April is Autism Awareness Month April 21st, 2011

Official Message from the State Director of the Special Education Division

April is Autism Awareness month. In recognition of this growing developmental disability, Fred Balcom, Director of the Special Education Division, would like to share with you a few facts regarding autism.

Autism is one of five disorders which fall under the umbrella of Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD), a category of neurological disorders characterized by severe and pervasive impairment in several areas of development. According to the American Psychological Association, most signs or characteristics of autism are evident in the areas of speech or communication (verbal and non-verbal). Many of the signs or symptoms of autism begin presenting themselves between two and six years of age.

A 2006 research study from the Centers for Disease Control shows that approximately one in 110 children, within all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups, are diagnosed with autism. In addition, a diagnosis is on average four to five times more likely to occur in boys than in girls. At this time, there is no known cause with an estimated 1.5 million individuals in the United States and tens of millions worldwide affected by autism. In California, it is estimated that 8.8 percent of the 680,000 public school children have been diagnosed with autism—approximately 60,000 students. Most school districts have seen a doubling of the number of students with autism in just the past four years.

For additional information on the Senate Select Committee on Autism and Related Disorders, please visit its Web page at:
http://www3.senate.ca.gov/portal/site/senscoa?vgnextfmt=internaldefault. (Outside Source)

Additional information on autism can be found on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention information Web page at: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/index.htm. (Outside Source)

For further information regarding autism-related issues, please contact Kathleen Halvorson, Consultant, Special Education Division, by phone at 916-319-0756 or by e-mail at [email protected].
Read More at Article Source
Thank You to our Funders!

The support of our funders and donors helps keep YO! Disabled & Proud running strong year after year. The more funding we receive, the more youth we can organize in the pursuit of their rights and education. Please Make a Donation, Keep YO! Going Strong…