Changing the Face of Education for Very Young Children with Autism

How can policy-makers, educators, and parents work together to improve education  for children with autism?

Catherine Lord, professor of psychiatry at the University of Chicago, recently chaired a National Research Council committee that wrote a report about the need for intensity of services for very young children.  This report is entitled, "Educating Children with Autism."

This 300 page booklet (order information at www.map.edu/catalog/10017.html) describes that experienced professionals can now reliably diagnose autism in two year olds and the need for a minimum of services of a school day for five days a week year-round.

An overview article, (http://www4.nas.edu/onpi/oped.nsf/(Op-EdByDocID)/CFE0E5B4249692A885256A8400669522?OpenDocument Pulling Together to Educate Children with Autism provides valuable information.

Autism Resource Teams in Iowa will be discussing this issue and working to improve early identification and intensity of services to this population. A new description in Iowa of what these toddlers 18 to 36 months are missing from the early social-communication markers can be found at this site.