“Special needs” is a growing problem in this country but it hasn’t been taken seriously by our lawmakers. There have been billions of dollars that have been thrown at the issue but by the time it gets to the local or individual level, it seems to have disappeared.
For 2009, the Federal Government has allotted $22.8 billion to be allotted to states specifically for rehabilitative services for developmental disabilities and special needs. The state of Illinois uses these funds to set aside $8 billion for special needs. Most of this money is set aside for public schools and formula grants. This means, the more special needs children that a public school enrolls, the more money it gets.
This seems like a lot of money, but it's going to a system that is understaff, inexperienced, underfunded, and ineffective. Not to mention it lets children fall through the cracks.
What if a child has more than one disability? That school gets no more money whether the child has one affliction or four. In fact, if a parent suspects another disability, that school will not bother to test for a second. Simply because the school will be spending money on testing that it will not recoup. I know several cases where this has happened.
Okay, back to the Illinois state budget. Since most of the money goes to the public schools, does any of it get to individuals? Well, some of it. The state of Illinois organized the Council for Developmental Disabilities. We’ve even talked to the assistant in this department, where he wasn’t even aware of the statistics. But we’ll get to that later.
The Council for the Developmental Disabilities is a department of 10 people. And the budget for 2009 allots it $4.3 million dollars. With almost 400,000 special needs children, that’s almost $11 a child. But wait, that’s the entire budget for the department. And it’s a department of 10 people. So how much gets granted to individuals for programs? $2.5 million is set aside for grants. That’s a little over $6 a child.
There are a little over 29,000 children in Illinois living with Autism. With a little over 1,600 new cased expected over the next 12 months. 4,000 with Down Syndrome, and 200,000 with ADHD. About 390,000 children in Illinois have some developmental disability. I doubt any has seen their six bucks. These are numbers from the CDC and Illinois own population data. When we presented these numbers to the Council for Developmental Disabilities, they were taken off guard. They had no idea. But they assured us they were doing every thing they could, and with an annual budget of $2.5 million, I had no doubts.
We’ve presented our cause to our local leaders and our cause have constantly fell on deaf ears.
Maybe it will concern them that over 2,000 children in his district live with a special need and with each child comes at least 2 registered voters. Meaning their parents. Not to mention the other family members and friends in that child’s life who sees that nothing on the state level is being done for their child.
We are speaking for those who can't speak for themselves and screaming for the parents and caregivers who only want to help their child.
If you need any questions answered or need any help, please write or visit our website.
john.rose@acceptbeliveandchange.org
richelle.rose@acceptbelieveandchange.org
http://www.acceptbelieveandchange.org/
Accept Believe and Change will follow
Life is about the journey, not the destination
John Rose, CPA
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Autism: Early intervention is important
Just reported, the rate of Autism has increased 57% to a rate of 1 in 110 births from a previous estimate of 1 in 150 births. With 71 million children living in the United States and the CDC estimating the number of children living with Autism at about 550,000, the previous estimate didn't make much sense. Since 1 in 150 births would estimate the number to be closer to 473,000. But now that the CDC has released the new estimate at 1 in 110 births, this would bring the cases of Autism at 645,000.
Although a cure would be nice, we have to help these children now. And we have to help the families. Parents are feeling like they have no where to turn. And lets face it, they don't. Children won't get diagnosed with Autism until they are at least 18 months old. After the diagnosis and the initial shock that there is something wrong with their child, a parent starts seeking help.
So what's the next step. Since Autism is a spectrum disorder, they need to get evaluated. It's imperative to find out where on the spectrum they lie. But you don't have forever. Early intervention is important because, there is a critical window of 3 to 5 years old. Before the age of 5, a child with Autism has the biggest chance of being helped regardless of where on the spectrum they lie.
Well, that settles it, right? I mean if you get a child diagnosed the second birthday, and they get their child evaluated, an Individual Education Plan can be established and everything will be okay.
If you're the parent of a child recently diagnosed with Autism, here's some things you'll find out the hard way. One, the waiting list for most public facilities is 18 months to two years to get your child evaluated. So if you're child was almost two years old when diagnosed, which is usually the case, you're child will almost be 4 years old to get evaluated.
