AUTISTIC FIND PLACE IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS; VENTURA COUNTY AIMING FOR MODEL PROGRAMS.

Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer

Nearly 25 years ago, as landmark education laws were being passed and suburban neighborhoods were booming, Ventura County school districts were banding together to deal with students whose disabilities required special attention.

Services to those youngsters continue to expand, with about 14,650 students and 750 teachers and specialists now in special-education programs across the county.

``Service to children with autism is a big deal. We have increasing numbers of children with those needs. The numbers are huge in ages 3 to 7,'' said Fran Arner-Costello, coordinator of the county's Special Education Local Plan Area.

``We're struggling with services to children labeled emotionally disturbed,'' she added. ``We're really trying to have more options and be more creative in how we serve those kids.''

The services were among issues discussed during two recent public forums conducted as the county updates its SELPA plan, as required every four years. The document won't be completed until January, but Arner-Costello said changes already are occurring.

The immediate concern for the county's schools is serving the burgeoning number of students diagnosed with an expanded spectrum of autistic disorders. The number has increased from 50 to 200 since 1992, Arner-Costello said.

``There's a higher incidence of it, and that's what's a concern,'' said Cathy Cartwright, special-education coordinator for the Pleasant Valley School District in Camarillo.

Autism has been a challenge since it was first designated as a disability covered in the 1990 reauthorization of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Autism is lifelong

Autism is a severely incapacitating, lifelong, developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life, according to the Autism Society of America. It affects 15 of every 10,000 births and is four times more common in boys than in girls.

Youngsters with autism have delayed physical and social development; abnormal responses to sensations; absence or delay of speech and language; and abnormal ways of relating to people, objects and events.

Cartwright led a task force established three years ago to study autism and strategies for teaching autistic children. ``Each of the districts was dealing with more and more autistic students and struggling to provide the services.''

In its SELPA plan, the county adopted a method developed at the University of North Carolina that visually structures a child's environment, as autistic children can better process information that they see rather than hear, Cartwright explained.

``We can cue them with a picture card or an object to move from one task to the next. As the schedule comes together, it's amazing how settling and organizing it is on a child,'' she explained.

The method can work both in class and at home. It also can be adapted to a general-education classroom so other students can participate.

``We look to give children dignity. One of the concerns we had with the other strategies was they don't give them the opportunity to be involved with things other kids are involved in,'' Cartwright said.

Cartwright said specialists from North Carolina have trained about 100 teachers, administrators and instructional aides from the county, and the effort will continue.

Learning desire promoted

Cartwright said Ventura County districts also draw from a method developed at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The method promotes desire in children to communicate and interact with others and to attempt difficult tasks, said Bob Koegel, director of the Autism Research and Training Center at UCSB.

One approach follows a child's lead in what to use, such as crayons or candies, to identify colors. Another lets children develop skills by working on meaningful tasks, such as writing a note to a relative to learn spelling, rather than on repetition.

``There is no cure for autism. With the latest techniques, the children can really learn a lot,'' Koegel noted. ``Somewhere in the center is the ultimate truth, and each of the research centers is honing in on that, and so the closer they get to that ultimate answer, the more and more similarities there are.''

Ventura County educators, meanwhile, also have helped to write the book on serving students diagnosed as seriously emotionally disturbed. The Ventura model, developed a decade ago, brings together school, county mental health and corrections officials.

Emotionally disturbed children have great problems relating to other people in acceptable ways. Some are withdrawn and might not speak, while others might quarrel, fight or otherwise disrupt classroom activities. Many of these children can attend regular schools, however, if they also receive special education and psychological counseling, according to educators.

At the Phoenix School in Camarillo, the county Superintendent of Schools Office runs SELPA programs in four special-education classrooms. Each class has a mental health social worker, and there is other mental health support on campus.

For emotionally disturbed students at local districts' schools, there are enhanced special day classes with mental health social workers.

``It's extremely rich in services and staffing, and that's considered the most intensive program. That's phenomenal to have that level of support for emotionally disturbed students,'' Arner-Costello said.

Returning to local schools

At issue now is bringing 40 seriously emotionally disturbed students back into public schools. They attend nonpublic schools either because there wasn't room at Phoenix or a family or mental health official recommended other placement because life at home was unstable, Arner-Costello explained.

To give those children mental health support in their home communities could require creation of two new Phoenix classes - either in Simi Valley or Thousand Oaks, she said.

That would lead to four new enhanced special day classes - at high schools in Moorpark and in the Conejo Valley and Las Virgenes unified school districts, as well as in an elementary school in the Simi Valley Unified School District, Arner-Costello said.

Encouraging the effort is the state's decision to stop funding for nonpublic school placements, meaning each public school district must provide an appropriate education for children with disabilities or pay the entire tuition, beginning July 1, for private placements.