School Age Subcommittee

Massachusetts Autism Commission

School Age Subcommittee Areas of Focus

• Family Supports• Education• Healthcare

Family SupportsIndividual family supports

• Availability of home support services and trained personnel • Need for building respite capacity • Information and training about best

practices/interventions/methodologies• Expansion of mental health services• Awareness of cultural barriers to accessing services, need for outreach

Inclusion/community supports

• Increasing community awareness and understanding (of the range of behaviors, skills, limitations across the Spectrum)

• Building capacity for range of service needs (both professionals and community non-professionals)

• Availability of properly-trained personnel

HealthcareAccess to Diagnosis• Number of providers in MA are not meeting demand for diagnosing children in a timely

manner. Personnel prep is critical.

Access to Ongoing Treatments• Medical professionals need to be trained to accurately recognize signs of Autism • Stakeholders need assistance pursuing benefits of ARICA legislation• Providers should be encouraged to pursue fields that diagnosis individuals with Autism and

focus on ongoing treatments for the ASD population

Medical Home• AAP encourages but funding is an issue. Interagency collaboration is required for this to be

successful

Autism Law• Increase personnel prep for providers regarding Autism Waiver and ARICA.• Accountable care organizations

Mental Health/Neuropsych• Not enough providers (doctors) are available to treat the mental health needs of those living

with ASD• Interface between medicine and education

Education• Accessing information regarding

the range of services within the educational domain and about services outside of the public schools

• Improvement in the consistency and availability of services across communities and school districts

• There is a need for behavior

supports sensitive to the range of skills across the spectrum

• Improvements in regular

education teacher training