Autism group wants help center network

Friday, December 12, 2008 By DAVE PARKS News Staff Writer

Alabama needs a network of centers to help provide critical services to a growing number of people diagnosed with autism, and a bill to create this network is planned for the next legislative session in February, members of a group working on the proposal said Thursday.

During a meeting at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, members of the Alabama Autism Task Force said the centers should be modeled after a system that has evolved in Florida. The Florida autism service centers are run through seven universities and funded by the state. The total cost is about $7 million a year, or roughly $400 a client.

The concept has gained support from the Alabama Education Association, said Jim Wrye, director of communications for the association and a member of the task force. Rep. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, has agreed to sponsor legislation, and Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom Jr. has promised help, Wrye said.

Legislation creating the centers will likely precede funding because of the state's tight finances. "We may be able to pass legislation in the next session and have the funding come down the next year," Wrye said.

He said better services are critically needed by more than 30,000 adults and children in Alabama who have been diagnosed with autism, a complex disorder that is being diagnosed at alarmingly higher rates throughout the United States. Autism can range from very mild to severe and can cause repetitive behaviors, obsessive interests and difficulties with social interaction and communication.

Early diagnosis and skillful intervention can greatly improve the lives of people with autism and help families cope with the disorder, said Karen A. Berkman, who directs Florida's Center for Autism and Related Disability at the University of South Florida.

Dr. Laura G. Klinger, a professor of psychology at the University of Alabama, noted that studies are showing that about half the children in Alabama with autism are being diagnosed after age 3, eliminating the possibility of treatment during an early period of crucial brain development.

Berkman said dealing with autism requires the ability to determine how to help people, and not necessarily change them or try to cure them of annoying behavior.

"We're not here to fix people," Berkman told the task force. "It's all about improving quality of life."

Berkman's center offers a wide variety of services at no charge, including training for teachers, consultations for families, parent education, project planning, technical assistance and public awareness. Florida's centers do not handle crisis situations, provide diagnosis or medical advice, or duplicate services being delivered by other agencies.

"People come to us," Berkman said. "We respond to need."

Wrye said many good support services for autism are available in Alabama, but not enough of them. Creating a system would help spread expertise and awareness throughout the state.

As it stands, access to services are spotty, and getting the right kind of help depends largely upon where a family lives and how much time and money parents have to spend on a child with autism.

For instance, Matt Maini of Etowah County has a 12-year-old daughter who is severely autistic. His daughter attends a local public school where she has been placed in a special education class and segregated from other students, even for lunch, Maini said. "She's always been secluded," he said.

In addition to general special education services, his daughter receives 45 minutes a month of special speech and occupational therapy. That's not nearly enough, Maini said.

Maini, a manager at the Honda plant in Lincoln, said he and his wife drive their daughter to Birmingham twice a week for special services at two treatment centers - Mitchell's Place and Hands. They have considered moving to Birmingham, but the move would be difficult and costly, he said.

He doesn't expect Etowah County schools to provide everything for his daughter, but would like to see better training and resources for teachers and better awareness by administrators. And it's important that his daughter learn to interact with other children.

"It's been a fight," he said.

E-mail: dparks@bhamnews.com