1. Karla Saval, M.Ed.
Maryland State Department of Education
Division of Special Education/
Early Intervention Services

2.  What is Autism Spectrum Disorder?
 Your child has been diagnosed
with Autism: Now What?
 Early intervention
 Autism Waiver registry
 Elements of Effective Service Delivery to
children with Autism
 Resources

3. “Autism is a complex developmental
disability that typically appears during the
first 3 years of life and is the result of a
neurological disorder that affects the
normal functioning of the brain, impacting
development .”
-Autism Society of America

4.  Video from the Centers for Disease Control
(
(3:38)
http://www.cdc.gov/NCBDDD/autism/videos/wha

5.  Three main criteria:
 Qualitative impairment in social interaction
 Qualitative impairment in communication
 Restricted, repetitive, stereotypic patterns of
behavior/ circumscribed interests, activities
 Three main categories:
 Autism
 Asperger’s Disorder
 Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not
Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS)

6.  Interferes with development of reasoning,
social interaction, and communication skills
 Is a “spectrum disorder”
 has implications for an array of social,
language, educational, sensory, behavioral,
and medical issues

7.  1 in 88 boys will be diagnosed with ASD
 The number of children in Maryland
identified as having an ASD has dramatically
increased from 260 in 1993 to 8,827 in 2010
 There are 900 slots for Maryland’s Autism
Waiver, and 3,700+ children on the Registry
(CDC, MSDE, 2012)

8.  Self Regulation
 Executive Functioning
 Socialization/Communication
 Biomedical Complications/
Comorbid Disorders
Let’s explore each of these…

9. Produced by the Maryland State Department of Education 4/20/10 9

10.  Academic
 Behavioral
 Social

11.  As a result of biomedical issues, individuals
with Autism may have difficulty with
regulating their:
 Attention
 Wakefulness
 Stress
 Frustration
 Response to sensory stimuli

12.  Children with Autism exhibit deficits in
executive functioning, specifically with
reference to these domains:
 Planning
 Organization
 Flexibility
 Self-monitoring

13. Youth with Autism have may have difficulty:
 Communicating wants and needs
 Establishing shared attention with peers
 Monitoring social signals 
 Reading social cues
 Responding to others’ stress
 Reading others’ expression of emotion
 Making social inferences
 Understanding others’ perspectives

14.  Gastrointestinal
problems
 Sleep Disturbance
 Anxiety
 Depression
 Seizure Disorder
 Vitamin Deficiency

15. …that the average child with Autism Spectrum Disorder is engaged
in a minimum of 5 complimentary and alternative medical
interventions to remediate his biomedical symptoms?
 Dietary regimens
 Psychopharmacological treatment
 Neurological interventions
 Vitamin/Nutritional Supplementation
 Detoxification therapy
 Physical Therapy
 Experimental Therapies
(IAN, 2008)

16.  Biomedical Complications
 Environmental factors
 Communication
 Choices
 Social/Emotional Competence
 Methodological approach to instruction
 Setting in which IEP is being implemented

17. Environmental factors that make youth with
Autism “NUTS”
 Novelty
 Unpredictability
 Threatening
 Sense of control is limited
(Sonia Lupien)

18.  Now What?
 Contact the Infants & Toddlers Program in your
jurisdiction. Your child could meet the criteria for early
intervention services under the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA).
http://marylandpublicschools.org/MSDE/divisions/earlyinterv/in
1-800-535-0182
 Put your child’s name on Autism Waiver Registry
immediately! Call 866-417-3480
 Seek supports and resources for your family!

19.  The State of Maryland, as required by the
IDEA, affirmatively attempts to locate,
identify, and evaluate all children with
disabilities at no cost to families.
 Mission and focus: To ensure that every child
has a place in the community and the best
possible chance to succeed.

20. The Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services Waiver for
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
 Administered in collaboration with the Department of
Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH)
 Serves 900 children with ASDs
 Provides free services to maintain children with ASDs in their
home and community:
 Intensive Individual Support Services
 Respite Care
 Family Training
 Environmental Adaptations
 Therapeutic Integration
 Adult Life Planning

21.  Comprehensive assessment of skills, needs,
and challenges
 Clearly defined goals/objectives
 Effective teaching strategies
 Progress monitoring
 Comprehensive team approach

22. “…Educational services should include a
minimum of 25 hours per week, 12 months
per year, in which the child is engaged in
systematically planned, developmentally
appropriate educational activity aimed
toward identified objectives…”
(National Research Center, 2001)

23.  Autism Society of America
 Education, advocacy, services, research and
support
 http://www.autism-society.org/
 1-800-328-8476

24.  Autism Speaks 100 Day Kit
 Action planning for the first 100 days after a
diagnosis of autism
http://www.autismspeaks.org/family-
services/tool-kits/100-day-kit

25.  Pathfinders for Autism
 We’re newly diagnosed. Where do we begin?
http://www.pathfindersforautism.org/articles/category/n
 This site provides a comprehensive listing of the
variety of supports, services, and resources
available in Maryland

26.  Maryland State Department of Education
 AutismConnect
 This site contains recommendations made in the
Autism Task Force Report, released in 2004, as
well as MSDE research, education, and advocacy
initiatives and partnerships focused on autism.
 www.autismconnectmd.org

27.  Maryland State Department of Education
 The Early Childhood Gateway
 A resource for providers and families with young
children with disabilities, birth through five
http://www.mdecgateway.org/home

28.  Maryland has Family Support Services
Coordinators in each jurisdiction that assist
families of children with disabilities ages birth
to 21. A directory of Family Support Services
is on the web at www.mdecgateway.org.
 For additional information, call:
1-800-535-0182

29. Contact:
Karla M. Saval, M.Ed.
Interagency Staff Specialist- Autism, Children’s Mental
Health
Maryland State Department of Education
Division of Special Education/
Early Intervention Services
200 West Baltimore Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
ksaval@msde.state.md.us
(410)767-0827