Proposed legislation with bipartisan support that would expand services for students with autism in Florida is moving quickly through the Florida Senate and House.
In the Florida Senate, the bill was approved by its second committee on Thursday which means it has only one more committee stop to go before a full vote of the Senate.
Republican Senator Gayle Harrell representing South Florida is the bill’s sponsor and said the bill would allow students with disabilities to stay in Florida’s early intervention program called Early Steps up to the time they start school, and set up charter schools and fund summer programs and camps for students with autism.
Plus, it would create free, online training for teachers who work with kids with autism.
“It provides for a specialized autism micro-credential for instructional personnel, so that teachers really have that micro-credential that's going to help them know how to teach children with autism,” said Harrell.
The bill would create a Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment at the University of Florida tasked with distributing grants for charter and summer programs, and for running the micro-credentialing program for teachers.
Harrell said the bill would be the first step in making sure resources and services available in the state meet the needs of the growing number of students on the spectrum. Across the state, waitlists are long for early intervention programs and charter schools for students with autism.
“My local Hope School for Autism, a charter school, has a waitlist of 150 children. We have got to do more. And I think we are on the right track, but this is the first step of many that I hope we are on the march to accomplish,” said Harrell.
Although the bill mostly focuses on services for children with autism, it would also expand the Dr. and Mrs. Alfonse and Kathleen Cinotti Health Care Screening and Services Grant Program to include free screenings for autism at any age.
The proposed legislation is a special priority this legislative session of Senate President Ben Albritton.
“We have heard a lot of discussion and theories about the root causes of autism. I don’t have those answers, but I do know more and more families across our state are dealing with challenges and can use our support,” said Albritton in a letter he sent in support of the legislation. “This bill offers new support from all angles, coordinating research and training, expanding early detection, and increasing education opportunities and other treatment services that help families facing a diagnosis of autism.”
Albritton added that as required by federal law, none of these services would be mandated for students or families, but would act as another resource, and, “as always, parents are in control and equipped to make the best decisions to help children reach their full potential.”
A companion bill in the Florida House is in its first committee.
According to nonprofit Autism Speaks, 1 in 36 children in the U.S. have autism, up from the previous rate of 1 in 44. Early diagnosis and intervention can improve academic and social-emotional outcomes of kids on the autism spectrum.
Read the full body of the bill, SB 112, here:
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