Autism Still on Rise in Oregon
Posted on: Friday, 14 March 2008, 15:00 CDT
By Betsy Hammond, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.
Mar. 13--More than 7,000 Oregon students have autism, triple the count 10 years ago and 11 percent higher than just a year ago, the state reported Wednesday.
In many cases, educators say, schools lack the training, staffing and specialized programs to serve this group of students, who are being identified in growing numbers in every part of the state and across the nation.
"We don't have enough autism specialists, and the resources we can bring to the table don't nearly cover the services that schools really need for these kids," says Jay Gense, assistant director of Columbia Regional Program, which helps provide services to autistic students in four counties. "Parents are saying 'My kid isn't getting everything he needs.' "
Overall, the count of Oregon students with disabilities was virtually unchanged from a year ago, the state report showed.
Nearly 49,000 of the 80,000 students in special education programs have learning disabilities or speech and language impairments.
Overall, one in eight Oregon schoolchildren receives special education services -- a statistic that is in line with national statistics and which has held steady for years.
The eye-popping exception is autism, where the numbers have risen sharply for a decade and show no signs of abating.
The brain-based disability is known as autism spectrum disorder because the type and degree of impairment varies widely. It is characterized by profound difficulties with social interactions and communication and, frequently, an aversion to noise, light and other sensory input. Nationally, boys with autism outnumber girls 4-to-1.
Researchers haven't figured out what causes autism, and there is no definitive test to show whether a person has it.
Experts aren't sure whether the surge in autism is driven by a rising incidence of autism or by schools doing a better job of diagnosing the condition. Many say it is both.
One of Oregon's top experts in the field, Oregon Health & Science University's Darryn Sikora, says Oregon schools overstate the number of children with autism by mistakenly labeling students with other disorders -- such as attention-deficit disorder, mental retardation, anxiety disorders and attachment problems -- as autistic.
Sikora heads OHSU's Autism Program, housed in the Child Development and Rehabilitation Center, where hundreds of children are evaluated and diagnosed each year. It is the only Oregon program in the national Autism Treatment Network designed to help figure out a gold standard of care for children and teens with autism.
A survey at Sikora's clinic two years ago found that, among patients seen there after being told by their school they had autism, only one-third were actually autistic, according to current medical standards.
Some families report that their child is getting fantastic help with their autism at school. But Sikora worries that misdiagnosing too many students as autistic cuts down on the resources available to help those who truly have autism.
Still, she agrees with educators that autism is real, that it's growing and that intensive early therapy is a must to help affected children thrive.
Young children with autism need 20 to 25 hours a week of therapy, which can be provided by a trained parent as well as a professional, Sikora says.
Families often feel they need to go beyond special education programs and get private help for their autistic children -- but may not be able to afford it, says Genevieve Athens, executive director of the Autism Society of Oregon, a resource network for families with autistic children.
"Some of these students only get 45 minutes of speech therapy a week," Athens says. "The No. 1 issue I hear is: 'How do I get more services for my child?' "
Athens said some districts do "a pretty good job" of serving students with autism, among them Tigard-Tualatin and Beaverton.
"But I don't think the public school system is ramping up to handle the onslaught of these kids, and they're certainly not putting in place cutting-edge therapies. . . . I think it's a matter of funding."
Patrick Tomblin, special education director in Lake Oswego, acknowledges that cost is a big hurdle. His district saw a 20 percent increase in students with autism this year. Many of them are high-functioning, high-IQ students with a form of autism known as Asperger's syndrome.
Putting such students into a regular classroom with one-on-one support can be ideal for many of them, he says. "It costs us $31,000 for an educational assistant" -- roughly three times as much funding as districts receive for a special education student.
Oregon spends about $500 million a year for special education services. About 18 percent of that is covered by the federal government; state and local taxpayers pay the rest.
Nancy Latini, Oregon's assistant superintendent who oversees special education, says her department will ask the Legislature in 2009 for a special fund to help students with autism. Schools need more training for teachers, more services for autistic students and more robust connections to OHSU and other groups that serve autistic children and know autism, she said.
"Coming up with a pot of money to go deeper for these kids is just common sense and something we're hearing from everybody in the schools."
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Source: The Oregonian
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