1. UCR Graduate School of Education
Lecture Series, UCR Palm Desert
1 in 88: Autism in your community and
why you should care
Jan Blacher, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor
Graduate School of Education
SEARCH Family Autism Resource Center
University of California, Riverside

4. Why you should care: There is a pervasive impact of
ASD
• On educational …all teachers need to learn about
autism; all schools need to provide appropriate
programs.
• On the family ….affects parents & parenting;
siblings; extended families.
• On society …autism is everywhere; more and
more families are affected.
• It’s an economic issue…the economic costs of
NOT providing early, appropriate treatment and
education are far greater than funding early
intervention programs.

5. Autism in the News…..
There is an endless supply of magazine articles,
journals, newspaper stories, self-help books,
parenting books, and celebrity endorsements about
autism.

7. Library of Congress
Search on Autism:
2035 results

8. Autism in the News 2012………
Car Pollution linked to Autism : (Volk, H. 2012 (My Health News Daily)
Infant cries help identify autism in infants?
(Stephen Sheinkopf of Brown Alpert Medical School's Women & Infants
Hospital in Providence, R.I.; Autism Research 10-2012)

9. Autism in the News 2012………
“Differences in white matter fiber tract development present
from 6 to 24 months in infants with Autism.”
(Wolff, J.J., Gerig, G. et al. (2012) American Journal of Psychiatry, 168, 589-600)
A Blood Test for Autism? (By Laura Blue -Time, 2012)

10. Outline for Tonight
• What is autism? Defining Autism
• Is it really increasing? Autism by the numbers
• What causes autism? Causality
• What are we researching?
– Impact of Autism on the Family
– Schooling: Student-Teacher-Relationships

11. What is autism?

12. Joint Attention
Eye Contact
Peer Interaction
Relationships
Attachment
Social Overtures

13. Delayed Language
Language Absent
Echolalia
Nonfunctional Speech
No Social Communication

14. Repetitive Behavior
Repeated…………....Repeated
Restricted Routines
Stereotypical
Preoccupation With Objects

15. Defining Autism: DSM V, 2013
OUT with the terms autism, PDD-nos, Asperger’s
syndrome …
IN with autism spectrum disorders

16. Is it really increasing?

17. http://www.tacanow.org/family-resources/latest-autism-statistics-2/

18. Disability Percent Change from 2000-2011
Disability Percentage Change
Autism
(14k – 71.8k)
+ 407%
Other Health Impairment
(21k -- 61.8k)
+190%
Emotional Disability
(22.3k -- 26.0k)
+18%
Intellectual Disability
(40.7k -- 43.3k)
+5%
Speech and Language
(165.5k -- 164.6k)
-7%
Specific Learning Disability
(349k -- 278.7k) Data from California Department of
Education – classification of Special Education students by qualifying
condition-report databases from 2000 to 2011
-17%

19. Ethnicity and Autism in California
34,656 receiving regional
center and developmental
center services
40.1% White
27.7% Hispanic/ Latino
8.4% Black/ African
American
9.1 % Asian/ Pacific
Islander
.2% American Indian
10.6% Other
Autism Spectrum Disorders, Changes in the California
Caseload, DDS (2007)

20. Characteristics of Autism: Cross-Cultural Aspects
CONSIDER THIS:
To date, we know that autism is an equal-
opportunity disorder…(Blacher, 2012)
About half of the over 25,000 children in
California under age 5 who have autism are
Latino….(Zarembro, 2012)
Latino children are diagnosed later than Anglo
children, often receiving services too little and
too late…( Blacher, 2009)

21. What causes autism?

22. Autism Spectrum Disorder
Infection/
Virus
Equifinality (Ciccheti & Rogosch, 1996)

23. What about a cure??
Miracle Mineral
Solution
Cord Blood
GFCF Diet
Vaccine elimination
Hyperbaric Chamber
Oxytocin
Chelation
Antifungals

24. • Currently there is no “cure” for Autism.
• Research-based interventions help individuals
with autism function more effectively in their
daily activities.
• The earlier a child begins intervention the
better the developmental outcome.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/facts.html

25. Impact of Autism on Families
Autism is part of my child, it’s not everything he
is. My child is more than just a diagnosis.
S.L.Coelho, The World According to August – One Good Friend

26. Child Behavior Problems by Diagnosis Group and Age
45
50
55
60
65
age 3 age 4 age 5
CBCL
total
behavior
problems
T-score
Autism
Undifferentiated
delays
Typically-
developing
Eisenhower, A. S., Baker, B. L., & Blacher, J. (2005).
Journal of Intellectual Disability Research.

27. Mother’s Stress Score by Child Diagnosis Group and Age
10
14
18
22
26
30
age 3 age 4 age 5
FIQ
negative
impact
Autism
Undifferentiated
delays
Typically-
developing
Eisenhower, A. S., Baker, B. L., & Blacher, J. (2005).
Journal of Intellectual Disability Research.

