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News- Page 4
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Lobbyists push autism case
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Posted by sylvia on Thursday, January 24, 2008 (22:01:55)
By Ilona Marchetta
CARER families are lobbying hard to have one of six autistic-specific preschools promised by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd established in south-west Sydney.
The long day care centres will provide critical early intervention services that south-west children are going without.
A federal Department of Families and Community Services spokeswoman said she could not say how the sites for the preschools would be chosen, or if any areas had already been identified, because the concept was currently part of a confidential budget process.
The early intervention model being considered is tipped to be a reputable one developed in part by Brisbane-based Doctor James Morton. It focuses on developing social interaction and play skills, communication, and fine and gross motor skills, with a high teacher-to-student ratio.
Autism Advisory and Support Service president Grace Fava has long argued that carers and families in the south-west were scrounging for access to services experts claim give the best outcome for affected children. The south-west has a higher percentage of children (25per cent) compared to Sydney (7per cent) and the nation (19per cent).
The service is demanding federal representatives ensure a specialised centre is established in the region as well as improve access to service providers, who are expected to be in even greater demand after July 1 when a scheme offering 20 Medicare-funded therapy visits per child kicks in.
"Children need at least 20 hours a week in these programs to benefit.. they are lucky at the moment if they get one," Mrs Fava, a mother of two young autistic boys, said.
Werriwa MP Chris Hayes will meet with the service in coming weeks.
Details: www.aeiou.org.au and www.aass.org.au
camden ~ youguide (au)
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Autistic boy's parents win battle to send him to school
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Posted by sylvia on Thursday, January 24, 2008 (21:58:02)
by Angela Rainey
PARENTS of an autistic schoolboy have won a five-year battle to get their son into full-time education.
Anthony Rennard, 13, will soon take his place at Beverley School, Middlesbrough, after staying at home and going without full-time education since 2003.
His brief schooling experience ended when Anthony from Steel Close, South Bank, was just eight-years-old.
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Education : Autistic boy can stay at school
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Posted by sylvia on Monday, July 02, 2007 (11:43:08)
Allison Sherry
The Thompson School District must continue to pay $130,000-a-year private-school tuition for a severely autistic boy whose educational needs weren't being met in a traditional classroom, a U.S. District Court said.
Judge Walker Miller dismissed the school district's appeal that the cost of tuition at the private Boston Higashi School for Autism was above and beyond the "free adequate public education" required of all school districts.
The boy, Luke Perkins, has been attending the Boston school since January 2004, and the Thompson School District has been footing his tuition along with other fees.
School counselors and his parents, Jeff and Julie, found that Luke wasn't making progress educationally at Berthoud Elementary after he started there in 2002, according to court documents. Counselors there worked with his parents, but Luke's disabilities were severe and getting worse, according to court documents. At home and at school, Luke had extremely destructive behavior.
In a 23-page dismissal filed last week, Miller upheld an Individuals With Disability Education Act requirement, which says that students be educated in the "least restrictive appropriate educational environment."
The Higashi school fulfilled that, Miller wrote, because there were no other options for Luke in the area.
Thompson district spokesman Wes Fothergill said he was disappointed in the judge's dismissal.
The Board of Education hasn't made a decision about whether to pursue an appeal with the 10th Circuit Court.
Staff writer Allison Sherry can be reached at 303-954-1377 or asherry@denverpost.com.
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Education : District 6 struggles with influx of special education students
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Posted by sylvia on Monday, July 02, 2007 (11:21:37)
By Chris Casey
When three students with multiple disabilities entered Greeley-Evans School District 6 late last school year, it looked like a blip.
But magnify those few by the 250 special-education students identified in the district after the December count -- the report that determines how much federal funding a district gets for special education -- and budgets begin to bend and break.
That's what happened in the district's Exceptional Student Services Department this spring when student numbers swelled, causing a $1 million shortfall. The district -- mandated by the federal government to educate the students -- will cover the gap through the next two years, mostly by tapping reserve funds.
Earlier this month, the school board heard a report about 137 students who were identified after the federally mandated December count. That number is now 250 students -- 152 who were enrolled since last August but weren't identified until after the count, and 98 who moved into the district after December who were identified as having special needs or subsequently were identified.
The students beyond the 137 are primarily pre-kindergarten and were absorbed by last year's budget, said Vicki Hubbard, the district's Exceptional Student Services director. Still, while post-count special-education students arrive every year, and must be absorbed by the general fund budget, this year's bubble was greater than normal.
