune into how I was feeling, not just how much I moved.
The battery life is impressive and lives for up to 8 days on a single charge. But what I loved most was how easy it was to keep charged. I got into the habit of popping it on the charger while I showered, and that was usually enough to keep it at 90-100% all the time.
This ring is sleek and stylish and is way more subtle than my Garmin or Apple Watch. It blends in with almost any outfit and even looks great at dressier events. I appreciated having a health tracker that actually looked like jewelry.
If you’re looking for in-depth workout data, this isn’t it. As a runner, I still relied on my Garmin for pace, distance, and performance stats. Oura tracks duration, calories, average heart rate, and pace, but not with the precision or depth of a dedicated sports watch.
I personally didn’t miss having a screen, but it might be a downside for anyone who likes real-time updates or checking stats mid-workout. If you’re used to that instant feedback, this could feel like a step back.
The $5.99 monthly fee isn’t outrageous, but it adds up, especially on top of a $349-$499 device. If you’re on a budget, it’s worth factoring in.
The ring is made of titanium and generally durable, but it’s not immune to scratches. I noticed a few small dings after weightlifting. To avoid further damage, I started using a cheap rubber cover during workouts, and that helped a lot.
In an ideal world, I’d get 10 hours of sleep a night and work out for at least an hour. However, that’s just not realistic for the average person. So sometimes, Oura’s advice to go to bed earlier or get in more or less movement during the day just isn’t possible (and can be a bit frustrating).
Overall, the Oura Ring was definitely worth it for me. It’s not just a fitness tracker, it’s a tool that helped me rethink how I approach health, emphasizing recovery, sleep, and body awareness over raw performance metrics.
I’d recommend it to wellness-focused users who want to prioritize sleep quality, recovery, and long-term health rather than just counting steps or tracking workouts. It’s perfect for anyone who appreciates subtle, continuous insights and prefers a minimalist design that doubles as stylish jewelry.
On the other hand, if you’re a serious athlete or someone who needs detailed real-time workout stats and GPS tracking, this probably won’t replace your dedicated fitness watch. Also, if you want instant feedback during exercise or prefer no subscription fees, the Oura Ring might not be the best fit.

Growing up in the U.K., I always considered the U.S. Army a large, powerful group of patriotic soldiers. Army soldiers worldwide have to be pretty fit and strong to keep up with the daily demands of duty. Maintaining a high level of physical fitness is key for the job. 
After a recent review, the U.S. Army is changing the physical fitness test and performance standards for soldiers in combat roles. Army data from nearly 1 million test records helped create the new performance standards and scoring system. The Army recently announced that these changes aim to “enhance soldier fitness, improve warfighting readiness, and increase the lethality of the force.” Let’s look at what the changes involve and when they will be taking place.
For some of us, working on our fitness means jumping in all at once with a detailed plan, while for others, it just means staying committed to a 30-minute workout session two or three times a week. We all prefer different ways of improving our wellness and achieving our fitness goals. I let many of the viral fitness trends pass on by, especially if they sound like a fad that’s more hype than anything valuable. 
Sometimes, fitness trends are worth trying, and for many of us, the 30 Strong Challenge might just be one of them. Let’s look at what the 30 Strong Challenge involves and the potential benefits.
When it comes to fitness trackers, few people have more expertise than Tim Rosa. As the former CMO of Fitbit, he researched the reliability of the data they provide constantly, both individually and in larger studies.
Given his expertise, Rosa felt like the right person to approach to learn more about the reliability of fitness tracker data. He’s also deeply involved in sleep research in his current role as CEO of Somnee, so we asked him a wide range of questions about fitness tracker reliability, how sleep-related wearables are becoming part of the information equation, and the evolving role of AI in this technology. The following is everything that Rosa shared with us.
The lowdown on fitness trackers
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Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Champions Mental Health for Law Enforcement with New Initiative  Hoodline
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Research officer, Melbourne Social Equity Institute, The University of Melbourne
Professor of Law, La Trobe Law School, La Trobe University
PhD Candidate, La Trobe Law School, La Trobe University
Panos Karanikolas is a member of the Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council (VMIAC). He received funding for this research from the National Disability Research Partnership as part of a partnership with VMIAC.
