Wednesday April 13th 11
AM
South lawn of the Statehouse
in
The Ohio Autism
Taskforce, created by Ohio House Bill 95,
released its 43 recommendations to Governor Taft, Speaker of the Ohio
House and
President of the Ohio Senate. The Taskforce found an alarming
rise in
autism cases of over 300% in the last 5 years as reported by the Ohio
Department of Education (ODE). There are now 5,406 children
identified
with autism in the public school districts in
The increase in the number of individuals
identified with autism may be the result of improved diagnosis, a real
increase
in the prevalence, or a combination of other factors the report stated.
The
incidence of autism is growing to epidemic proportions. The
taskforce
recommends that the state of
In addition, it recommends the
establishment of a standard practice of autism diagnosis and to develop
and
implement guidelines to facilitate the timely educational
identification of
students with autism. The concept of creating a comprehensive
statewide
system to accurately identify the number of individuals with autism in
It is the recommendation of the taskforce
to continue the Ohio Autism Scholarship Program (ASP), which has
received rave reviews
from parents throughout the state. The taskforce conducted 8
forums
throughout the last year and parents at all 8, in almost unanimous
consent,
raved about what a terrific program it was and how much it had helped
their
children.
It is also recommended that health
insuring corporations are prevented from excluding coverage for
services to
individuals with autism and that the General Assembly enacts mental
health
parity.
In
addition, it is the recommendation of the task force that a Medicaid
home and
community based waiver for individuals with autism be submitted to the
Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and implemented upon
approval.
Medicaid waivers represent an important funding alternative in resource
limited
fiscal environments, such as
The taskforce recommends that the special
weighted formula be expanded to provide funding for preschool age
children and
that the General Assembly provides an appropriation for that
purpose. In
addition, it recommends updating the special education weighted formula
to
reflect the current costs of providing services to individuals with
disabilities. It is further recommended to fund the special
education
formula at 100% of costs. It also recommends a study be conducted
in Ohio
to determine the long term fiscal costs of a lack of early
interventions and
that the Ohio General Assembly provides funding for that study as
well.
As recommended, an
Family support services are another
recommendation of the taskforce as well as a recommendation that the
Ohio Board
of Regents and the ODE create an
There are many other recommendations the
taskforce developed. The complete comprehensive list is available
to view
at www.ohioautismlegislation.org.
The
taskforce has announced their intent to have a rally at the Ohio
Statehouse
Wednesday, April 13 at 11 AM in support of these recommendations and to
celebrate April as Autism Awareness Month as certified by Ohio Governor
Bob
Taft!
The rally information is as
follows: Wednesday April 13th 11 AM on the south lawn of the
Statehouse
in
This rally will be the one of the most
exciting days for Autism in the country. The list of
recommendations is
one of, if not the most comprehensive list in the country.
Please call Doug
Krinsky or e-mail
him with any questions concerning this information.
Doug
Krinsky, Parent of a 7 year old twin boy diagnosed with autism
Member Ohio Autism Taskforce
yogi1125@aol.com
1-614-882-8763