Group's training series shines the spotlight on children

Goshen — Imagine putting your 7-year-old child on a bus each day to commute one hour to his school. Not a 15-minute ride that takes 45 minutes because of 20 more stops along the way. No, a solid one-hour ride on the highway, dealing with traffic, bad weather and over-turned tractor trailers. That is what many parents of children with autism in Orange County deal with everyday, as their children are bussed to schools in other counties because appropriate educational services are not available here at home. Lisa Currao and Maria Palladino are two moms who live that scenario. They are members of Parents Run AMOC (Autism Move-A-Thon of Orange County) who decided to try to get the school districts together to start to find a way to bring the kids back, kids who need a connection to their community. “Our mission statement is to raise awareness, acceptance, and tolerance in our community for people with autism,” said Currao. “That’s difficult to do because our kids are going out of Orange County to appropriate programs. The need for appropriate education is here in Orange County.” With funding from Parents Run AMOC and help from the Mental Health Association in Orange County, Currao and Palladino started a training series. The first event was held a few weeks ago at the Brookside Manor called “Managing Problem Behavior in the School and Home Settings.” Tom M. Caffrey, M.Ed., BCBA, hosted the two-day workshop that included a separate dinner session which was free to everyone. Twelve of the 17 school districts in Orange County were represented at the session. “We were pleased with the turnout,” said Palladino. “We will be following up with the districts, letting them know the feedback we have been getting. We will also contact the districts that could not attend with the feedback.” ‘Staggering statistics’ Included in the dozen school districts at the session were Warwick, Monroe-Woodbury, Chester and Goshen. Caffrey, who is a board certified behavior analyst, used videos of actual classrooms as demonstrations of children going from non-communicative to communicative. “It was very moving,” said Palladino, “and well-received. We felt he should give his presentation to policy makers here in Orange County.” Dr. Frank Greenhall, superintendent of Warwick schools, was one of those policy makers. He, along with the district’s new director of pupil personnel, Elizabeth Kirnie, and school board member Coleen Johnson, represented Warwick at the dinner and presentation. All were moved by Caffrey. “The statistics are staggering,” said Greenhall. “If we’re not worried about the number of children affected now, we have to worry about what we are going to do later.” Greenhall is right about the statistics. According to the United States Department of Education, from 1992 to 2005, there was a 561 percent increase in autism in New York State. According to state figures, in 1996, there were 48 students aged 4-21 in Orange County with the autism diagnosis. As of December 1, 2005, there were 304. That is an increase of 533 percent. “The numbers speak for themselves,” said Palladino. “The numbers are screaming. The need to appropriately educate these kids is great.” Greenhall was also moved by the plight of many families who send their children such a distance for an education. Traveling 65 miles to school every day “I wish there had been more stress on the fact that we are sending our kids so far away,” he said. “Orange County has to look at why we are sending so many kids so far. Would you want your child to travel 60, 65 miles per day to school? There is no logic to it.” Caffrey chronicled children in a Brick, N.J., classroom who went from non-verbal to more social and verbal using applied behavior analysis. The primary focus of the workshop was on behavior reduction programs that address the most frequently determined functions: positive and negative reinforcement. The emphasis was on translating research into practical application. Palladino got much positive response from those in attendance. Because autism is a spectrum disorder, children with autism exhibit a wide range of challenges as well as abilities, she noted. “It is necessary for a program to provide multiple strategies,” said Palladino. “It’s not about one method. I feel Orange County needs to take a more proactive approach for our children with autism.” Greenhall agreed. “My hope is that this is the beginning of a serious dialogue,” he said. “I think it is more an issue of thinking outside of the box. Programs can be duplicated.” “There are model programs out there, out of the county,” Palladino said. “As a county, school districts need to have a healthy collaboration with each other to come up with an appropriate plan. And parents need to be part of the solution.” Can children with autism be taught locally? The next step? Palladino and Currao are hoping one of the districts within the county will host the next meeting. Greenhall is optimistic. He said districts should look into how it affects kids as well as taxpayers. “We have to look into how much it would cost if we did this locally,” he said “Can we save money by replicating a program here and keep the child in Orange County? In the word ‘can’t’ is ‘can’.”