Two, once evaluated you have to enroll your child into a program that specialized in Autism. Depending on what time of year it is, you could wait up to six months. And if that isn't enough, the public school system doesn't allow individual attention to children unless an Individual Education Plan (IEP) is requested. Since Autism is a spectrum disorder, individual attention is necessary.
Okay, fine. So what does it take to get an IEP. A lot harder than you think. Since it costs a public school more time and money to implement and IEP, they're not in a hurry to have one done. And even if you do have one established, most plans come out very vague and they never focus on the real problems.
You can go to private facilities and spend thousands of dollars to get your child evaluated sooner, but there is no guarantee the educational facility will accept the evaluation. And a rejection, will just push back your time table back even further.
Accept Believe and Change NPF is building a multi-sensory, early intervention facility that will help alleviate these problems. We are a non profit organization that will work with parents and local facilities to ensure that your child gets the best care. We will introduce multi-sensory therapies that a child with Autism will find therapeautic and relaxing. We will offer an Equipment Library , advocacy for you child, art therapy, music therapy, and counseling for parents.
If you have any questions to help your child, or you suspect Autism, or you're having trouble getting an IEP for your child, you can always write us.
richelle.rose@acceptbelieveandchange.org
john.rose@acceptbelieveandchange.org
Or visit our website at www.acceptbelieveandchange.org, visit the contact page to leave a comment, email, or question.
Accept...Believe...and Change will follow...
Life is about the journey, not the destination.
John Rose, CPA
Although a cure would be nice, we have to help these children now. And we have to help the families. Parents are feeling like they have no where to turn. And lets face it, they don't. Children won't get diagnosed with Autism until they are at least 18 months old. After the diagnosis and the initial shock that there is something wrong with their child, a parent starts seeking help.
So what's the next step. Since Autism is a spectrum disorder, they need to get evaluated. It's imperative to find out where on the spectrum they lie. But you don't have forever. Early intervention is important because, there is a critical window of 3 to 5 years old. Before the age of 5, a child with Autism has the biggest chance of being helped regardless of where on the spectrum they lie.
Well, that settles it, right? I mean if you get a child diagnosed the second birthday, and they get their child evaluated, an Individual Education Plan can be established and everything will be okay.
If you're the parent of a child recently diagnosed with Autism, here's some things you'll find out the hard way. One, the waiting list for most public facilities is 18 months to two years to get your child evaluated. So if you're child was almost two years old when diagnosed, which is usually the case, you're child will almost be 4 years old to get evaluated.
Two, once evaluated you have to enroll your child into a program that specialized in Autism. Depending on what time of year it is, you could wait up to six months. And if that isn't enough, the public school system doesn't allow individual attention to children unless an Individual Education Plan (IEP) is requested. Since Autism is a spectrum disorder, individual attention is necessary.
Okay, fine. So what does it take to get an IEP. A lot harder than you think. Since it costs a public school more time and money to implement and IEP, they're not in a hurry to have one done. And even if you do have one established, most plans come out very vague and they never focus on the real problems.
You can go to private facilities and spend thousands of dollars to get your child evaluated sooner, but there is no guarantee the educational facility will accept the evaluation. And a rejection, will just push back your time table back even further.
Accept Believe and Change NPF is building a multi-sensory, early intervention facility that will help alleviate these problems. We are a non profit organization that will work with parents and local facilities to ensure that your child gets the best care. We will introduce multi-sensory therapies that a child with Autism will find therapeautic and relaxing. We will offer an Equipment Library , advocacy for you child, art therapy, music therapy, and counseling for parents.
If you have any questions to help your child, or you suspect Autism, or you're having trouble getting an IEP for your child, you can always write us.
richelle.rose@acceptbelieveandchange.org
john.rose@acceptbelieveandchange.org
Or visit our website at www.acceptbelieveandchange.org, visit the contact page to leave a comment, email, or question.
Accept...Believe...and Change will follow...
Life is about the journey, not the destination.
John Rose, CPA
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