Chris Maylea receives funding from the Australian Research Council, National Health and Medical Research Council, and national and state legal aid commissions.
Hamilton Kennedy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.


University of Melbourne provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation AU.
La Trobe University provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.
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In an emergency, police are often the first called to the scene. But they are rarely equipped to deal with complex mental health crises.
Following recent parliamentary inquiries and royal commissions there has been a push – led by researchers, advocates and some senior police officials – for a shift to a health-led and paramedic-first response.
South Australia is one of a number of states trialling a program based on a “co-responder” model. This means trained specialists accompany police to some mental health call-outs in the community.
So, how do co-responder programs work? And are they effective? Here’s what the evidence says.
Mental health legislation in all states and territories gives police the power to use “reasonable force” to transport people who “appear to have a mental illness” to hospital to prevent harm.
In most cases, this involves police taking people experiencing mental health crises to hospital emergency departments, without help from mental health clinicians or paramedics.
Overburdened emergency departments have long wait times for mental health and are often inadequate at responding to people experiencing distress.
Those who need mental health support may not need a hospital stay.
One study found only one in five (23%) of those taken to emergency by police – usually after expressing intention to self-harm – were admitted.
The strain on police resources is also significant. For example, in New South Wales, police now respond to triple zero calls about mental health crises in the community every nine minutes (in Victoria it’s every ten).
The mere presence of police alone can escalate already heightened emotional situations.
Police frequently lack training in mental health, with combative police culture and the militarisation of police training presenting significant problems.
Police often acknowledge they are ill-equipped to intervene in a mental health crisis.
Yet, about one in ten people who access mental health services have previously interacted with police.
These encounters can be risky and even deadly.
People who experience mental health issues are over-represented in incidents of police use of force and fatal shootings.
Police involvement can also lead to the criminalisation of people with mental health issues and disability, as they are more likely to be issued with charges and fines or be arrested.
Yet the main reason police take people to hospital is for self-harm or suicidal distress, and most are not deemed to be of risk to others.
In our research, conducted in 2021–2022, we interviewed 20 people across Australia who’d had police intervene when they had a mental health crisis.
Those we spoke to often had multiple experiences of police call-outs over their lifetime.
They told us excessive use of force by police had traumatising and long-term effects. Many were subject to pepper spray, tasers, police dogs, batons, handcuffs and restraints, despite not being accused of committing criminal offences.
For example, Alex*, said:
I was having an anxiety attack, and they pepper sprayed me. I had bruises all over my hands from the handcuffs they put on really roughly, even though I wasn’t under arrest. Then they took me to hospital.
In our study, people with mental health issues said they would prefer an ambulance-led response wherever possible, without police attending at all.
They also wanted to be linked to therapeutic and community-based services, including mental health peer support, housing, disability support and family violence services.
Co-responder programs aim to de-escalate mental health incidents, reduce the number of emergency department presentations and link people experiencing mental health crises with services.
These programs, such as the one being trialled in South Australia, mean mental health clinicians (for example, social workers, counsellors or psychologists) attend some mental health incidents alongside police.
Peer-reviewed research shows these kinds of responses can be effective when compared to traditional police-led interventions.
An evaluation of a co-response program in Victoria found the mental health response was quicker and higher quality than when police attended alone.
The success of programs in the United States and Canada shows many mental health crises can safely managed without police involvement, for example by addressing issues such as homelessness and addiction with health workers, and reducing the number of arrests.
While the evidence shows co-responder schemes are valued by people with lived experience, they are often limited by under-resourcing.
Co-responder programs are not universally available. Often, they do not operate after usual business hours or across regions.
There is also a lack of long-term evaluations of these programs. This means what we understand about their implementation, design and effectiveness over time can be mixed.
More broadly, the mental health sector is facing significant and ongoing labour shortages across Australia, posing another resourcing challenge.

