Our state's checkbook is in trouble -- no surprise there. Solving the budget crisis in Austin will require significant cuts to many programs and services. That is no easy task, and officials at the Child Study Center are certainly aware of the complexities involved. However, damaging the future of our community's most vulnerable children is unequivocally not the best answer for balancing Texas' budget.
Local children with autism are cared for through funding from the Assistive and Rehabilitative Services Department. The Child Study Center's Applied Behavioral Analysis program provides early intervention to autistic children ages 3 to 8 from 75 counties statewide.Sixty-four percent of behavioral analysis funding comes from Rehabilitative Services. The remainder is from private donations as well as medical insurance -- a perfect example of a successful public-private partnership.Consider Donnie, a 4-year-old Hispanic with autism. When he arrived at the center, Donnie had deficits in communications, toilet training and food selectivity. He exhibited many forms of problem behavior, including biting, hitting, yelling, whining, crying, flopping, kicking, pinching and scratching. Donnie's mother was frustrated, and home life was tough.Our high-intensity applied behavior analysis provided Donnie with one-on-one intervention eight hours a day. His mother participated in workshops where she received the tools she needs to assist with in-home aggression.In only one year, Donnie's problem behavior was reduced by 65 percent. Additionally, Donnie has acquired skills, reduced tantrums, begun to eat a greater variety of food and is potty trained like his friends. Because of these tremendous accomplishments, today Donnie attends a private school with a 1:5 teacher/student ratio. He is likely to be a productive, tax-paying adult.Programs at the center exist because Texas recognized that vulnerable children were not receiving the intensity of service that is optimum for the best outcomes.Children with autism can indeed be effectively treated. Scientific data show great cost savings and improvement in long-term function through intensive early intervention.The behavioral analysis program started as a pilot project almost four years ago. We have improved the lives of more than 150 children, many of whom are functioning alongside their peers. Because of state funding, hundreds of children like Donnie have moved from throwing tantrums 90 percent of the day, refusing foods and refusing to use the toilet to becoming pleasant, polite and social youngsters.There is no suitable alternative for children with autism in our public education system. The programs provided by the center are the only way that modest and low-income Fort Worth-area families of children with autism can possibly hope to access the intense service that will change their children's lives.A price cannot be put on the impact and growth that the center's Rehabilitative Services funding has had on Texas families, teachers, friends, classmates and peers.Dr. Joyce Elizabeth Mauk of Fort Worth is president, CEO and medical director of the Child Study Center.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
