The Autism Scholarship is experiencing tremendous growth and, as we have read this month, it is making a real difference in kids’ lives.
Part of what we can do to help more kids with autism is making sure everyone has access to quality providers in their area. There are still many kids who can’t benefit from the scholarship because they don’t live near a service provider, school, or therapist who offers the help they need.
There are 222 private providers spread across 37 of Ohio’s 88 counties. This reaches many students, but not all. Important frontiers in developing the Autism Scholarship include:
- Expanding the types of services available,
- Making sure providers are quality,
- Copying successful schools and service models so they can serve more kids, and
- Broadening the geography of families able to access services (especially in rural areas because service providers tend to be clustered in urban areas).
The flexibility and choice in the Autism Scholarship Program has allowed several model autism programs to develop that have become national stars. These programs, based on different beliefs about how to approach autism, use approaches that families can match to their individual child.
An increase in the funding amount of the Autism Scholarship ($20,000) closer to par with public school funding ($30,000+) would be an important investment in sustained and expanded innovation. Successful programs often cost $50,000-$100,000 per student annually. Progress on the frontiers will also require significant philanthropic investment, but promise impressive outcomes. Philanthropists who are interested in autism would do well to invest in replicating proven school models.
What are some of the needs you see to expand autism services? Some of the opportunities?
- Sarah Pechan
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!