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AUTISM FIRST STEPS
AUTISM DAILY NEWSLETTER
Friday December 14, 2001
INDEX:
* The Size of the Problem
* Life Planning Services
* PECS and Language Training
* Back to School
* The Battle Over Special Education
*
*
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The Size of the Problem
BY NIGEL HAWKES
A major review into autism published today is the first to acknowledge the size
of the problem. The report by the Medical Research Council (MRC) says that
autism can no longer be considered a rare condition, and estimates that it
affects six young people in every 1,000. It is not clear, however, if there has
been a real increase in the number of cases or simply that changes in the
definition of autism combined with different diagnostic practices and greater
public awareness are responsible for the increase. The MRC was asked by the
Government in March to provide a clear picture of what is known about autism.
Three groups of scientists were set up to examine the evidence, assisted by lay
people involved in autism. The review reaches no conclusion about the cause of
the disorder, suggesting that it has both a genetic and an environmental cause.
The MRC team says that current evidence does not support any link between the
MMR vaccine and autism.
It says that apparent links with gut disorders are worth further investigation
and that suggested links with vaccines, drugs, toxins, infections and diet
should also be tested so that the less likely ideas can quickly be put to one
side.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2-2001573757,00.html
******************************
Life
Planning Services
Since 1993, Life Planning Services has provided information and assisted
families throughout the U.S. in planning for the future of their loved one with
special needs emphasizing Lifestyle, Legal, Financial Needs and Government
Benefit issues.
Our purpose is to educate and provide planning options for families in order to
eliminate the overwhelming and confusing obstacles faced during this process.
The result is peace of mind for families while assuring care, security, and
quality of life for the person with special needs. To learn more, go to
the website above.
www.specialneedsplanningkit.com
******************************
PECS and Language Training
These
studies are designed to assess the efficacy of various methods for increasing
speech in nonverbal and minimally verbal children who are using the Picture
Exchange Communication System (PECS). Participation in one of these studies
will include child training in verbal and/or preverbal skills. Treatment
does not require parent participation. Participating children are
required to come to the lab three or four times per week for 1 hour.
These studies run approximately 15 - 20 weeks.
To participate in one of these studies, children must:
*be between 2 and 6 years of age
*have a diagnosis of autism/PDD
*have some prior training in PECS, and be discriminating among multiple
pictures
*be nonverbal or minimally verbal
*not have severe oral motor or hearing abnormalities
For more information contact Joe McCleery at jmccleery@psy.ucsd.edu
******************************
Back to School
The New York
Times
December 13, 2001, Thursday
By Jim Jeffords; Jim Jeffords, independent of Vermont, is chairman of
the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
A year ago, when I was chairman of the Senate Education Committee, I
joined several senators and representatives from both parties and
traveled to Austin, Tex., to meet with George W. Bush, the
president-elect, to discuss education reform. At that time, we all
pledged to work together to pass an education reform bill that would
raise school accountability and improve student achievement. With
budget surpluses projected as far as the eye could see, it seemed that
this nation was on the verge of making a significant investment in
education. For me, it was a time of optimism and hope.
What a difference a year makes. Today we face a very different
economic reality. We also have an administration unwilling to support
the financing necessary to carry out its own education initiative.
There is no question that we need to improve our schools. National
tests show only one in five American high school seniors proficient in
math and science, and only two in five in reading.
Now I fear we may pass legislation that will do far more harm than
good. As currently drafted, the education bill requires our schools to
make significant improvements in a short time -- without providing the
necessary resources.
State and local education budgets throughout the country are already
facing severe cuts. This bill will make matters worse. Various
estimates indicate we will fall several billion dollars short of
covering the new bill's mandates. History all too often repeats
itself. Unless we support the bill's requirements with adequate funds,
I am afraid we will be repeating a mistake we made 26 years ago.
When I arrived in Congress, one of the first bills I worked on
created what is now known as the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act. We wrote the legislation to ensure that children with
disabilities receive the special education and related services they
need and to which they have a constitutional right.
We recognized that children with disabilities often require
specialized services and that educating children with disabilities
could be twice as costly as educating children without disabilities.
Therefore, in 1975, we authorized the federal government to pay up to
40 percent of each state's added expenditures for educating children
with disabilities. Yet now the federal government still provides only
about 15 percent.
Special education has been an incredibly important program for
millions of children. Graduation rates have increased, and the number
of young adults with disabilities enrolling in college has more than
tripled. Special education has helped people with disabilities become
independent, wage-earning, tax-paying contributors to our country. But
special education is very costly, and by not providing the federal
funds we promised, we force states and local school districts to
increase property taxes and shift funds from other programs.
Earlier this year the Senate agreed without objection to a bipartisan
amendment introduced by Senators Tom Harkin and Chuck Hagel that would
require Congress to fund the 40 percent of special education costs in
full. This was a great victory for all of our children. I am outraged,
however, that a majority of my colleagues on the conference committee
voted not to include this amendment.
I am deeply concerned that this bill will further saddle our school
systems with federal requirements they cannot afford to meet. I have
been in Congress for more than 25 years and have never voted against
an education bill. But to pass this bill as it stands would be
counterproductive. It is better to approve no bill than to approve a
bad one.
******************************
The Battle Over Special
Education
The New York
Times
December 12, 2001, Wednesday
The leaders of the House and Senate reached formal agreement yesterday
on a groundbreaking education bill. But Republican leaders, with the
support of the White House, defeated an attempt by Senator Tom Harkin
of Iowa to dramatically increase financing for special education. The
Bush administration argues that the issue should be put off until next
year, when the whole special education program comes up for review.
Both sides in this debate have a point. The special education system
needs both more money and more reform.
In the early 1970's, those disabled children who went to school at
all were sometimes found strapped into their chairs and screaming, in
conditions that resembled the Dark Ages. The picture changed in 1975
when Congress passed the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act,
which ordered the states to provide disabled children "a free,
appropriate public education." Congress pledged back then to supply 40
percent of all special education funding -- but never managed to push
the funding above the current, paltry level of about 16 percent.
Meanwhile, special education costs have soared -- from about $1
billion 25 years ago to more than $50 billion this year. The current
system, although far superior to what went before, has two major
defects. Some schools use special education as a kind of federally
supported dumping ground for difficult students. Children with reading
problems that should be dealt with in regular classrooms are often
shunted into special education instead. Federal authorities have also
cited several districts for warehousing disproportionate numbers of
black and Latino children in special education classes where they
learn little and never graduate.
Meanwhile, other schools, faced with skyrocketing costs, have begun
pushing students out of their small special education classes under
the guise of "mainstreaming." Even skilled teachers need support
services to handle classes that include both disabled and nondisabled
students. But many schools push the disabled into crowded classrooms
where they compete with nondisabled peers under uncertified teachers
who cannot meet their needs.
The White House has rightly urged Congress to repair the defects in
the special education program that allow these terrible conditions to
exist. But Congress is also right to argue that the federal government
must pay its fair share to educate the nation's most vulnerable
children. Waiting until next year to do these reforms makes sense, but
only if the administration intends to do more than simply delay
sufficient spending.
******************************
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