From the [Maryland] Gazette:

Hundreds of people rallied this week in Rockville, Maryland, in support of funding for services for people with developmental disabilities.

Budget cuts in the state have removed about $29 million in services for people with disabilities since last fall. The state’s Developmental Disabilities Administration now has about 19,000 people on lists waiting for services they are entitled to receive.

State officials defended the cuts as financially necessary. One advocate charged that the state focused so much attention on closing its 156-bed Rosewood Center institution that it failed to focus on providing adequate supports for people with disabilities in the community.

Further budget cuts are expected.

(Photo of Cecilia Ann Pauley of Rockville from the [Maryland] Gazette)

On theAtlantic.com, journalist and filmmaker Jody Becker questions current research that has found a rising incidence of autism among American children. Becker says government eligibility standards for services may be driving the increase in diagnoses, as doctors are forced to misdiagnose kids in order to get publicly funded help for them.

“Every day, precious time and money is wasted as kids who don’t belong in the autism world get pushed into it,” she says. “Finally, parents are pushing back.”

Becker is the producer of Autistic-Like: Graham’s Story, a documentary about a California family whose son son was given a provisional diagnosis of autism and a prescription for Applied Behavioral Analysis — even though he had Sensory Processing Disorder, a milder syndrome that’s not on the autism spectrum. The family’s pediatrician told them to keep the inaccurate autism label so the state would pay for treatment.

Minnesota Rep. John Kline writes in the Minneapolis Star Tribune that Congress should not create costly new programs until it fully funds the programs for students with disabilities that were authorized under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Even with this year’s one-time boost in stimulus funding, Kline says, Congress has not come close to fulfilling its 1975 promise to fund 40 percent of the excess cost of special education and related services. An excerpt:

While fully funding the federal share of IDEA will not provide an endless pot of gold, it will free up hundreds of thousands of dollars that could be dedicated to the most pressing needs in individual schools.

Kline is the senior Republican member of the House Education and Labor Committee.

From the [Riverside, CA] Press-Enterprise:

Squeezed between the rising needs of students with autism and declining state and federal funds, California educators say they are seeking creative solutions.

Among the ideas they’re trying: Setting up foundations to raise funds; writing grants; and forging partnerships with other districts, parents, and organizations to use successful programs as models rather than developing new programs.

In Riverside County, the school district is paying about $36,000 per student to educate children with severe autism in small classes, compared with about $8,600 for typical students.

From the Spokane [WA] News-Review:

Officials in the Spokane Public Schools say an influx of students with disabilities is putting a strain on a school district that is already struggling financially.

The state of Washington caps funding for special education at 12.7 percent of a district’s total student population. Spokane’s special education enrollment now stands at close to 3,500 students, or about 500 more than the state will pay for, and officials say it is continuing to grow. School officials estimate the unfunded cost of the 500 students at about $2.2 million.

School officials say families of kids with disabilities are moving to Spokane from smaller communities in order to get needed services for their children. Spokane is among several school districts that are suing the state over special education funding.

The Kansas City Star Editorial Board writes that people with developmental disabilities plead for help in the state Capitol annually, but keep getting pushed aside. More than 4,100 Kansans are on waiting lists for residential and home-based services — waiting lists that didn’t exist as recently as the 1990s.

Waiting means delayed therapy for children whose social and physical developments depend on services. It means idleness for young people who have finished school and are shut out of job programs. It means unending stress for families seeking a group home placement – or even respite care – for a disabled adult. Many Kansans have been on hold for more than four years.

“If we had a 4,000-person waiting list for kindergarten this year, someone would do something about it,” said Tom Laing, executive director of InterHab, a statewide advocacy group for people with disabilities.

… A state’s character is defined by how it treats its weakest citizens. By that measure, Kansas has much work to do.

From the Austin [TX] American-Statesman:

Four years after lawmakers approved a program designed to help thousands of Texans with disabilities, the program serves only 69 people across the state, according to state officials.

The program allows adults with disabilities to work and still be eligible for Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program.

Officials say a major obstacle is the public perception that people with disabilities will lose their benefits if they go to work.