The California School Psychologist Contributes Valuable Knowledge to Promote Student Success

Abstract

This volume of The California School Psychologist includes several articles regarding "autism spectrum disorder" as well as other informative articles on topics ranging from California's First 5 Initiative, to school crisis teams, classroom sociograms, and projective assessments. These articles provide valuable information for school psychologists and other professionals working in the schools, and also contribute to the literature and scholarship that aims to promote the educational success of all students. Previous articles published in The California School Psychologist, including the recent volumes addressing (a) school engagement, (b) strength-based assessment, and (c) response to intervention (RTI), are available on-line at www.education.ucsb.edu/school-psychology. The first article (Akshoomoff, Corsello, & Schmidt, 2006) reports the results of a national survey examining autism diagnosis practices among school and clinical psychologists. The role of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) was a particular focus of this study. The results of this study revealed that both school psychologists and clinical psychologists were similar in following best practice guidelines for screening, diagnosis, and assessment. Both school psychologists and clinical psychologists were found to typically include a parent interview and a developmental history in their assessment. It was also found that school psychologists were more likely to include a home observation or teacher report, relative to clinical psychologists. Perceived merits of the ADOS included the standardized structure for observation and capturing behaviors specific to autism spectrum disorder. The authors emphasize that more research is needed on how practitioners interpret the various diagnostic criteria and the impact of different practices and level of expertise on classification and service utilization. The second article (Carlson, Brinkman, & Majawicz-Hefley, 2006) provides valuable information regarding the use of biomedical treatments with school-aged children diagnosed with autism. Noting the increasing prevalence of autism and the increased frequency of pharmacological interventions, this article provides a synthesis of research informing the outcomes and risks associated with psychotropic medications. No medications are currently PDA-approved for treating autism; however, such interventions are often implemented as an adjunct to behavioral, social, and educational interventions. The authors identify specific domains where pharmacological treatments demonstrate promise in treating specific symptoms commonly associated with autism, including aggression, anxiety, agitation, cognitive inflexibility, overactivity, self-injury, and stereotypic behaviors. School psychologists are in a critical position to monitor the effects of various interventions, including medications. Moreover, it is important that school psychologists be knowledgeable of the effects of pharmacological interventions. The third article (Brock, 2006) examines the changing rates of autism in special education using data from the U.S. Department of Education. The U.S. Department of Education included "Autism" as a specific special education eligibility category beginning in 1991, whereas previously students with ASD who required special education assistance were identified as eligible by meeting other eligibility category criteria (e.g., mental retardation, speech/language impairment). This article explores whether classification substitution may be an explanation for increases in the number of students found eligible for special education using the autism criteria. The trends illustrate that as the rates of autism classification have gone up, the classification rates of mental retardation (MR), emotional disturbance (ED), and specific learning disability (SLD) have gone down. The author concludes that it is possible that the increased numbers of students found eligible for special education using autism criteria are at least in part a function of IEP teams being increasingly more willing and able to use autism criteria instead of MR, ED, and SLD criteria. …