10 22 02 ALERT

Are you a teacher of children with autism? Are you a special ed teacher who doesnot have the training, time, and support you need to do your job? Are you anadminstrator who wants to educate your school board about
special education costs?

Are you an attorney or advocate who represents a child with autism? Are you anadvocate who helps parents negotiate for appropriate special education services?

Are you a legislator who wants to improve special education outcomes? Are you aspecial ed consumer or provider who is concerned about the special ed law?

DOWNLOAD NY TIMES ARTICLE ABOUT ABA THERAPY AND STEFAN JAYNES

If you want to educate others about early intervention, ABA therapy or specialeducation issues, download “Autism Therapy is Called Effective, ButRare” by Laurie Tarkan (New York Times, Oct 22, 2002).

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/22/health/children/22AUTI.html

Ms. Tarkan describes the problems parents face in getting appropriate servicesfor their children with autism, including the failure to use effective methodsto teach these children. She concludes, “A vast majority
of children with autism are not getting the intensive early intervention thatexperts say is both essential and effective.”

IMPORTANT! Before you can download articles from The New York Times site, youmust register and get a password!

We are making this article and supporting info available on the Wrightslaw site(link follows). However — you should get the original New York Times article –the NY Times has far more persuasive clout than Wrightslaw!

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QUOTES FROM ARTICLE BY LAURIE TARKAN

“No one has found a cure for autism, the neurological disorder that leadsto lifelong impairments in a child’s ability to speak, respond to others, shareaffection and learn. But there is a growing consensus that intensive
early intervention is both effective and essential ? the sooner afterdiagnosis, the better.”

“Yet the success of early intervention is posing a painful predicament forschools and families ? a predicament made more immediate by a rising tide ofdiagnoses of autism. Last week, researchers reported that the number of
austistic children in California had risen more than sixfold since 1987, andother states and the federal government have also noted sharp increases.”(See “A Mysterious Upsurge in Autism,” NY Times Op-Ed Article, October20, 2002)

“By federal law, public schools must provide appropriate education forchildren with disabilities, starting at age 3. But the treatment is so expensive? averaging $33,000 a year, according to research published in the journalBehavioral Intervention ? that many families cannot persuade their schooldistricts to pay for it.”

“Brian and Juliana Jaynes of Newport News, Va., can testify to that. As ababy, their son, Stefan, developed normally, if not ahead of the curve. By age2, his vocabulary was well over 100 words. He knew his address and his
colors, and he spoke in short sentences. But soon after his second birthday, hestarted to regress, forgetting the words he once knew.”

“His parents suspected a neurological disorder. A specialist confirmedtheir suspicions, telling them Stefan was severely autistic and urging them toget intensive therapy for him.”

“Instead, school officials placed Stefan in a special-education preschool,where, the Jayneses say, he rapidly regressed. (The school district says theplacement was appropriate.)”

“After the neurologist told the frantic couple that their son might have tobe institutionalized, they removed him from the preschool and began 40 hours aweek of behavior therapy at home.”

“It cost them more than $100,000 over three years. Today, Stefan, 11,attends a school for autistic children and has vastly improved his language,social and self-help skills . . . The behavior therapy, his father said, ‘hasbrought about an awakening in this little boy’s personality that is truly amiracle.'”

“In recent years, four leading institutions ? the American Academy ofPediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the SurgeonGeneral and the National Academy of Sciences ? have called for
early intervention, including one-on-one therapy, for children with autism. Apanel of experts convened by the academy last year recommended a minimum of 25hours a week, 12 months a year.”

“But Dr. Catherine Lord, the panel’s chairwoman and a psychology professorat the University of Michigan, estimates that fewer than 10 percent of childrenwith autism are getting the recommended level of therapy.”

“Autistic children lose the ability to learn by observation, somethingother children do constantly. Behavioral therapy is aimed at teaching thesechildren how to learn.”

“The federal education law leaves decisions about therapy to professionalsand parents. But administrators say parents often demand far more therapy thanthe experts recommend. ‘Is the school system going to override
teachers, and substitute the teacher’s decision with the parent’s decision?’asked Bruce Hunter, associate executive director for public policy at theAmerican Association of School Administrators in Arlington,
Va.”

“Many experts believe society would pay less in the long run if childrenreceived appropriate early intervention. An article in Behavioral Interventionin 1998 found that if 100 children were given early intensive intervention and40 of them had only partial improvement, the public would save $9.5 million overtheir school years, ages 3 to 22.”

“Yet another obstacle to early intervention is delayed diagnosis. Autism ismost commonly diagnosed at 20 to 36 months, but experts say the signs oftensurface earlier. Many families experience delays because
pediatricians often dismiss their concerns.”

“The growing awareness of autism may ease that problem. (Autism is nowdiagnosed in 1 out of 600 children, by most estimates.) But without appropriatetherapy, early diagnosis does little but create frustration for parents, asStefan’s mother, Juliana Jaynes, recalled recently. ‘I had the doctor telling methat every moment counts,’ she said. ‘There’s that horrible feeling of timeslipping away and nothing being done.'”

READ FULL TEXT OF NY TIMES ARTICLE BY LAURIE TARKAN

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/22/health/children/22AUTI.html

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LINKS TO NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE, STEFAN’S CASE, RESEARCH, FREE PUBS

To read the New York Times article by Laurie Tarkan, an article and thedecisions in Stefan’s case, and get more info about ABA Lovaas therapy, pleasego to —

http://www.wrightslaw.com/news/2002/jaynes.tarkan.nytimes.htm

Read “Anatomy of a Special Education Case” about Stefan’s case at:

http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/articles/anatomy_case_jaynes.htm

Get articles, legal decisions, free publications, free newsletters, support andinformation from the Wrightslaw Autism Page:

http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/autism.index.htm

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