Number of US Students With Autism, Up 1300%
From: Robina Suwol
Date: 09 Nov 2003
Time: 21:12:13
Remote Name: 66.169.114.209
Comments
Number of U.S. Students with Autism Jumped 1,300% in 8 Years
Figures from the most recent U.S. Department of Education's 2002 Report to
Congress on IDEA reveal that number of students with autism in America's
schools jumped an alarming 1,354% in the eight-year period from the school
year 1991-92 to 2000-2001. This rate of increase is almost 50 times higher
than the rate of increase of 28.4% for all disabilities, or 26.75% for all
disabilities excluding autism.
The number of students with autism being served in public schools under the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) rose from 5,415 in 1991-92
to 78,749 in 2000-01. In comparison, the number of students with all
disabilities being served under IDEA rose from 4,499,824 to 5,775,722 during
the same period.
The rates in the report, entitled the "Twenty-fourth Annual Report to
Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (U.S. Department of Education, 2002)," compare with a rate of change of
173% for autism and 16% for all disabilities over the nine-year period from
1998-89 to 1997-98, as reported in the Department of Education's "Twenty-first
Annual Report," published in 1999.
Based on the rate of growth for autism, ASA estimates that the total number
of students with autism being served in U.S. public schools currently exceeds
100,000.
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U.S. Cabinet Officials, Congressmen, Researchers and ASA Leaders Set to
Address November Autism Summit
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S.
Department of Education have released a draft agenda of speakers and topics
for the Autism Summit Conference set to be held in Washington, DC. U.S.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson and U.S. Secretary of
Education Rod Paige,Ph.D., are just two of the many government leaders,
researchers, and autism experts scheduled to speak at this first-ever event of
its kind on November 19 and 20, 2003.
Also on tap to address the summit are: U.S. Congressmen Dan Burton (R-IN);
Dave Weldon, M.D., (R-FL); Assistant Secretary of Education Robert Pasternack,
Ph.D.; Jose Cordero, M.D., M.P.H., Assistant U.S. Surgeon General and Director
of the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); researchers from the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) and CDC; and more than a dozen
universities from across the country.
Several leaders from the Autism Society of America will also be presenting.
They include: Lee Grossman, Chair of the ASA Board of Directors; Rob Beck, ASA
President; David Holmes, Ed.D., member of the ASA Board and Chair of the ASA
Panel of Professional Advisors; Cathy Pratt, Ph.D., 2nd Vice Chair of the ASA
Board of Directors and Chair of the Conference
Committee; Jeff Sell, 1st Vice Chair of the ASA Board of Directors; Stephen
Shore, member of the ASA Board of Directors and outspoken advocate and
individual with autism; and Jim Ball, member of the ASA Panel of Professional
Advisors.
Topics to be covered during the two-day conference, which is free to the
public, are: 1) services for individuals with autism across the lifespan; 2)
early screening and diagnosis; and 3) biomedical research.
National Institute of Health's homepage (
www.nih.gov)
and doing a search for "autism summit."
Last changed: March 14, 2006