| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to autism; providing for autism |
| 3 | scholarships for early education and intervention for |
| 4 | children with autism spectrum disorders; providing |
| 5 | eligibility requirements; providing costs eligible for |
| 6 | reimbursement; defining "autism spectrum disorders"; |
| 7 | providing that Centers for Autism and Related Disabilities |
| 8 | (CARD Centers) shall operate as charter schools without |
| 9 | certain authorization; providing certain waivers for |
| 10 | students attending CARD Center charter schools; providing |
| 11 | an effective date. |
| 12 |
|
| 13 | WHEREAS, many parents of children with autism spectrum |
| 14 | disorders are presented with an educational dilemma for their |
| 15 | children, and |
| 16 | WHEREAS, the educational option with the greatest degree of |
| 17 | research support for young children is based on applied behavior |
| 18 | analysis and is commonly referred to as early intensive |
| 19 | behavioral intervention, and |
| 20 | WHEREAS, parents should have the ability to fund |
| 21 | appropriate early intensive behavioral intervention in suitable |
| 22 | and specially engineered environments and to choose best |
| 23 | practices and effective methods for the education of their |
| 24 | children with autism spectrum disorders, NOW, THEREFORE, |
| 25 |
|
| 26 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 27 |
|
| 28 | Section 1. Autism scholarships for early education and |
| 29 | intervention.-- |
| 30 | (1) To be eligible for an autism scholarship under this |
| 31 | section, a program to provide education and intervention for a |
| 32 | child with an autism spectrum disorder must be: |
| 33 | (a) Recommended by a pediatric neurologist and |
| 34 | psychologist as the most efficacious intervention option for the |
| 35 | child. A recommendation made by an Early Steps (Part C Program) |
| 36 | Family Support Team for early intensive behavioral intervention |
| 37 | for a child who is 3 years of age or younger may serve as the |
| 38 | basis of the recommendation for a child who is 4 years of age or |
| 39 | older. |
| 40 | (b) Planned and regularly supervised by a person who is, |
| 41 | at a minimum, a board-certified behavior analyst. |
| 42 | (c) Provided in a suitable or specially engineered |
| 43 | environment, at a public location, or in a family home with a |
| 44 | weekly schedule of educational and therapeutic activities. |
| 45 | (2) Autism scholarship funds may be used to reimburse |
| 46 | costs for the following: |
| 47 | (a) A board-certified behavior analyst for assessment, |
| 48 | program planning, staff training and supervision, and parent |
| 49 | support and training in early intensive behavioral intervention. |
| 50 | (b) A board-certified associate behavior analyst for |
| 51 | direct intervention with the child and staff supervision and |
| 52 | training. |
| 53 | (c) Persons who possess an associate degree, at a minimum, |
| 54 | and complete at least 20 hours of training in early intensive |
| 55 | behavioral intervention. |
| 56 | (d) Training manuals, books, and teaching and learning |
| 57 | materials, including computers, that are essential for |
| 58 | establishing and maintaining the home intervention program. |
| 59 |
|
| 60 | Parents and other members of the household are not eligible to |
| 61 | receive payment for rendering educational or intervention |
| 62 | services through autism scholarships under this section. |
| 63 | (3) "Autism spectrum disorders" include the specific |
| 64 | diagnoses enumerated in the DSM-IV for Pervasive Developmental |
| 65 | Disorders. These are: |
| 66 | (a) Autism. |
| 67 | (b) Asperger Syndrome. |
| 68 | (c) Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise |
| 69 | Specified (PDD-NOS). |
| 70 | (d) Childhood Disintegrative Disorder. |
| 71 | (e) Rett's Disorder. |
| 72 | (f) Autistic Disorder. |
| 73 | Section 2. Centers for Autism and Related Disabilities; |
| 74 | charter schools.-- |
| 75 | (1) Centers for Autism and Related Disabilities, referred |
| 76 | to as CARD Centers, seek to provide support and assistance with |
| 77 | the goal of optimizing the potential of people with autism, dual |
| 78 | sensory impairments, and related disabilities. |
| 79 | (2) CARD Centers in the state shall be charter schools |
| 80 | without current school district and state authorization. |
| 81 | (3) School districts shall waive the 1-year attendance |
| 82 | requirement for John M. McKay Scholarships and Florida Education |
| 83 | Finance Program full-time equivalent student funds for those |
| 84 | students who choose to attend CARD Center charter schools. |
| 85 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006. |