Lead: There are nearly 3,000 children in West Virginia who are diagnosed with autism.
Concerned residents and parents from both sides of the Ohio River met in Belmont County, Ohio, recently to discuss autism issues and create localized ways to improve autism education.
The focus group is part of a pilot project sponsored by the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Keri Brown reports.
Brown: The exact cause of Autism is unknown, but environmental and genetic factors are believed to be contributors. Children with autism withdraw from their natural environment. Signs include not reaching developmental milestones like talking, answering when their name is called or unable to point or follow an object.
Teaching them can be difficult for parents both emotionally and financially. They need more attention and specialized education. A state autism team in West Virginia comprised of educators, parents and physicians is working together to address autism issues. Keely Camden, is an education professor at Bethany College.
Camden: Right now when child identified with autism there is no one central bank of resources there is a waiver program on this side, Easter Seals on this side there are different therapies, educational options and biomedical options and there is no one central repository that hold all of that information.
Brown: Crystal and Scott Seladoski have been overwhelmed with confusion and frustration since their 7 year old son Christian was diagnosed with autism 4 years ago.
Crystal Seladoskis: You are on a waiting list for about 6 months to get into an actual doctor who could diagnose him.
Scott Seladoski: “and that is the earliest that…”
Crystal Seladoski: “We could get him in is six months and that is the most excruciating period of your life because you want to accept it and move on and make it better.”
Brown : The Seladoskis finally had to go to Morgantown for their son’s diagnosis. Their insurance company won’t pay for a lot of his care.
Seladoskis: Financially, it’s been devastating to us, devastating. I mean you are talking a low estimation for children with autism would be $70,000 to $80,000 a year in medical and they won’t cover.
Brown: This year, The Seladoskis lobbied to get a bill passed that would require insurance companies to pay for autism related care. But the bill failed in the House Finance Committee. Instead, lawmakers approved a year long study.
Christian is now at the Augusta Levy Learning Center in Wheeling, which specializes in teaching children with autism.
Teachers are massaging the children’s legs and feet. The theory is that these children show less autistic behavior, and are more social and attentive after receiving massage therapy.
The Seladoskis say Christian is making tremendous progress.
“My child was non verbal at the point when we brought him here. The second day when I dropped him off he said goodbye Dad, the second day,” Scott Seladoski says.
Brown: Kathy Shappel is the director of the Augusta Levy Learning Center, which is currently housed in a church. The center can only provide services to 8 or 9 children at a time, when there are over 100 on a waiting list for services.
Federal law requires public schools to provide children with disabilities research based instruction, even if public schools don’t have the resources to provide the appropriate education. Shappel says many children end up falling through the cracks.
Shappel: The funding from the educational side of it is also a battle and they need to provide appropriate services for the child so if they can’t provide those services themselves then they can contract out to behavioral health systems or non public schools like ours. Well, that’s a battle every single year for every single child for every single parent.
Brown: According to the Centers for Disease Control one in every 150 children in the United States has autism or a closely related disorder. That number is even higher in boys, one in 98.Dr. Judy Romano is a pediatrician at Wheeling Hospital and attended the focus group in Belmont County Ohio. She says better communication with parents will help doctors detect autism early on.
Romano: Using validated screening tools will help identify children with that either have a developmental delay or at risk of a developmental delay and there are specific screening tools for autism screening disorder. Those tools are suggested to be used at least at the 18 month visit and the 24 month visit.
Brown: Proper training for educators is also a concern. Camden, the education professor at Bethany College, says the state team is also looking at making changes to the current certification process. She says students should be required to work with children who have autism, before they receive their certification.
Camden: The state no longer requires programs to be state approved which sounds strange but any school now can offer autism certification classes now. All the school districts and districts in the Northern Panhandle won’t even post a job without the autism certification and that’s why seeing push for certification there are different methods of teaching and needs so you see school districts struggling to keep up with this influx and that’s why we are encouraging our students to their certification.
Brown: Meanwhile, The Augusta Levy Learning Center plans to enroll more children to meet the growing need. Shappel expects to move to a bigger facility in the fall. For West Virginia Public Broadcasting, I’m Keri Brown in Bethany.