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Autism gains attention of lawmakers
By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com
September 14, 2006
Click here for the Bill 2513
Click here for amendment to Bill
2513
NOTE FROM CAICA:
Governor Schwarzenegger has until Oct. 2 to sign the bill into law.
Please take time to show your support by contacting his office:
Governor's Office (click
here)
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-445-4633
Email
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ARTICLE:
A proposed state law that would
gather the latest research on autism in order to provide consistent
educational services in all California schools could receive a
financial boost from the federal government.
If signed into law by Gov.
Schwarzenegger, Assembly Bill 2513 will require the office of the
superintendent of public instruction office to identify ways for
public and private schools to better serve the educational needs of
children with autism.
Jeffrey Frost, executive director
of the California Association of Suburban School Districts, said the
superintendent's office would work with the University of
California, the California State University system, relevant
legislative committees, including the Blue Ribbon Commission on
Autism, and with other appropriate agencies to develop the best
educational approaches for students with autism.
According to Mary Schillinger,
director of pupil services in the Las Virgenes district, when
uniform, research-based diagnostic and educational standards are
established for children with autism, the actual costs of such
education will be identified.
While special education is mandated
by law, the federal government has failed to meet its financial
obligations to school districts nationwide.
"(The legislation will) allow us to
put more pressure on the federal government to fully fund the
mandate to educate all children with disabilities," Schillinger
said. "It's one more piece of a very large puzzle."
The federal government's financial
piece of the puzzle is supposedly set at 40 percent, but generally
only 17 percent flows from its coffers to offset the state and
school district's escalating special education costs.
The bill is championed by Terilyn
Finders, a Las Virgenes Unified School District Board of Education
member, and was written by Assemblymember Fran Pavley (D-Agoura
Hills). It was introduced to address the gap between the diagnoses
of children with autism and the educational services schools provide
to them. Apparently educational standards differ widely from school
district to school district.
"This bill is necessary if we are
going to make any real progress in addressing the needs of students
with autism," Frost said in his letter to the governor urging him to
sign the bill. "For this to occur, the state needs to take a
leadership role in filling the void in addressing the educational
needs of autistic children and their parents."
Children with autism exhibit a wide
range of telltale, yet sometimes very subtle, behaviors, including
poor communication skills. Symptoms can range from a complete lack
of speech and a history of extreme withdrawal from people to
obsession with routine and a preoccupation with or inappropriate use
of certain objects.
Children with autism often display
ritualistic or repetitive behavior and sometimes exhibit peculiar
mannerisms.
"This bill doesn't change anything
in the short term," Schillinger said. "What it does is set up an
avenue for experts in all areas, (including) universities, parent
groups and medical professionals, giving them a forum to get
information."
Schillinger said in addition to
creating a mechanism to disperse information, training will be
provided to school districts throughout the state.
The letter to the governor
reiterates the progress the state has made in developing better
diagnostic screening tools, including "evidence-based" interventions
for people with the disorder at any point of its spectrum.
The Department of Developmental
Services is working on guidelines for behavioral and medical
interventions, but doesn't address educational solutions.
"What is missing from the state
process is how we assist schools in meeting the educational needs of
these children," Frost said. "The next logical step in the process
is for the state to take a leadership role in developing guidelines
for effective, evidence-based educational interventions that can be
incorporated into our public schools."
Currently, the Department of
Education concentrates on program compliance, which does not ensure
that each school district in California has the proper tools and
resources to create proper educational programs to meet the needs of
children with autism.
"Autism is the fastest growing
special education eligibility category for public education in
California and the nation," Frost wrote to Schwarzenegger. From 1998
to 2002, the number of students receiving special education services
in California nearly doubled, rising from 10,360 to 20,377.
Experts wrestle with the question
of why more children are being diagnosed with autism. The sharp
increase in identification of the disorder has been attributed to
better screening tools, broader classification guidelines--even
misdiagnosis. Nevertheless, Frost said all experts agree that autism
now affects a significant number of people in the United States.
According to Pavley's office,
Schwarzenegger has until Oct. 2 to sign the bill into law.
_________________
Local officials take lead in
developing autism center
By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com
June 15, 2006
An autism information center for
school districts, parents and groups that assist children with the
disorder has found a possible home at UC Davis and state funding may
soon be available to launch the project.
Las Virgenes Unified School
District Board of Education member Terilyn Finders championed the
"autism clearinghouse" idea in response to the dramatic rise in
autism, especially among California children.
Finders rallied help from some
influential politicians including Assemblywoman Fran Pavley (DAgoura
Hills). Joining Pavley were Jeff Frost, executive director of the
California Association of Suburban School Districts, and Mary
Schillinger, the Las V i r g e n e s district's director of pupil
services.
