On Special Education

After I wrote two weeks ago about Missouri lawmakers' considering vouchers for students with autism, Piet van Lier directed me to an analysis he did for a Cleveland-based public policy group on Ohio's autism voucher program. It grants parents up to $20,000 a year in state aid in order to pay for educational services. The program served 734 children in the 2006-07 school year, at a cost to the state of about $10.8 million, and the policy analysis suggests that money would be better used to expand programs that can serve more children with autism.

My article will be in next week's print edition, but it's already up on the web. The comments on my Missouri blog post, plus the interviews I did for the Ohio story, make it clear to me that the parents who use such programs really love them. I asked parents if they were concerned that school districts might avoid bolstering their autism programs if they believed they could just shift parents onto the voucher program. Lori Peacock, a mother I quoted in the article, said she has heard of districts very pointedly making parents aware that they can take voucher money and go elsewhere.

Peacock, who has a 12-year-old son with autism, said she doesn't feel like she can wait for districts to get their acts together. "They've had nine years to get it right for him, and they still haven't gotten it right," she said. "We need to have options."

OK, teachers and administators--what do you think?

Posted by Christina Samuels at 5:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Be sure to catch the premiere of Autism: the Musical at 8 p.m. tonight on HBO. This 90-minute documentary follows five children with autism and their families over six months as they prepare for a full-length musical production.

Even better, people without HBO (like me) will be able to see the entire production online beginning Wednesday and ending March 31.

The documentary has received positive reviews in Variety, The New York Times, and the Newark Star-Ledger (scroll down past the farewell to Jericho.). I'll be back to update this with my thoughts, but please feel free to post your own.

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Lawmakers in Missouri are considering following the lead of four other states that offer vouchers to parents of students with disabilities. I wrote about this issue about a year ago. Now, as then, I wonder: Even when such bills pass, are there enough schools available to accept these children?

The Missouri bill would be specifically for children with autism, and the lawmakers for and against vouchers in Missouri make familiar arguments. Those in favor say that such programs are a necessity for parents who don't have good options available to them in public schools. Opponents think it's a ploy to eventually spread vouchers to all students.

The bill under consideration is known as Bryce's Law, named for the grandson of the legislator who is behind the measure.

An alternative plan proposed by opponents of the measure would create an autism advisory council, an ombudsman to assist parents and districts, and early childhood education centers.

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John McCain has been busy lately--clinching the Republican nomination for president, visiting the White House to receive an official endorsement from President Bush. Not too busy, however, to wade into one of the most controversial issues roiling the autism community.

According to a recent New York Times article, McCain said during a campaign stop in Texas that “It’s indisputable that autism is on the rise among children." He continued, "The question is, what’s causing it? And we go back and forth, and there’s strong evidence that indicates that it’s got to do with a preservative in vaccines.”

Many medical experts say he's half right: diagnoses of autism cases are on the rise. But, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there's no link between the communication disorder and thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative once used in vaccines.

McCain's comments have rolled across the highly sensitized autism community. Campaign U., a blog of the Chronicle of Higher Education, has collected a sample of critical web commentary. Many of the comments on ABC News journalist Jake Tapper's blog offer an opposing view.

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Perhaps the question mark betrays my reporterly skepticism. I must admit that when I heard about an ABC World News story on a nonberbal 13-year-old girl with autism who was now using a computer to express herself eloquently, I thought, hmm, is this "facilitated communication?"

I know that assistive devices can be tremendously helpful for children who cannot speak. But facilitated communication, where a helper in some cases supports the hand of the person who is disabled, has had a rockier history. A critical 1993 Frontline story on the issue said that in at least some cases, the facilitator was subtly guiding the hand of the person who was supposed to be typing the words. My colleague Debra Viadero wrote a longer piece about facilitated communication, also in 1993. Some people may also be familiar with the technique because it was used with Sue Rubin, the subject of a short documentary, "Autism is a World," nominated for an Oscar in 2005.

Facilitated communication advocates have responded to the criticism with a list of studies that offer support for the method.

The ABC story clearly touched a nerve. The network received so much attention that it aired a follow-up a day after the original story. Both segments depicted the teenager, Carly Fleischmann, typing without any physical assistance. In an online conversation, Carly's parents say they have never used facilitated communication with her. They have, however, paid for 25 to 40 hours a week on intensive behavioral and speech therapy for their daughter since she was a toddler.

For educators, perhaps the most important lesson is in the last statement: parents, therapists, and teachers must be ever-creative in helping children with autism "find their voice."

Posted by Christina Samuels at 4:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Just in case its position wasn't clear yet, the American Academy of Pediatrics is promoting a mercury-in-vaccines study in its journal because of the controversy over the ABC drama "Eli Stone." The show, which premieres tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern time, features a lawyer who successfully argues that a mercury preservative in a vaccine caused a child's autism.

The AAP demanded that the "reckless" episode be yanked, but ABC has agreed only to run a disclaimer.

The University of Rochester (N.Y.) study says that babies excrete thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative used in vaccines, much faster than originally thought. Therefore, the study's authors claim there's little chance that the chemical can build up and have toxic effects. Thimerosal has been removed from childhood vaccines given in the United States, but not in Argentina, where the study was conducted. The full study, which will appear in the February issue of Pediatrics, doesn't appear to be online, but the university has written a press release on it.

Understandably, this issue has stirred up the always-passionate autism activists in the blogosphere. I'm not wading into this fight, but for those who are interested, here's a blog post by author and journalist David Kirby, who believes there is a link between mercury and autism. And here's a link by a blogger called "Orac," who seeks to refute Kirby's points.

I'd love to hear what readers think of the episode after it airs! Was it worth all the furor? Please come back and share your thoughts.

Posted by Christina Samuels at 5:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The American Academy of Pediatrics sent out a huffy press release this week, demanding that ABC cancel the premiere episode of a new television show, "Eli Stone," because the main character, a lawyer, successfully argues that a child's autism was caused by mercury in a vaccine. The show might scare parents away from vaccines, the release said.

ABC's response? No way. But the network has agreed to add a disclaimer to the premiere. (See The New York Times article here.)

Some disability advocates have argued that thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, has played a role in the explosive growth of autism cases seen nationwide. Scientists have failed to find a link, however, as noted in an article I wrote in 2006. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the pediatrician group recommended in 1999 that the preservative be removed from childhood vaccines. Today, most childhood vaccines are thimerosal-free. "Eli Stone" is scheduled to air at 10 p.m. Thursday.

Speaking of disabilities on TV, a young actor with cerebral palsy is being featured on a new cable television show,"Breaking Bad," on AMC. I can't speak to the realism of a burned-out chemistry teacher becoming a meth-cooking criminal in this dark comedy, but 15-year-old RJ Mitte offers a fine performance as his son. Interestingly, the biographical information on Mitte indicates that he had to re-learn some manifestations of cerebral palsy for this role that he had worked in real life to shed; for instance, his character uses crutches and has some problems with verbal articulation. I'd like to see more of him.

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