TY - JOUR
T1 - Trends in special education eligibility among children with autism spectrum disorder, 2002-2010
AU - Rubenstein, Eric
AU - Daniels, Julie
AU - Schieve, Laura A.
AU - Christensen, Deborah L.
AU - Van Naarden Braun, Kim
AU - Rice, Catherine E.
AU - Bakian, Amanda V.
AU - Durkin, Maureen S.
AU - Rosenberg, Steven A.
AU - Kirby, Russell S.
AU - Lee, Li Ching
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health All rights reserved.
PY - 2018/1/1
Y1 - 2018/1/1
N2 - Objective: Although data on publicly available special education are informative and offer a glimpse of trends in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and use of educational services, using these data for population-based public health monitoring has drawbacks. Our objective was to evaluate trends in special education eligibility among 8-year-old children with ASD identified in the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network. Methods: We used data from 5 Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network sites (Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, and North Carolina) during 4 surveillance years (2002, 2006, 2008, and 2010) and compared trends in 12 categories of special education eligibility by sex and race/ethnicity. We used multivariable linear risk regressions to evaluate how the proportion of children with a given eligibility changed over time. Results: Of 6010 children with ASD, more than 36% did not receive an autism eligibility in special education in each surveillance year. From surveillance year 2002 to surveillance year 2010, autism eligibility increased by 3.6 percentage points (P =.09), and intellectual disability eligibility decreased by 4.6 percentage points (P <.001). A greater proportion of boys than girls had an autism eligibility in 2002 (56.3% vs 48.8%). Compared with other racial/ethnic groups, Hispanic children had the largest increase in proportion with autism eligibility from 2002 to 2010 (15.4%, P =.005) and the largest decrease in proportion with intellectual disability (–14.3%, P =.004). Conclusion: Although most children with ASD had autism eligibility, many received special education services under other categories, and racial/ethnic disparities persisted. To monitor trends in ASD prevalence, public health officials need access to comprehensive data collected systematically, not just special education eligibility.
AB - Objective: Although data on publicly available special education are informative and offer a glimpse of trends in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and use of educational services, using these data for population-based public health monitoring has drawbacks. Our objective was to evaluate trends in special education eligibility among 8-year-old children with ASD identified in the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network. Methods: We used data from 5 Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network sites (Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, and North Carolina) during 4 surveillance years (2002, 2006, 2008, and 2010) and compared trends in 12 categories of special education eligibility by sex and race/ethnicity. We used multivariable linear risk regressions to evaluate how the proportion of children with a given eligibility changed over time. Results: Of 6010 children with ASD, more than 36% did not receive an autism eligibility in special education in each surveillance year. From surveillance year 2002 to surveillance year 2010, autism eligibility increased by 3.6 percentage points (P =.09), and intellectual disability eligibility decreased by 4.6 percentage points (P <.001). A greater proportion of boys than girls had an autism eligibility in 2002 (56.3% vs 48.8%). Compared with other racial/ethnic groups, Hispanic children had the largest increase in proportion with autism eligibility from 2002 to 2010 (15.4%, P =.005) and the largest decrease in proportion with intellectual disability (–14.3%, P =.004). Conclusion: Although most children with ASD had autism eligibility, many received special education services under other categories, and racial/ethnic disparities persisted. To monitor trends in ASD prevalence, public health officials need access to comprehensive data collected systematically, not just special education eligibility.
KW - Autism spectrum disorder
KW - Prevalence
KW - Special education
KW - Surveillance
KW - Trends
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U2 - 10.1177/0033354917739582
DO - 10.1177/0033354917739582
M3 - Article
C2 - 29257937
AN - SCOPUS:85041424626
SN - 0033-3549
VL - 133
SP - 85
EP - 92
JO - Public health reports
JF - Public health reports
IS - 1
ER -