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http:// --> Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Local Issues Obituaries Weather Archive Revels Etcetera Backpage Hot Topics Most Viewed Forum Photo Galleries Video Readers Polls O-Zone Online Games Movie Preview Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad Featured Galleries: August 6, 2007 Autism in Ashland tops county By Julie French Ashland Daily Tidings Thom Larkin | Daily Tidings Rep. Peter Buckley, left, talks to Maura VanHeuit at a reception for those affected by autism. When Niki Tamminga moved to Ashland with her two sons from Austin, Texas, two years ago, she planned to homeschool her younger son, Troy. Despite having Asperger's Syndrome, a condition on the autism spectrum, Troy was in a regular class in Texas with little extra treatment. Tamminga did not want to repeat the cycle in Ashland. But she changed her mind after hearing about Ashland's special education classes. "When he got into that class, he started to thrive and learn much more," she said. Although Troy is highly functioning now, his mother said it took a lot of expensive therapy at an early age to reach that point — four hours per day at $50 an hour. Many families cannot afford such therapy and are forced to rely on special education programs in schools, which experts say are severely underfunded. Oregon has the highest rate of autism spectrum disorders in the country — one in 98, as of 2006 — according to the Oregon Department of Education. That number has increased steadily over the years. In Ashland, 1.1 percent of students enrolled in the district schools have been diagnosed, the highest rate in Jackson County. "The school district provides a bare minimum," said Leona Myburg, who has two children with autism spectrum disorders in the Ashland School District. "They can't afford to supply the amount of therapy our children require." Myburg and Tamminga attended a reception for Rep. Peter Buckley, D-Ashland, on Friday night to commend him for his work with autism legislation. The Oregon Legislature recently passed House Bill 2918, requiring greater health insurance coverage for children under 18, but Buckley said more work needs to be done in both health care and education. "A real key is that funding done early saves huge amounts in the long run," he said. "If we do fund services and fund them extensively at an early age, we can not only save money, but make a big impact." All districts are required by the federal government to provide special education services through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. When passed, the federal government intended to assume 40 percent of the program costs. Today it covers approximately 8 percent, Buckley said, leaving states to fill in the gap. Although the weighting system that determines state funding makes it almost impossible to determine exactly how much the state provides per child, Ashland's budget works out to roughly twice the amount of money for students with disabilities than for those without. "Some of the kids don't require that double funding, and some require much more," said Ashland Superintendent Juli Di Chiro. In addition to regular funding from the state, Di Chiro said Ashland receives high-cost disability funding from Salem to help cover students in programs that cost more than $25,000 annually. That fund is limited, however, and the district also uses money from its general fund to cover the difference. "It is a very costly endeavor," Di Chiro said. At the reception, parents compared estimates of a cost of raising a child with an autism spectrum disorder — around $3.2 million over a lifetime. Leona Myburg, whose sons are 10 and 15, said her money had been well spent. "They're high-functioning because we've put years and years of money into them," she said. Staff writer Julie French can be reached at 482-3456 ext. 227 or [email protected] . To post a comment on this story, go to www.dailytidings.com . Current Comments: WOW. The highest rate in the country and us with the highest rate in the county...is this just because the parents pay attention to their kids here so testing is done and the issue is addressed or is it the lack of flouride in our water????? Wondering Parent - Ashland, OR - August 6th, 1:17 PM Perhaps ironcially, this statistic might be attributable to Ashland's high income. Statistically, within limits, women tend to give birth later in life as their incomes rise, and the chance of giving birth to a child with autism generally increases with the mother's age. Eddie Burke - Ashland, OR - August 6th, 1:49 PM Asperger's is the official label for weird and special. No one should be surprised Ashland leads the league in this category. weird & special - ashland or - August 6th, 4:24 PM I'm not 15, I'm 14, and when I was in the paper for science bowl, they miss spelled my last name, I must have told them how to spell it ten times! they better get me right next time! Dylan Schink - Ashland, OR - August 6th, 5:36 PM I have two children on the spectrum and have read exhaustively on the topic of autism and can assure you that neither the mother's age nor the lack of flouride have been linked to this condition. However, statistically it has been shown that parents with college education are more likely to have children with Asperger's. I suspect that this is because the extra years of education have made us more aware of the condition and the importance of early intervention - which costs money. Leona Myburg ( [email protected] ) - Ashland Or - August 6th, 5:47 PM No, the irony isn't with the income, but with our community's place in not providing vaccines to our youth. Leona, my heart goes out to you and the others with children with this disorder. I simply don't understand people taking risks with their kids ignoring scientific evidence and years of use by foregoing vaccinations. Those kids represent a threat to our children and our community. Parents in Ashland who think they are protecting kids by not allowing vaccination are fooling themselves. Pragmatic - Ashland, Or - August 6th, 10:02 PM Eddie you may be confusing autism with downs syndrome in the children of older women. Leona the only extensive study that I'm aware of that would link autism to anything are those suggesting a connection to childhood vaccinations which show a much higher rate of autism incidents in areas that have a more successful vaccination program, quite often those areas are wealthier and more highly educated. Prevention would be better than intervention so we should examine that possibility more closely C - Ashland - August 6th, 10:20 PM Sumpin' not right with da water in dem dare hills! kerchackaho - medford, or - August 7th, 8:07 AM "[A] mother's and father's risk of delivering a child with autism steadily increases as they get older. Women ages 40 and older showed a 30 percent increase in risk for having a child with autism (1 in 