Last year, the final report from the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System recommended paramedics should act as first responders in mental health crises wherever possible, instead of police, diverting triple zero calls to Ambulance Victoria.
However that reform has been delayed, with no indication of when it may be implemented.
A 2023 NSW parliamentary inquiry also remarked on the need to explore reducing police involvement.
Co-responder and ambluance-first models offer an improvement.
But our research suggests people with lived experience of mental health issues want more than ambulances replacing the police as crisis responders.
They need a mental health system that supports them and provides what they needed, when they need it: compassionate, timely and non-coercive responses.
*Name has been changed.
If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Copyright © 2010–2025, The Conversation

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These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.
There was a time when Sharelle Menard thought her son would never be able to speak. She couldn’t soothe Benji when he cried, couldn’t read him books he could follow, couldn’t take him out in public. “The screaming, and screaming, and screaming,” she said. “He would get so frustrated because he couldn’t communicate.”
Benji was nearly 3 when he was diagnosed with severe autism and soon after started a specialized therapy to help him develop basic skills. After two years in treatment, his murmuring gave way to small words, with “bubbles” among the first. To celebrate, Menard powered up a bubble machine she found at the dollar store, and for hours, they watched the iridescent orbs drift over their porch.
Menard, who is raising Benji alone in south-central Louisiana, began to picture a future for her son that diverged from the stories she’d heard about some kids with similar diagnoses, who grew up still unable to manage their frustrations and had to live in nursing homes or institutions.
But now, she’s worried again.
The insurer that has been paying for her son’s therapy, UnitedHealthcare, has begun — to the befuddlement of his clinical team — denying him the hours they say he requires to maintain his progress. Inside the insurance conglomerate, the nation’s largest and most profitable, the slashing of care to children like Benji does have a reason, though it has little to do with their needs. It is part of a secret internal cost-cutting campaign that targets a growing financial burden for the company: the treatment of thousands of children with autism across the country.
ProPublica has obtained what is effectively the company’s strategic playbook, developed by Optum, the division that manages mental health benefits for United. In internal reports, the company acknowledges that the therapy, called applied behavior analysis, is the “evidence-based gold standard treatment for those with medically necessary needs.” But the company’s costs have climbed as the number of children diagnosed with autism has ballooned; experts say greater awareness and improved screening have contributed to a fourfold increase in the past two decades — from 1 in 150 to 1 in 36.
So Optum is “pursuing market-specific action plans” to limit children’s access to the treatment, the reports said.
“Key opportunities” are outlined in bullets in the documents. While acknowledging some areas have “very long waitlists” for the therapy, the company said it aims to “prevent new providers from joining the network” and “terminate” existing ones, including “cost outliers.” If an insurer drops a provider from its network, patients may have to find a new clinician that accepts their insurance or pay up to tens of thousands of dollars a year out of pocket for the therapy. The company has calculated that, in some states, this reduction could impact more than two-fifths of its ABA therapy provider groups in network and up to 19% of its patients in therapy.
The strategy targets kids covered through the company’s state-contracted Medicaid plans, funded by the government for the nation’s poorest and most vulnerable patients. To manage Medicaid benefits, states often pay private insurers a fixed amount of funds per patient, regardless of the frequency or intensity of services used. When companies spend less than the allotted payment, they are typically allowed to keep some or all of what remains, which federal investigators and experts acknowledge may be incentivizing insurers to limit care.
United administers Medicaid plans or benefits in about two dozen states and for more than 6 million people, including nearly 10,000 children with autism spectrum disorder. Optum expects to spend about $290 million for ABA therapy within its Medicaid plans this year, and it anticipates the need increasing, documents show. The number of its Medicaid patients accessing the specialized therapy has increased by about 20% over the past year, with expenses rising about $75 million year-on-year.
So Optum — whose parent company, UnitedHealth Group, earned $22 billion in net profits last year — is “heavily investing” in its plan to save millions by limiting access to such care.