According to the National Institute
of Mental Health, children who exhibit autism spectrum disorder
generally have poor communication and social skills. They may also
display repetitive behaviors and have unusual responses to sensory
experiences.
Finders' idea caught the attention
of Pavley, who wrote Assembly Bill 2513, which initially called for
the Autism Information and Professional Development Center to be
operated under the auspices of the state Department of Education.
Pavley located a more appropriate destination for the center at UC
Davis' MIND Institute, a world-class autism research facility.
The 100,000-square-foot, $42
million MIND Institute, which opened in 2003, has 260 full-time
staff members. Within its first three years it has drawn praise for
several groundbreaking research projects. The center is now
conducting a study of how autism is diagnosed and treated.
"We see AB 2513 as the first step
in a multiphased project," Frost said.
Pavley presented the bill to a
meeting of the Assembly budget subcommittee on education
finance and won the approval of
$250,000 for the project. The initial funding for the center will
allow professionals to begin compiling "best practices" in the area
of autism treatment, Frost said.
The state Senate's budget
subcommittee must also approve the funding and Gov. Schwarzenegger
must sign the final budget. If the allocation is approved, the
center could serve as a centralized information hub starting this
year, Frost said.
"Our hope would be that within a
oneto two-year time period, the center would be fully operational
and that professional development training would be taking place in
the schools," Frost said. "Again, each phase of the process requires
funding and our first goal is to establish the center."
If the center is created as a
separate division within the MIND Institute, Frost said the
infrastructure would connect the institute with local school
districts, county offices of education, special education local plan
areas, regional centers and other groups that have a stake in
helping children with autism.
Finders said the center would allow
access to the latest research
on autism from a centralized
location. Parents of autistic children now deal with doctors,
teachers, administrators and others on an individual basis.
The center would assist school
districts with professional training and could establish a benchmark
to assess students who exhibit autistic tendencies, Finders said.
Finders' plan for an autism
clearinghouse took on a life of its own, but she has continued to
provide facts from a local level to support the need for such an
information center. She said she speaks with advocacy groups such as
Cure Autism Now and Special Needs Network, Inc. to increase
awareness of the bill and the center.
_________________
Legislation would help
autistic students
Students and parents to receive the most up-to-date tools available
By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com
March 16, 2006
Fran Pavley, Assembly member for
the 41st District, said she will author legislation to create a
statewide clearing house on issues regarding autism.
If passed, Assembly Bill 2513, or
the California Autism Information and Professional Development
Center, will operate under the state Department of Education. The
center would ensure that the most current research and training is
available to parents, public and private schools, regional support
centers and other people or groups focusing on children with autism.
"The legislation will improve
instruction for students with autism by providing parents and
educators with up-to-date research and teaching methods," Pavley
said.
Terilyn Finders, a Las Virgenes
Unified School District Board of Education member, initiated the
legislation in response to the dramatic rise in autism among
California children.
Autism is not a rare disorder. In
fact, autism is the fastest growing section of special education in
California and the nation, according to the information sheet
provided by Pavley's office.
Between 1998 and 2002, the number
of students receiving special education services in California
nearly doubled, from 10,360 to 20,377, according to the fact sheet
distributed by Pavley's office to garner support for the
legislation.
In 2004, an additional 4,427
students were added to the state's special education school rosters,
representing an 18 percent increase in one year alone. Pavley notes
the 2004 figure follows three years of rapid increases- 18, 20 and
25 percent-in school-aged children diagnosed with a special
education need.
Pavley believes these numbers could
actually be higher since the state currently has two reporting
systems, the Department of Developmental Services and the California
Department of Education.
Currently, California law requires
that every child with special needs is eligible to receive
educational instruction and services that address their condition at
no cost to parents.
The new law goes further and
specifically helps children with autism. Information will be shared,
and the disseminated data will be research-based, current and
considered the "best practice" by autism researchers, educators and
other established professionals with expertise in this field.
Support for the legislation is
growing. The California Association of Suburban School Districts and
the Association of California School Administrators support the
idea. Three local unified school districts-Las Virgenes, Los Angeles
and Long Beach-officially support the measure.
Finders previously said that
establishing a clearinghouse on autism would be an efficient use of
time and money for all schools.
Finders championed the legislation
when she became aware of the inequities between school districts on
how children with autism are being served. After attending a
workshop in Compton, she became convinced that children are falling
through the cracks of the state school system, often because parents
didn't speak English and didn't understand their rights. In
economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, she said, some children
have not been properly diagnosed with the disorder, or if diagnosed,
they may not have been properly assessed, which would prohibit them
from receiving proper treatment.
"The goal is to ensure that
California provides the best instruction possible to children
affected by autism," Pavley said.
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