Bulletin Boards |Calendar |About Us

Front page

Behavior Management

Conflict Resolution

Early Intervention

For Educators

For Families

Internet & Assistive Technology

Recreation & Sports

Specific Disabilities

State By State

Transition

Washington Watch

Site Map

AUTISM, TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY RISE DRAMATICALLY AMONG SCHOOL CHILDREN

May 10, 2000

EDITOR'S NOTE: Special Education News presents this monthly feature, the "Stat-of-the-month" to give readers a glimpse of interesting developments in the special education field. Special Education News welcomes suggestions for future monthly statistics reports.

The number of children with traumatic brain injury increased nearly 280 percent in the mid-1990s, and the number of students with autism nearly tripled in that period, according to the U.S. Department of Education's 21st Annual Report to Congress on the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Those two groups showed the most dramatic increases in the 1990s, but the number of students with all types of disabilities has increased dramatically since 1988, the report notes. The general student population in the United States grew 8.25 percent from 1988 to 1997, but the number of students receiving services under IDEA increased 29.42 percent.

The Department of Education attributes the increases to improved identification of students with special needs, including better classification of children based on their specific disabilities. However, the dramatic rate of increase in students with autism, coupled with other research on the nature of that disorder, has autism advocates pushing hard on Capitol Hill for more funding for research and treatment programs, according to Families for Early Autism Treatment, a California-based advocacy group.

Possibly due to increased efforts to identify children with disabilities at a younger age, the number of children ages 6 to 11 with autism increased most dramatically. Increase in number of children with autism, from 1988-89 through 1997-98 school years:

• Ages 6-11: 206.52%
• Ages 12-17: 149.79%
• Ages 18-21: 67.29%
• Overall, ages 6-21: 172.86%

The number of students with traumatic brain injury, on the other hand, showed the greatest increase in middle and high school, growing about 228 percent among 12 to 17 year-olds compared to 200 percent in grade school and 120 percent among those ages 18 to 21.

Next largest increases in detected or reported disabilities:

• Orthopedic Impairments: up 43.03%
• Specific Learning Disabilities: up 38.18%
• Multiple Disabilities: up 26.93%

Smallest changes in detected or reported disabilities:

• Speech/Language Impairments: up 10.54%
• Mental Retardation: up 4.64%
• Deaf-blindness: down 2.07%

Source: U.S. Department of Education's 21st Annual Report to Congress