In addition to culling providers from its network, the company is scrutinizing the medical necessity of the therapy for individual patients with “rigorous” clinical reviews, which can lead to denials of covered treatment. Optum has developed an “approach to authorizing less units than requested,” the records state.
Mental health and autism experts and advocates reviewed ProPublica’s findings and expressed outrage over the company’s strategy. Karen Fessel, whose Mental Health and Autism Insurance Project helps families access care, called the tactics “unconscionable and immoral.”
“They’re denying access to treatment and shrinking a network at a time when they clearly know that there is an urgent need,” she said.
United and Optum declined a request ProPublica made more than a month ago for an on-the-record interview about their coverage of behavioral health care. They have not answered questions emailed 11 days ago, citing the Dec. 4 killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO as the reason. In an email, a spokesperson said “we are in mourning” and could not engage with a “non-urgent story during this incredibly difficult moment in time.” Offered an additional day or two, the company would not agree to a deadline for comment.
Benji, who is now 10, requires 33 hours of weekly therapy to be able to progress, his therapists have concluded. They have documented the consequences of having even a few hours less: toppled furniture, scratched-up classroom aides, a kid in unremitting tears, unable to learn. But in a letter to Menard, Optum said it was refusing to pay for the full hours, stating that her son had been in therapy for too long and was not showing enough progress to ultimately graduate from it.
“Your child still has a lot of difficulty with all autism-related needs,” Optum wrote. “Your child still needs help, but it does not appear that your child will improve enough to end ABA.”
The response confounded experts who spoke with ProPublica, who said such an approach misunderstands the long-term nature of his condition. “Challenges that often come with autism shouldn’t be looked at like an injury that you’re going to get better from quickly and then the treatment can stop,” said Christa Stevens, who directs state government affairs for the advocacy group Autism Speaks. “Treatment may still be medically necessary even if it’s for skill maintenance or the prevention of regression.”
The company’s denial also appears to contrast with recent professional guidelines for the therapy — which are cited as a reference in Optum’s own clinical criteria — that state “there is no specific limit on the duration of a course of treatment.”
The appropriate duration of treatment, according to those standards and experts interviewed by ProPublica, should be based on the patients’ needs, as evaluated by the clinicians working directly with the patients.
“This is a very blunt instrument to chase after excessive costs,” said Tim Clement, the vice president of federal government affairs at the nonprofit group Mental Health America.
Several advocates told ProPublica the company’s strategy is legally questionable.
The federal mental health parity law requires insurers to provide the same access to mental health and physical care. As ProPublica recently reported, United has gotten in trouble in the past for targeting therapy coverage in a way that violates the law; while denying the allegations, it agreed to a multimillion-dollar settlement. It continues to use arbitrary and one-size-fits-all thresholds to scrutinize its therapy claims, ProPublica previously found.
It would raise legal questions if the company restricted ABA more stringently than comparable physical care, the advocates said.
“Medicaid managed care organizations are subject to the parity act,” said Deborah Steinberg, a senior health policy attorney with the nonprofit advocacy group Legal Action Center. The company may be violating Medicaid regulations, she said, which require managed care organizations to maintain networks sufficient to provide covered services to all enrollees.
Last year, the federal government formally affirmed that ABA therapy is a protected benefit, and it recently investigated health plans for entirely excluding its coverage; legislators have passed laws in every state requiring insurance companies to pay for it.
“Yes, this therapy can be expensive,” said Dan Unumb, an attorney and president of the Autism Legal Resource Center. “But solving the problem by denying kids access to medically necessary care is a terrible solution.”
Benji was making progress about three years ago.
For more than 33 hours a week in the specialized therapy, his clinicians broke down the learning process into basic steps, using repetition and positive reinforcement to affirm behaviors. The state’s Medicaid contractor, UnitedHealthcare, covered the bill.
Researchers have found that about a quarter of kids diagnosed with autism are severely affected; these children are often minimally or non-speaking or require extensive assistance for basic daily needs. “Things a lot of people take for granted,” said Menard. While experts continue to debate which therapies are most effective and appropriate for these kids, ABA is one of the most widely recommended.
