The Public Policy Institute of California has a new report titled Special Education Finance in California. This passage deals specifically with autism:
The mix of disabilities has changed substantially, increasing local special education costs. Over the past decade, the number of students with relatively low-cost disabilities has fallen while the number with more expensive disabilities has risen. Autism offers an example. California’s 1.3 percent autism rate among K–12 students in 2012–13 was higher than the 1 percent national rate. Autism is increasing faster in California than in the rest of the United States. From 2001–02 to 2013–14, California’s autism caseload increased 5.4 times, while cases in the rest of nation increased 4.2 times. (NCES 2016 and Kids Data 2015). At both the state and national level, rising autism has been accompanied by shifts away from intellectual disability and specific learning disability diagnoses (CASEMIS data and Zablotsky et al 2015).
- California Department of Education. 2015. Data from California Special Education Management Information System (CASEMIS) 2014-2015.
- KIDS DATA. 2015. Special Education Enrollment, by Disability, 2002-2015. Autism.
- Snyder, Thomas D., Cristobal de Brey, and Sally A. Dillow. 2016. Digest of Education Statistics 2014. NCES 2016-006. National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education.
- Zablotsky, Benjamin et al. 2015. Estimated Prevalence of Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities Following Questionnaire Changes in the 2014 National Health Interview Survey. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics. National Health Statistics Reports, No. 87
