1. An Overview of Autism
Spectrum Disorder
Karla Saval, M.Ed.
Maryland State Department of Education
Division of Special Education/
Early Intervention Services

2. Overview
●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. What is Autism?
“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. What is Autism?
●Video from the Centers for Disease Control
(3:38)
http://www.cdc.
gov/NCBDDD/autism/videos/whatisautism.
html

5. Diagnosis
●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. Autism
●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. Autism, by numbers…
●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. Autism results in difficulties in
the following areas:
●Self Regulation
●Executive Functioning
●Socialization/Communication
●Biomedical Complications/
Comorbid Disorders
Let’s explore each of these…

9. A Steady Rise in Autism in Maryland Schools
Produced by the Maryland State Department of
Education 4/20/10
Produced by the Maryland State Department of Education 4/20/10
*

10. What are the challenges experienced by
youth with ASD?
●Academic
●Behavioral
●Social

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

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

13. Socialization/Communication
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. Biomedical Complications/Comorbid
Disorders
●Gastrointestinal problems
●Sleep Disturbance
●Anxiety
●Depression
●Seizure Disorder
●Vitamin Deficiency

15. Did you know…
…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. Challenges to Learning
●Biomedical Complications
●Environmental factors
●Communication
●Choices
●Social/Emotional Competence
●Methodological approach to instruction
●Setting in which IEP is being implemented

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

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

19. Resources
● 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

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

21. Resources
● 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

22. Resources
● 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

23. Family Support Services
●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

24. Questions?
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