"Our rise was so big, and how much money it was, it was like, 'Whoa, a huge impact,' " Hubbard said.
School officials can't pinpoint what caused the influx, but Hubbard suspects that more families are becoming aware of special-education services in District 6. Early intervention programs, such as Child Find, which screens young children for disabilities, are being more widely used, she said.
Early detection is key, she said. "That makes a huge difference in us getting these students served."
Jesse Quinby, vice president of the District 6 school board, suspects some of the influx is from smaller school districts surrounding District 6 that are less equipped to handle the many needs of special-education students.
"We need to see where they're all coming from," he said. "Anecdotally, we know that they're coming from outside the district."
District 6 has 12 percent of its students in special education, up from 11 percent four years ago. The state average is 10 percent and other northern Colorado districts of similar sizes -- Fort Collins, Loveland and Longmont -- have 9.6, 8.2 and 8.8 percent, respectively. Unlike Greeley-Evans, those districts didn't see a sizable jump in post-count numbers this year.
Quinby said District 6, Weld County's largest school district, offers a full gamut of special-ed programs. It's hard to know when the surge will taper off, he said, but if numbers continue to swell, the district may need to set up a reserve contingency fund specifically for special education.
"We don't have any alternatives but to meet that (federal) mandate," he said. "We'll get ourselves into bigger trouble by shorting that (department) than by funding it."
To help cope with the current budget crunch, the Exceptional Student Services department has reduced one coordinator, leaving three, and has left vacant a program secretary position and two psychologist positions.
Hubbard told the board earlier this month she is working to find other budget efficiencies that are as far removed from students as possible. She is looking into ways the department can better collaborate with other community service agencies.
Managing special education is one of the most complex tasks in a district, because the spectrum of disabilities and required services -- from specialist faculty and staff to equipment -- is so wide. District 6 has seen increases of special-ed students in most categories from 2002 to 2006, including in physical or other health impairments (up 52 percent), autism (up 71 percent ) and traumatic brain injury (up 47 percent).
"We are obligated to take care of them no matter how they come to us," Hubbard said. "Every student needs to have these support services."
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Education : Sessions to help individuals with Asperger's syndrome
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Posted by sylvia on Monday, January 29, 2007 (21:20:06)
Spectator News
January 2007
By McLean Bennett
Beginning Feb. 12, a group of about 20 young adults will begin participating in a first-of-its-kind program at UW-Eau Claire.
The Facilitating Functional Social-Communication Skills in Adolescents program is designed to enhance communication skills among people with Asperger's syndrome, a condition that "results in an impairment in interpersonal skills," said Angela Sterling-Orth, a lecturer of communication sciences and disorders at Eau Claire.
"These individuals are usually very intelligent - sometimes gifted and talented - but lack many of the social-communication skills that are required for interpersonal relationships," Sterling-Orth said.
Kristine Retherford, chair of the communication sciences and disorders department, said the condition can impair people's judgment when communicating with others, which may affect their ability to hold a job.
"They may make a comment in a particular situation that is interpreted as inappropriate," she said. "They may make a comment to an employer that may not be appropriate."
Retherford said the program will involve three groups of young adults and will focus on teaching appropriate interaction skills.
"I'm very excited about the program," graduate student Tiffany Leighton said. Leighton will be one of two graduate students responsible for leading sessions with participants.
"Each group of adolescents and young adults will develop particular skill sets that will improve their communication," she said. "Everything centers around appropriate communication."
She said the groups will consist of about four to eight participants, totalling about 18 to 20 participants.
The groups will begin meeting Feb. 12 in the Center for Communication Disorders, located in the Human Sciences and Services Building.
Sterling-Orth added that two of the groups will meet twice a week and receive "intensive and individualized instruction." Another group, made up of older participants, will meet less frequently and their meetings will be less intensive, she said.
Sessions will focus on teaching communication skills through role-playing situations, Retherford said.
Leighton said she will also take the participants into the community to practice the skills learned in the sessions.
A $60,000 Medicaid infrastructure grant from the state and the federal government funded the program, Retherford said.
Ultimately, Retherford said she hopes the people who participate in the program become more comfortable communicating with others.
"We hope that by the end of the year, all � of our kids will be involved in volunteer or employment settings and have developed new leisure activities," she said. "They will have a greater sense of confidence in their communication."
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