Long Island schools challenged by autism's growth -

Explosive growth in the number of Long Island students diagnosed with autism and other neurological disorders is pitting parents who seek greater help for their children against school officials struggling to ...

[Carrie]

my brother - "rainman" autistic was labled first as "emotionally disturebed". what my mom told me to say to people that asked what was wrong with my brother. later autistic.

my brother was born "normal" - or seemingly normal. lyme disease seems to run in our family now that i know what it was. having almost died of it. upenn drs thought my serious symptoms funny.

now i realize that Both of my children did exhibit autistic symptoms. and well, so do my husband and i. they are high funtioning.

turns out i got lyme so many times, we unwittingly took photos of me with the bullseye rash. we live in a highly endemic area, and we vacationed twice on Nantucket Island where the photos were taken.

yet, i tested neg on upenn lyme tests, and despite clear evidence of coinfections, was never tested for them. just used the "neg" lyme test - well actually tests. when someone told me of the IgeneX LUAT test, the upenn dr faked it, then had his office staff call me and tell me it was neg for lyme. i "only had" fibromyalgia. an "non-fatal" disease. only a antidepressent was offered.

i have lyme and babeisa. and? i passed this on to my children congenitally and thru breastmilk. i nursed both of my children until they gave it up on thier own at about age two. i thought i was doing the best thing for them. not sickening them with my disease.

i'm tired now. but this can be cured. tired.

[Rob]

Sad. I wish they'd find a cure. In the meantime, if our federal government wasn't spending $$$ knocking down and then rebuilding other countries, they could spend the $ to fund exemplary special education programs for all communities that have children in need...but I guess we all sleep better at night knowing that Saddam Hussein is gone.

[Kevin]

I don't understand how it costs a school district an additional $13,000 per student per year to educate special education students.

It doesn't make sense to me because a lot of kids in Special Education classes do not have autism or serious disabilities - they have slight reading and writing problems, or problems seeing and interpreting numbers (dyslexia, for example).

How does a little extra help cost an additional $13,000 per year per student? And take into consideration that a lot of kids who have learning disabilities aren't helped by their school districts at all (yet when they are placed in private learning programs or home schooled, they find ways to work around their problem or the problem is corrected - that says a lot about the state of public education in America, doesn't it boys and girls?).

I have not studied this problem so I can't say that I'm an expert. But I was once a Special Education student (I had serious problems with reading as a child). And I can tell you that the school district DID NOT spend an additional $13,000 on me than on the other students.

They put all of the special ed kids in a separate room and had them do nothing for most of the day - I only had the chance to be mainstreamed because my parents knew that the special ed system was broken and pushed hard on my behalf.

I didn't even get a textbook or a desk in the mainstream class, so where are these numbers coming from? Occupational Therapy costs $13,000 per student per year? Bringing in a district employee already on the payroll to teach modified gym costs $13,000 a year?

I don't think so! Something is very wrong here.

[Former Vollie]

"Long Island schools challenged by autism's growth"

Is really a "growth" or a growth in LABELING??

Personally, I'd rather see a cure for cancer. I'm 33 and I know far too many people that have died from cancer (all types, too -- there's an epidemic on the North Shore of Long Island folks!) and I don't know ONE kid with autism. Nor do I know anyone who knows someone who has it or whose kid has it.

[Old School Mets Fan]

Former Vollie wrote:

"Long Island schools challenged by autism's growth"
Is really a "growth" or a growth in LABELING??
Personally, I'd rather see a cure for cancer. I'm 33 and I know far too many people that have died from cancer (all types, too -- there's an epidemic on the North Shore of Long Island folks!) and I don't know ONE kid with autism. Nor do I know anyone who knows someone who has it or whose kid has it.

You need to go out more. My daughter has it and if I go to any random playground on Long Island there's usually one other child there.

I asked my daughter's neurologist your very question and she says no, it's not just labeling, there's been an explosion of kids with autism.

I'd love to see a cure for cancer too, that doesn't mean I don't want other families going through what my family has.

[njam595]

Our son is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) more specifically known as Asperger Syndrome, first detected and misdiagnosed at 3. He is now 12.

The article does not explain that every child afflicted with ASD is unique and different. They all might exhibit similar core characteristics but each and every one is as unique as another person’s hair color. Making them extreemly difficult to educate; not an excuse for ignorance.

For parents the "frustration" only begins with initial acceptance. It is difficult to obtain an accurate diagnosis, coping skills, home skills, life skills, academic education, treatment and understanding. Our children experience the same changes as any other child in the various stages of life only multiplied by 10. Just when you think you have a handle on it; it changes.

We paid an unprecedented school tax where we lived in on LI and foolishly expected they would be ahead in dealing with it. Coming into it 9 years ago at the beginning of what is now being called epidemic I can't be convinced the teachers and administrators didn’t see this coming.

There is no excuse for a school district to fight giving services to a child with a diagnosis. There is solid evidence to prove that early intervention averts the tendency for delinquent behavior.

These children are unpredictable because the characteristics of the condition are present to varying degrees at any given time. For example in the morning he may be overwhelmed by symptoms of ADHD and after lunch he may be sullen with paranoia. Children with ASD also have a heightened sensory awareness. That includes light, sound, motion, touch, smell, texture and so on.
It’s very simple. Excessive sensory input = Over stimulation.

After being alienated and subject to constant humiliation and the torment of bullying who wouldn't be angry. Expecting these children to function in a regular setting as it is currently structured is paramount to inflicting torture.

The schools already know these kids learn best in a small setting that is quiet, organized, predictable and mundane. They need to accept that this is here to stay and put as much energy into finding ways to help the kids COPE as they do fighting.

We now live in NC where our son receives a regular public education in an alternative setting. His academic and emotional needs are anticipated and compensated for by a very well trained and understanding staff. He is happier then he has ever been in life.

[Sarah J]

The $13,000 figure is an average. If you take into account the dozens to hundreds of children that each LI district sends to "out of district" placements (ranging from BOCES programs to residential settings) at up to $100,000 per student per year you can see how it easily adds up. The reduction in the number of students classified as "Learning Disabled" is partly due to the change in the reauthurization of IDEA in 2004 that let districts adopt a Response to Intervention model instead of testing and classifying every struggling student.

[Agnes Kelly]

As much as I agree cancer is rising, you are very ignorant to say you aren't concerned with Autism just because you are not personally affected by it. Shame on you. You haven't got a clue what it is like especially for the child having to live with an incurable disability. Maybe it would be good if you were affected by it, so you would be a little more compassionate. I feel sorry for people like you, get educated.