By 7, Benji had accumulated a few dozen words, and his aggressive, prolonged tantrums had grown less frequent, allowing his mother to take him grocery shopping and to mass on Sundays. It was time for him to go to school, she thought.
Menard enrolled him in their public school district, St. Martin Parish. He attended Breaux Bridge Primary twice a week in a special education classroom and continued therapy the other days. Menard urged the district to allow a therapeutic technician to shadow him in school, but it refused. (The district declined to respond to ProPublica’s questions, citing privacy restrictions.)
With the diminished hours of treatment, Benji grew increasingly disruptive. “It was a disaster,” said Menard. He snapped a swing in gym class and struggled to sit still during lessons. When teachers tried to give him instructions, he hit them. His speech plateaued and eventually regressed.
Menard, who cleans pools for a living, grew to fear the moment her phone rang. School employees, unable to soothe Benji’s tantrums, frequently called her to take him home. One morning last spring, they told her Benji had lashed out when an aide tried to persuade him to work, aggressively poking their hand with a pencil. He hadn’t broken the skin, but after a dozen incidents, the situation was becoming unsalvageable. The district made her sign a behavioral contract, his second in two years: If Benji didn’t behave, he could be suspended or expelled.
Menard felt she had no choice but to withdraw Benji. She enrolled him full time in a home-study program run by his therapy group, Aspire Behavioral Health Center in Lafayette, which costs about $10,000 a year in tuition, a substantial portion of her paycheck. That was in addition to the therapy cost, which his insurance still covered.
Benji’s clinicians determined he needed direct support for most of the day and told Optum they wanted him to scale up his therapy from 24 hours a week to 33. They expected the insurer would approve the request; after all, it was less than what was previously covered and only nine hours more than it was currently paying for.
But Optum denied the increase in a letter to Menard this past May. “Your child has been in ABA for six years,” the insurer wrote. “After six years, more progress would be expected.”
The response disturbed Whitney Newton, Benji’s behavior analyst and a clinical director at Aspire; it didn’t seem rooted in the established medical standards for the treatment. She’d seen firsthand how critical the therapy had been to his growth. “We know what he needs. It’s in our scope of practice and it’s our right as the provider to determine that,” she said. “They’re cutting and denying an unethical amount.”
The center’s founder, psychologist Joslyn McCoy, has grown accustomed to battling insurers. Her practice serves about 160 patients between the ages of 2 and 19 across five centers, and many have Medicaid coverage. In 2022, Louisiana expanded its Medicaid parameters, allowing parents with higher incomes to access coverage for children with complex medical needs.
“What I’m seeing is that children now have this ticket to access this care, but then once they go to try to access it, it’s being denied,” she said.
Nearly two years ago, Optum selected her center for a payment integrity audit, demanding to inspect its clinical and billing records. After her team turned over thousands of pages of documentation, Optum conducted a separate in-person quality review.
Internal company records show Optum is targeting ABA providers for scrutiny based on how much they invoice and how many services they provide. Groups like McCoy’s can be flagged for patterns that providers told ProPublica are typical in the delivery of ABA therapy: billing on weekends or holidays, serving multiple family members in one practice, having long clinician or patient days, providing an “above average delivery” of services, or abruptly increasing or decreasing the number of patients or claims.
McCoy said that a company executive who visited her office for the quality review told her that she approved of the center’s work and thought Aspire should expand across the state.
But Optum has continued to challenge her patients’ individual therapy claims.
When her team received the denial for Benji’s care, McCoy set out to gather hard evidence to demonstrate the necessity of his treatment. “It’s what we call a reversal to baseline, where we will withdraw the treatment for a short period of time,” McCoy said. “The reason is to demonstrate what happens because we’re curious, too: What happens if we withdraw the care?”
Much of the therapy is driven by positive reinforcement; for example, if Benji pays attention and engages in his academic exercises, he can take a break to play on his iPad. But the reward is contingent on him not hitting anyone for at least 10 minutes at a time. During the experiment, the clinicians took away the possibility of his reward, and without an incentive, they had limited leverage to manage his behavior.
