AUTISM UP; SCHOOLS STRESSED SOARING RATES TRIGGERING SCRAMBLE FOR TRAINED STAFF.

Byline: Sue Doyle Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - As the number of children diagnosed with autism continues to climb nationwide, public school districts are finding it hard to keep keep pace with some of their classroom needs, in particular with providing enough speech pathologists to serve them.

Today autistic children make up more than one-third of the special education population, according to the California Department of Education. California guarantees special education services for autistic children, who traditionally have communication troubles that can range from being completely nonverbal to other limited language usage.

But even as school officials search from New York to New Mexico for hires, they're finding it extremely challenging to meet classroom demands. Many are wondering why.

``We have been recruiting everywhere, and we're having a difficult time recruiting speech pathologists,'' said Beverly Knutson, assistant superintendent of personnel for the Newhall School District. ``The demand is so high. I don't know if the universities are producing as many as the need is.''

Some parents and educators today wonder if there are more children diagnosed with autism than there are the necessary number of professionals in public school systems to serve them.

At least 1 million people today are living in the U.S. with autism. Ten years ago, there were an estimated 400,000, said Peter Bell, CEO of Cure Autism Now, an organization founded by parents in 1995 that funds autism research.

While there isn't one solid reason to explain the significant leap in autism among children during the last 10 years, some have theories about its triggers, such as heavy immunization of infants or other biological factors.

Others say better early identification of the disability has contributed to its growth, whereas before some were labeled with other conditions.

In addition, the definition of autism has broadened during the last decade and encompasses other peripheral conditions such as Asperger's disorder and pervasive developmental disorder. With both conditions, children have impaired social interactions and unusual language usage and behaviors - all characteristics of autism.

But in these cases, the symptoms are not enough for a formal diagnosis of autism, said Allan Lloyd-Jones, special education consultant for the California Department of Education.

Still, these two additional diagnoses inflate the numbers representing children with autism even more, because they are part of the spectrum, Lloyd-Jones said.

Before 1990, autism wasn't even a category in the department's database. At the time, some of these children were labeled as mentally retarded. Others that were higher functioning could have been seen as having a social disorder.

``It's a spectrum of disorders. Autism has three areas that are affected: language, behavior and social relationships,'' Lloyd-Jones said. ``If you think of those three areas, any child may be affected to a greater or less degree in those areas.''

That also means more children needing special education in schools. One theory is that there's an overdiagnosis of children within the autism spectrum because the therapeutic services are then funded by the state.

About 21,950 students identified as autistic were enrolled in the public school system during the 2003 to 2004 school year, according to the California Department of Education. In 1995, there were about 4,394.

That increase has led to a much higher demand for speech pathologists in public schools than in the past.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected a 27 percent increase in job openings for speech pathologists between 2002 and 2012, and foresees about 49,000 of these job openings from growth and replacement of retirees.

Still, school districts such as Newhall, are scratching their heads, wondering where the recruits are and how they can best meet students needs without overloading their own speech pathologists.

``I think that as long as the disability of autism continues to climb, we're going to be challenged to provide alternative services and develop new programs,'' said Todd Fine, director of pupil services at Newhall School District. ``It'll continue to be an issue.''

In Santa Clarita, there were about 422 autistic students as of December 2005 in the area's five public school districts. In 2000, there were 101, said Margaret Cherene, director of the Santa Clarita Valley Special Education Local Plan Area that helps coordinate special services for the area's five local school districts.

Cherene said her agencies tries to keep caseloads low for speech pathologists who assist an average of 55 students, including those with hearing and articulation problems and learning disabilities as well as autism.

``When we can't find speech pathologists, case loads get higher,'' she said. ``It's very frustrating for speech pathologists. They get overworked and burnt out.''

Cherene wondered if there weren't enough speech pathologists graduating in the field these days, and if those who did pursue the career were choosing to work in private practices where salaries are higher than in public schools.

About half of speech pathology graduates from California State University, Northridge, where local districts recruit from, go to work in private practices, said Ed Hall, professor in the college's Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders.

Graduates can earn about $45,000 annually in private practice versus about an average $34,000 in public schools. However, schools offer more holidays and consistent work loads than private practice does.

Hall said graduates can get turned off from working for public schools because of the heavy paperwork involved and heavy litigation with parents suing school districts for special education services.

He said the Cal State system is turning out as many speech pathologists as possible, but that the college education system has its own problems that can also affect the number of graduates.

His department alone is down three professors and is having problems recruiting from out of state because of California's high cost of living. In addition, there isn't a doctorate program in the state for speech pathology, forcing many pursue their doctorates out of state.

It all affects students in need of these services.

``It's a national problem, but is particularly hard in California,'' he said.

Nationally, there are more college programs for speech pathologists today than in the past. In 2000 there were about 244 college programs compared with 223 in 1994, according to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, a nonprofit professional organization.

At the same time, about 62 percent of public schools responding to a 2004 survey from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association reported more job openings for speech pathologists than job seekers.

Speech language pathologist Susan Kasdorf said one advantage to having her Newhall-based private practice is the flexibility it brings, from

scheduling to deciding who she will take on as a client.

She said her client base has grown as more children have been diagnosed with autism, but at the same time some of these parents have chosen to have their children treated in the public school system where costs don't come from their own pocketbooks.

As the demands increase in public schools, some districts are finding other ways to patch the shortcomings by hiring assistants to shoulder some of the work required of speech pathologists.

Kathleen Whitmire, director of social services for the American Speech-Hearing-Language Association, said they are keeping close watch on how school districts are patching these shortcomings together and that in some cases, there are concerns about some unqualified employees being hired to fill job openings.

``They're hiring anybody to provide slots. It's a mandated service. Schools have to provide the service or get sued,'' she said. ``We don't want to see independent work handed over to individuals who are not prepared to meet the needs of students with disabilities.''

Sue Doyle, [phone]

sue.doyle(at)dailynews.com