'All for some and none for some'

[OhioChick]

A fix can't come soon enough for Ohio's wildly inequitable system of helping autistic kids
Wednesday, March 19, 2008 3:19 AM
By Rita Price

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Smiling and almond-eyed, Down syndrome children such as Peter Crawford once typified the face of special education.

Now it belongs to his autistic brother.

With an explosion in diagnosis, public-awareness campaigns and even benefit rock concerts, the spotlight clearly has settled on this complex disorder.

But just as there is no particular appearance associated with autism, Ohio's plan for helping such children follows no particular path.

Marie Crawford of Clintonville is among parents who say they know this much about the approach so far: "It isn't fair."

Under the current system:

• A private autism center in Franklin County consumed 50 percent of the public money spent on psychiatric treatment for autism last year even though it served just 4 percent of the children, state officials say. Step by Step Academy also billed $180,000 to treat one child while another family, waiting years for a Medicaid waiver to help pay for services, made do with $672.

• Ohio funds scholarships that provide up to $20,000 a year for families to purchase educational services for autistic children but offers nothing similar for those with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome or other forms of developmental disability.

• Public school districts lost nearly $11 million in state money that went to fund the scholarships for about 730 children last year, according to a report released today by Policy Matters Ohio, a Cleveland research group. Policy Matters also says the program disproportionately helps the affluent, supports centers that only a select few can get into and isn't accountable to taxpayers.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/03/19/AUTISMBUCKS.ART_ART_03-19-08_A1_9V9MG03.html?sid=101

[Slagathor]

1. Well, the autistic can contribute a lot more to society than anyone with Downs

although even then it sort of seems like a waste. If someone is really profoundly autistic, there's not much return on scholarship investment, and if someone is particularly high functioning or has a high IQ, an Asperger type, there's no need to provide additional scholarships as it would be manifestly unfair to the bitter ordinary.

[midnight]

2. I'm going to have to agree with Maire Crawford.... What an

unfair system... Kind of like SBA loans going to company's like Microsoft and IBM...