At first, Benji lightly hit the staff, they said, as though testing the limits. But when there was no response to his behavior, it began to escalate. He tossed chairs and flipped tables. He pushed Newton into a bookshelf, which collapsed to the ground. He hit walls and windows, eventually turning his fists on his aide. They stopped the experiment early, both for his safety and theirs.
Once they resumed the interventions, Benji was able to calm down.
Newton drafted a report, including line charts that quantified his behavior with and without the interventions and photographs of her team’s injuries. She faxed it to Optum, asking the company to reconsider the denial.
The insurer did not change its decision.
Last month, inside a cubicle decorated with posters of Minions and Mario Brothers, a behavior technician placed a laminated card with an image of a sneaker in front of Benji.
“What is this?” she asked him.
Benji paused, rubbing the edge of his baseball cap and pursing his lips. “Sh,” he said, stuck on the consonant.
“Shoes, that’s right,” the technician responded. She pulled out another card, showing a slice topped with white frosting. “Is this cake?”
“No,” Benji said.
“Is this cake?” she repeated, before adding, “yes.”
“Yes,” echoed Benji, but her correction appeared to frustrate him. He hit the technician on the leg, softly but with determination.
“We’ll let it go,” she warned with a sugared voice, “but hands to self, OK?”
After 10 minutes, a timer beeped. It was time for Benji’s reward, getting to hear a reggaeton hit by Daddy Yankee. “It’s a big reinforcer here,” Newton said.
Even though Optum denied the additional hours of treatment, Benji has continued to receive them. “We’re giving the hours even if they were not approved,” McCoy said. “We don’t think it would be safe for him to do what the insurance is saying.”
Next month, a state administrative law judge will hear an appeal for the additional hours. If the request is approved, Benji’s clinicians will be paid for the six months of services that they’ve provided without reimbursement.
Even if that happens, their battle with the insurer will go back to square one. Each insurance authorization typically lasts for only six months, and soon after the hearing date, the clinicians will have to request coverage for his treatment again.
They will be doing so at a time when internal records show Optum has deployed more than 90 “care advocates” to question clinicians about the medical necessity of their patients’ ABA treatment, using “quality initiatives to decrease overutilization and cost.”
Optum is focusing on states whose Medicaid plans yield the highest costs for ABA therapy, including Arizona, Nebraska, Tennessee, Virginia, New Jersey, Indiana and Louisiana, where Menard and her son live. ProPublica reached out to the state Medicaid programs with questions about their oversight of United’s practices. Arizona’s Medicaid agency told ProPublica that all managed care organizations, including United, are required to provide timely services within their networks, and that the agency has been closely monitoring ABA networks. (Read its full response.) No other state Medicaid agencies responded to ProPublica’s questions.
Autism experts said such a strategy may not only be harmful to children, it could also ultimately be more expensive for states, as children age and require more intensive services, like residential or nursing care.
“If these kids get the intervention they need as children, then there will be tremendous cost savings over the course of their lives,” said Lorri Unumb, an attorney and CEO of the Council of Autism Service Providers.
Menard worries about what will happen to her son’s hard-fought gains if he can’t get the level of therapy he needs. And even if the additional nine hours are approved, she fears that with the next authorization, they could face a more drastic denial that could be challenging to overturn.
“This motivation and momentum — when you lose that,” she said, “it’s so hard to get it back.” She doesn’t believe that Benji needs to be fixed or cured or changed from who he is. She just hopes the therapy helps him to be better able to advocate for himself and, ultimately, be safe. “There’s nothing else that I’ve known to work,” she said.
McCoy resents being put in the position of scaling back care that her patient needs because an insurer is refusing to pay. “It puts us in a tough place, because we don’t want to discontinue therapy of our client who’s not ready,” she said.
When such denials become common, it disincentivizes clinicians from working with insurance companies, she said, and can ultimately drive clinics into the ground. “The patients can’t afford it,” she said, “so eventually the private provider goes out of business.”
