BILL REQ. #:  S-4542.1 

Read first time 01/22/08.   Referred to Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education.

     AN ACT Relating to specialized individualized education programs for students with autism; adding a new section to chapter 28A.155 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that:
     (1) Autism is a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction and is generally evident before age three;
     (2) Autism adversely affects a student's educational performance;
     (3) Autistic behaviors not only may make life difficult for people with autism but also may make life challenging for their families, health care providers, and teachers;
     (4) Families coping with this devastating condition are searching for answers about its causes, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment;
     (5) Strategies about how to best prevent, identify, treat, and accommodate the needs of individuals with autism and their families are urgently needed;
     (6) Early intervention is critical for affected children to gain maximum benefit from current therapies; and
     (7) Autism-specific individualized education programs better assist people with autism as well as assisting the families, health care providers, and the teachers who care for those with the condition.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 28A.155 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The office of the superintendent of public instruction, in consultation with the autism task force and representatives from state and nonprofit agencies that provide programs and services for people with autism, shall develop guidelines for autism-specific individualized education programs (IEPs) that address the unique needs of students with autism.
     (2) The autism-specific individualized education program guidelines shall consider, but need not be limited to:
     (a) Extended educational programming, including extended day and extended school year services, that consider the duration of programs and settings based on an assessment of behavior, social skills, communication, academics, and self-help skills;
     (b) Daily schedules reflecting minimal unstructured time and active engagement in learning activities, including lunch, snack, and recess, and providing flexibility within routines that are adaptable to individual skill levels and assist with schedule changes, such as field trips, substitute teachers, and pep rallies;
     (c) In-home and community-based training or a viable alternative that assists the student with acquisition of social and behavioral skills, including strategies that facilitate maintenance and generalization of those skills from home to school, school to home, home to community, and school to community;
     (d) Positive behavior support strategies based on information, such as:
     (i) Antecedent manipulation, replacement behaviors, reinforcement strategies, and data-based decisions; and
     (ii) A behavior intervention plan developed from a functional behavioral assessment that uses current data related to target behaviors and addresses behavioral programming across home, school, and community-based settings;
     (e) Beginning at any age, futures planning for integrated living, work, community, and educational environments that considers skills necessary to function in current and postsecondary environments;
     (f) Parent and family training and support, provided by qualified personnel with experience in autism spectrum disorder, that:
     (i) Provides a family with skills necessary for a child to succeed in the home and community setting;
     (ii) Includes information regarding resources such as parent support groups, workshops, videos, conferences, and materials designed to increase parent knowledge of specific teaching and management techniques related to the child's curriculum; and
     (iii) Facilitates parental carryover of in-home training and includes strategies for behavior management and developing structured home environments and communication training so that parents are active participants in promoting the continuity of interventions across all settings;
     (g) A suitable staff-to-student ratio appropriate to identified activities and as needed to achieve social and behavioral progress based on the child's developmental and learning level, including acquisition, fluency, maintenance, and generalization, that encourages work towards individual independence as determined by:
     (i) Adaptive behavior evaluation results;
     (ii) Behavioral accommodation needs across settings; and
     (iii) Transitions within the school day;
     (h) Communication interventions, including language forms and functions that enhance effective communication across settings, such as augmentative, incidental, and naturalistic teaching;
     (i) Social skills supports and strategies based on social skills assessment and curriculum, and provided across settings, for example trained peer facilitators such as a circle of friends, video modeling, social stories, and role playing;
     (j) Professional educator and staff support, such as training provided to personnel who work with students to assure the correct implementation of techniques and strategies described in the individualized education programs; and
     (k) Teaching strategies based on peer reviewed and research-based practices for students with autism spectrum disorder, such as those associated with discrete-trial training, visual supports, applied behavior analysis, structured learning, augmentative communication, or social skills training.
     (2) As used in this section, "recess" means unstructured playtime.
     (3) By September 1, 2008, the superintendent of public instruction shall develop recommendations for guidelines for autism-specific individualized education programs and shall submit the recommendations to the governor and the education committees of the legislature.
     (4) By December 1, 2008, the superintendent of public instruction shall report the policy guidelines to school districts for the districts to use to develop and adopt their policies.
     (5) By April 1, 2009, each school district shall use the guidelines developed under subsection (3) of this section to develop guidelines for autism-specific individualized education programs that address the unique needs of students with autism.