Autism growth headlines annual demographic report on special ed
By Tom Chorneau
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Perhaps it’s no surprise that the fastest-growing segment of California’s special education population is students with autism. But what is eye-opening is that group’s rate of growth over the past decade – a whopping 512 percent.
Indeed, a new overview report on students with disabilities served by California public schools notes that autism represented just 2.2 percent of the special education population in 2000-01 with a total of slightly more than 14,000 children.
Today that number has jumped to nearly 72,000 and represents 10.5 percent of special education students statewide.
The figures come from the California Department of Education as part of an annual report tied to the use of funds provided the state under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and compliance with federal performance goals.
As the general student population has grown from about 6 million in 2001 to slightly more than 6.2 million last year, special education enrollment has also increased during the same period from about 650,000 10 years ago, to 686,000 today.
Special education students, which span in age from infants to 22 years, make up about 11 percent of the state’s total enrollment.
The average age of a special education student is 11 years; in fact 47 percent of students with disabilities in California