But even if children like Benji get pushed out of treatment, there is no shortage of children seeking care. McCoy’s center currently has a waitlist of about 260 children.
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That list may likely expand. Internal documents show Optum is aiming to exclude from its network about 40% of Louisiana groups that offer ABA therapy. About 1 in 5 children whose treatment is covered by the company’s Medicaid plan in the state could lose access to care.
“If the insurance company wants to deny all of our clients, we’re going to replace them,” she said. “The need is not going away.”
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Football continues to be one of the most beloved sports among children in the UK, with thousands of young players participating in weekend leagues, after-school clubs, and school PE programs. This widespread enthusiasm has naturally extended into birthday celebrations, giving rise to a growing trend: football-themed birthday parties.
According to recent industry data, themed parties account for nearly 65% of children’s birthday events in the UK, with football being one of the top three most requested themes. This surge is also influenced by the expanding network of grassroots football initiatives, including The FA’s “Weetabix Wildcats” for girls and “Mini Soccer” for boys and girls aged 5–11. These programs aim to instill a love of the game from an early age, making football parties a natural fit for young enthusiasts.
Children’s football birthday parties offer an exciting way to promote physical activity. Every dribble, sprint, and kick contributes to cardiovascular fitness, improved balance, and enhanced motor coordination. In an era where screen time often replaces outdoor play, these parties offer a refreshing and active alternative.
The benefits extend beyond the physical. Team-based games boost self-esteem and nurture vital social skills such as communication, patience, and leadership. Children learn how to support one another, celebrate team wins, and handle minor setbacks with resilience.
Unlike free-for-all playdates that can quickly become chaotic, football parties follow a structured format. With trained coaches guiding activities and managing transitions, parents can relax knowing that every child is engaged, safe, and entertained.
Benefits at a glance:
A standard football party package typically includes professional coaching staff, all necessary equipment, and a full schedule of games and drills. Popular formats include mini-tournaments, penalty shootouts, and obstacle course challenges designed to suit a range of skill levels.
Indoor and outdoor options are available, allowing parties to go ahead regardless of weather. Sports halls, astroturf pitches, and local parks are common venue choices.
Many providers also offer customizable add-ons:
These thoughtful touches transform the event from a simple game day into a memorable celebration.
Beyond the balloons and cake, football parties often include real coaching elements. Children engage in warm-ups, basic drills, and small-sided games that teach passing, positioning, and teamwork. For many, it’s their first taste of structured football, sparking an interest that could continue into weekly training sessions.
Providers frequently work in partnership with local football clubs or academies, offering follow-up information for children who show enthusiasm and potential. Parents have praised the developmental impact of these parties, noting improvements in:
As one parent noted, “My son left the party asking when he could start training with the local team.”
Safety is a top priority for reputable party providers. Qualified coaches typically hold valid DBS checks, first aid certification, and training in child safeguarding.
Organisers adhere to clear safety protocols, including:
Inclusivity is another key feature. Parties are designed to welcome all children regardless of skill level, and many offer adapted games to accommodate children with additional needs or physical disabilities.
Children’s football birthday parties are best suited for ages 5 to 12, though many providers offer tailored packages for both younger and older age groups. Group sizes typically range from 10 to 20 children, ensuring each participant receives attention and involvement.
The booking process is usually straightforward:
For a more personal touch, parents can customize the event by choosing their child’s favourite team as a theme, requesting team-specific jerseys, or arranging special shout-outs from local players or mascots.
Children’s football birthday parties combine the energy of sport with the joy of celebration, offering a winning experience for kids and peace of mind for parents. With benefits spanning physical health, emotional development, and skill growth, these events go far beyond just having fun—they promote a lifelong appreciation for fitness and teamwork. To organise your child’s next celebration, explore local football party providers and give them the birthday experience they’ll be talking about all year.
Roberto Villa is the CEO, Founder, Executive Writer, Senior Editor of FightBook MMA. Has a passion for Combat Sports and also a podcast host for Sitting Ringside. He’s also a former MMA fighter and Kickboxer.
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