Trends in Special Education Eligibility Among Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, 2002-2010. (January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rubenstein, Eric; Daniels, Julie; Schieve, Laura A.; Christensen, Deborah L.; Van Naarden Braun, Kim; Rice, Catherine E.; Bakian, Amanda V.; Durkin, Maureen S.; Rosenberg, Steven A.; Kirby, Russell S.; Lee, Li-Ching
• Is Part Of: Public health reports. Volume 133:Number 1(2018)
• Page Start: 85
• Page End: 92
• Publication Date: 2018-01
• Subjects: autism spectrum disorder -- special education -- trends -- surveillance -- prevalence; Public health -- United States -- Periodicals; 614.0973
• DOI: 10.1177/0033354917739582
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0033-3549

Abstract

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.