Educating Children with Autism (2001) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Pages 1-10
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From page 1... ...
Education, both directly of children, and of parents and teachers, is currently the primary form of treatment for autistic spectrum disorders. The education of children with autistic disorders was accepted as a public responsibility under the Education of All Handicapped Children Act in 1975.
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Are the specific deficits associated with a diagnosis or educational classification of autistic spectrum disorder important to planning and implementing educational interventions? Autistic spectrum disorders vary in severity of symptoms, age of onset, and the presence of various features, such as mental retardation and specific language delay.
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However, it is not yet clear the degree to which specific educational goals and strategies are associated with particular diagnoses within the autism spectrum, such as Asperger's Disorder, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, or PDD-NOS, once factors such as language development and cognitive abilities are taken into account. A1though experienced clinicians and educators can reliably identify the constellation of behaviors that define autistic spectrum disorders even in very young children, distinctions among "classical" autism and atypical autism, PDD-NOS, and Asperger's Disorder are not nearly as reliable.
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Although children with autistic spectrum disorders share some disabilities with children with other developmental disorders, they offer unique challenges to families, teachers, and others who work with them, particularly in nonverbal and verbal communication and behavioral problems. The committee recommends that the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs, in cooperation with professional organizations and through support for research and training, promote early identification, appropriate screening, and multidisciplinary assessment for young children with autistic spectrum disorders, as is done for children with vision or hearing problems.
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The appropriate goals for educational services for children with autistic spectrum disorders are the same as those for other children: personal independence and social responsibility. These goals imply progress in social and cognitive abilities, verbal and nonverbal communication skills, and adaptive skills; reduction of behavioral difficulties; and generalization of abilities across multiple environments.
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Each child must receive sufficient individualized attention on a daily basis so that adequate implementation of objectives can be carried out effectively. The priorities of focus include functional spontaneous communication, social instruction delivered throughout the day in various settings, cognitive development and play skills, and proactive approaches to behavior problems.
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However, a number of states have successfully addressed some of these challenges and can provide model approaches for doing so. The committee recommends that coordination across services and funding at federal and state levels should be encouraged through several mechanisms: the creation of a federal joint agency task-force on autistic spectrum disorders; state monitoring of coordination among service delivery systems; minimum standards for personnel in educational and early intervention settings for children with autistic spectrum disorders; and the availability of ombudspersons within school systems who are knowledgeable about autistic spectrum disorders and are independent of the school program.
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are also critical in proactive change. The committee recommends that the relevant state and federal agencies, including the Office of Special Education Programs, should accelerate their personnel preparation funds for 5 years for those who work with, and are responsible for, children with autistic spectrum disorders and their families.
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The federal agencies involved in autism initiatives including the Office of Special Education Programs, the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke should establish a joint task force and call for proposals for longitudinal and other intervention studies that assess the relative effectiveness of treatments and that investigate the effectiveness of different educational and treatment models for children, with individual differences defined either according to broadly delineated categories (e.g., children with autistic spectrum disorders with average or greater intelligence) or according to continuous dimensions (e.g., chronological age)
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Yet today, 25 years later, despite the federal mandate for appropriate education and intervention services, the goals, methods, and resources available vary considerably from state to state and from school system to school system. In the last few years, courts have become increasingly active forces in determining the methods applied and the resources allocated by school systems for the education of children with autistic spectrum disorders.
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