123), when compared to moms between the ages of 25 and 29 (1 in 156). Men ages 40 and older had up to a 50 percent increased risk of having a child with autism (1 in 116), when compared to their 25- to 29-year-old peers (1 in 176)." http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/66895.php Eddie Burke - Ashland, OR - August 7th, 10:09 AM What you all are missing is that we have the highest autism rate in Ashland, not because children born here have autism-- but mostly because PEOPLE WITH AUTISTIC CHILDREN are moving here because of our special education program. When I read the article, that is what I saw as the point to it. This one requires careful reading. Arlene - Ashland, OR - August 7th, 12:36 PM Can someone please clarify the relationship between not vaccinating our kids and autism? This seems to be an inaccurate conclusion to be stating. Perhaps I'm missing Pragmatic's point? Confused - Talent, OR - August 7th, 3:02 PM The human condition never ceases to amaze me. To Wondering Parent, Weird and Special, and Kerchackaoho, until you have raised a child on the Autism Specturm, keep you ignorant, idiotic an insensitive comments to yourself. When you have walked a mile in my shoes and have had felt the pain and struggles in raising a spectrum child, get back to me. This is not some "trendy, yuppie" disorder of the month. Autism crosses over all cultural/socio-economic lines. You are the bullies I worry about. katie larive ( [email protected] ) - ashland or - August 7th, 5:10 PM For a community with a significant autistic population, Ashland seems ignorant to the point of insensitivity about this disorder. While figuring out why autism happens is important, figuring out how to support & educate these children is paramount. Rather than casting blame & marginalizing, reaching out to people with autism & their families is vital. Our nephew/cousin is a wonderfully unique young man who has enriched our family immensely. God bless & strengthen all who are living with autism! Amee Tilger - East Wenatchee, WA - August 7th, 6:54 PM Pragmatic has actually got it backwards. Up until 2001 vaccinations contained a chemical compound called thimerosal which was used as a preservative the problem was thimerosal contained dangerous amounts of mercury which is toxic to the nervous system and has been used as far back as 1929 but from 1990-2000 the levels of mercury children were being exposed to increased when two new vaccines were introduced in spite of the fact that our drug makers have always known the dangers of their product! C - Ashland - August 7th, 11:17 PM And even though thimerosal was no longer allowed to be put into the vaccines by 2001 those already produced and on the shelves were never recalled so who knows how many more years they were administered before it finally ran out. C - Ashland - August 8th, 12:01 AM All children deserve a basic education. That Ashland is working to provide a quality education for all of its students is commendable. I am disheartened by the Federal government's repeated FAILURE to properly fund programs they require leading to a disproportionate [nationally speaking] financial burden being placed on individual states and school districts. When is this country going to get its priorities right? - Protect and develop our greatest natural resource - our people. N. A. C. - Ashland - August 8th, 6:53 AM Many people have misconceptions about autism, or their sole experience with it is through Rain Man. If you're curious, try reading Temple Grandin's books. My favorite and the one that taught me the most is Animals in Translation. Robyn - Ashland, OR - August 8th, 1:58 PM Nik, you're in Ashland Oregon? You oughta call me. Same number, but I'm listed just in case. EF - Austin, TX - August 9th, 4:11 PM Katie , the flouride comment was a joke. The caring parents compliment was just that, a compliment. wondering parent - ashland - August 9th, 4:20 PM N.A.C.: you're correct, all children deserve a basic education. However, basic should also = equitable. When a district's $$$ resources are heaped upon one student due to a designated disability, alluva sudden equity is thrown out the window. What about the rest of the student population that is designated "nondisabled"? They don't enjoy the same $$$ benefits as those that are disabled; where's the equity in that? $35k+ for a fulltime nurse for one disabled student translates to lotsa textbooks! EC - AZ - August 10th, 12:02 PM EC, you AH. Why don't you stay in AZ? Your comments are BS. You and your ilk are why Ashland is going to the K9s. Tired of EC - Ashland, OR - August 11th, 10:33 AM So I have had my fair share of the autism debate. First of all I worked with Pathway enterprises who help adults with developmental disabilities. I attended an autism training course and worked with several adults with autism. one of which was amazing like the "rain man". While I was in school I studied and gave a report on autism. About 3 years ago I became friends with a woman who believed her son of 1&1/2 had autism. This is just my unbiased view of the disease. lala - ashland, or - August 12th, 12:12 AM First of all I believe it exists and it is devastating for those people and especially the parents of children diagnosed. The two major issues I have with the disease are...... #1) the diagnoses ... for ex. my friend's son is a little odd but a great loving sweet boy and definitely not autistic, just because he exhibited a few odd personality traits when was young shouldn't equal autism... Yet she was convinced he was. this belief led to the belief that it was the fault of vaccines.. cont. lala - ashland, or - August 12th, 12:18 AM Then when my children started school i met another boy with "autism spectrum disorder" which i would have never known until his mother told me. I am not denouncing the disease, but I do question the diagnosis of many kids.. The " spectrum part especially... In most cases you have a disease or you don't but not when it comes to this one. I feel like many doctors etc. blame odd or unknown behavior on this disease/ This creates skewed statistics and an overall misunderstanding of autism. lala - ashland, or - August 12th, 12:24 AM I read an article recently that correlated autism to vaccinations. This link will bring you to a search, and the first article finds "strong evidence" Thought it might help. Jefferson - Southern Oregon - August 12th, 6:06 PM The strongest evidence to date is that there is no causal link between vaccinations and autism. Genetics, yes; vaccines, no. Get your children vaccinated or you risk all our children's health. honey - Ashland - August 13th, 11:11 PM Leave a Comment: Advertisement: Advertisement: Paid Advertising: Debt Help Inkjet Printers Payday Loans Free Ringtones Debt Consolidation Security Systems Debt Relief New Hampshire Primary Advertisement: Copyright © 2007 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved. Del.icio.us