Panel: Autism’s impact may ‘overwhelm’ schools

The number of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in California public schools is growing at an alarming rate, and the word “epidemic” is creeping into the professional lexicon. According to California Department of Education figures, nearly 2,000 cases of children with autism were diagnosed in 1992. By 2006, the number had grown to nearly 40,000—an increase of 1,900 percent. And this runaway train shows no sign of slowing down.

In addition to human costs, the financial costs are enormous and growing. In 2004, California school districts spent about $1.6 billion out of their general budgets to augment inadequate funds for special education programs. Currently, the cost is closer to $2 billion.

The problem is big enough and alarming enough to have caught the attention of the media, and the state government has begun to address this disturbing trend. In 2006, the Legislature passed Assembly Bill 2513, which authorized state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell to convene a statewide autism advisory committee to develop consistent, evidence-based educational services for students with ASD.

The 25-member committee, made up of education professionals, physicians, psychologists, parents and other groups, issued its final report, “A Call for Action: Improved Services for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders,” last August.

Starting off with a proclaimed “Urgent Call for Action,” the report sounds an alarm that is not to be ignored.

“Policy-makers need to recognize that the extent of the issues related to ASD threatens to overwhelm local educational systems,” the report says. “This statement is not an exaggeration, but an indicator of the intensive services needed to support children with ASD.”

The16-page analysis recommends a three-pronged approach to the problem.

Recommendation Area 1 provides a statement of needed policy changes, including development of seamless services delivery; recognition of the importance of early intervention—including a requirement for the state to “provide financial support in the form of an adequate per-pupil amount for preschool-aged children with ASD and other disabilities”; a discussion of information dissemination and the need for training of general and special education teachers, related services personnel and staff; and a recommendation to modify the existing certification and credentialing process to ensure standardized, evidence-based teaching strategies.

Recommendation Area 2 lays out the framework for creation of a statewide information clearinghouse to be operated under a CDE “umbrella” that would be administered with full support by the departments of Social Services and Developmental Services. The committee envisioned a Web site that would act dually as a source of information and communication exchange as well as a portal to other helpful sites.

Recommendation Area 3 calls for the establishment of technical assistance and training programs to address what it calls “an overall lack of knowledge and training at all levels … and a shortage of personnel trained to provide evidence-based interventions.”

“Ultimately,” the report states in its concluding paragraph, “students with ASD and their families should enjoy a seamless experience of the highest level of educational services that California can feasibly deliver.”

The report is available on the CDE Web site at http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/se/as/saac.asp.

—Marsha Boutelle