28. CBCL Total Behavior Problems, by IQ score:
Youth with No ASD
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
IQ < 70 IQ 70-85 IQ 86-100 IQ 101-115 IQ 116+
No ASD
No ASD
Total
Behavior
Problems
T
Score
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

29. CBCL Total Behavior Problems, by IQ score:
Youth with ASD vs. No ASD
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
IQ < 70 IQ 70-85 IQ 86-100 IQ 101-115 IQ 116+
ASD
No ASD
Total
Behavior
Problems
T
Score
Aut vs. No Aut: F = 37.74, p <.001. Aut X IQ interaction: F = 3.86, p = .005
Blacher, J. & Baker, B. L. (2013).
___________________________________________________________________________________________

30. CBCL ADHD Scale by IQ score:
Youth with ASD vs. No ASD
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
IQ < 70 IQ 70-85 IQ 86-100 IQ 101-115 IQ 116+
ASD
No ASD
CBCL
ADHD
Scale
Sum
Score
Aut vs. No Aut: F = 35.12, p <.001. IQ: F=2.41, p = .05; Aut X IQ interaction: F = 2.84, p = .03
Blacher, J. & Baker, B. L. (2013).

31. Negative Impact of Youth on the Family
with co-morbid ADHD
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
TD ID ASD
No ADHD
ADHD
Negative
Impact
on
Family
Highly significant and independent effects of status and ADHD
Blacher, J. & Baker, B. L. (2013).

32. Impact on Schooling
It’s no longer a question of WHETHER a public
school teacher will encounter a child with
autism….
It’s a question of WHEN

33. What do you remember most about your earliest
relationships with your teachers?
“We didn’t get along; my desk was in the coatroom
most of the year!”
“I was in love with my kindergarten teacher.”
“I didn’t know my letters and Mrs. Fletcher made me
feel bad about myself.”
“My first grade teacher was very pretty; that was the
only year my father went to PTA meetings!”
“Kindergarten made me love school.”

34. The Transition to School as a Crucial
Developmental Period
Kindergarten places new demands on
children’s academic skills, social
skills, behavior, and self-regulation
Nearly half (48%) of children were
found to be under- prepared for
kindergarten
Types of behaviors lacking: following
directions, working independently,
working in groups, communicating
Teachers of children with ID may also
be more stressed and engage in
more behavior struggles

35. Student Teacher Relationship Score at Age 6
Pianta, R. C. (2001). The Student–Teacher Relationship Scale. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia.
Conflict DD > TD
Dependency DD > TD
Closeness TD > DD
Total score p < .001
Eisenhower, A. B., Baker, B. L., & Blacher, J. (2007).

36. Student-teacher relationship total score, by status
group
Student
Teacher
Relationship
Total
Child age in years
Status F = 10.73 p = .001
Time F = 0.06 ns
S x T F = 0.03 ns
Blacher, J., Baker, B. L., & Eisenhower, A. S. (2010).
American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental
Disabilities

37. Student Teacher Relationship Score at Age 6
STRs are lower when children have Developmental Delays
HOWEVER – this is not because of the cognitive/IQ delay
Children with DD have higher Behavior Problems and lower
Social Skills than children with TD -- and it is these domains that
affect the STRS.
STRS Conflict is predicted by child Behavior Problems
STRS Closeness is predicted by child Social Skills
When these are considered, cognitive delay does not matter

38. Distribution of STRS total scores
for the three groups

39. Ongoing Study at SEARCH…
Do You Have a Child with Autism?
• The SEARCH family autism resource center
at UC Riverside (UCR) is looking for
children with autism to participate in a
research study
• Funded by the Institute for Educational
Sciences, R324A110086
• Dr. Jan Blacher, Principal Investigator,
Graduate School of Education UC Riverside,
IRB approval #HS 11-010
For more information call SEARCH: 951-827-3849
Successful Transition in the Early School
Years for Children with Autism
Your child may be eligible if he/she
• Is between the ages of 4-7
• Is diagnosed with autism or autism spectrum disorder
Participation involves
• Questionnaires, interviews, and gold standard
psychological assessments (including ADOS and ADI-R)
• 3 visits to UCR over 18 months
• Parents and teachers
Participants Receive
• $150.00 for three collection points
• Assessment report at first visit
• Parent-child DVD at second visit
• Developmental summary at third visit

40. Conclusions: Why should you care?
1** From 1990 to 2006, autism increased 600-700%
in California. * That means that you will all
encounter someone on the spectrum at some point
– maybe even someone in your family.
2** Appropriate, early, intensive behavioral
intervention can reduce life-long dependency on
families and society in about 50% of children on
the spectrum.
*

41. Conclusions: Why should you care?
3** The lifelong cost of autism to society, estimated even
10 years ago, was 3.1 million per person. Just the
25,000 Latino children under age 5 in California could
potentially cost 77.5 million dollar
4** There are economic savings for all of us. Up to 50%
of children on the autism spectrum can potentially
attend regular classes in public schools, become
college educated – maybe even at UCR --, get a job and
pay taxes.
Hertz-Picciotto I., Delwiche L. (2009). The continuing rise in autism and the role of age at diagnosis. Epidemiology 20(1):84-90.

42. The SEARCH Team
Doctoral Student Fellows:
– Lauren Berkovits
– Erin Knight
– Regan Linn
– Amanda McClure *
– Marina Murphy
– Leigh Ann Tipton
– Sasha Zeedyk
Post-Doctoral Fellow:
– Shana Cohen, Ph.D.
Coordinators:
Barbara Caplan, UCLA
Naomi Rodas, UCR
Josh Wilson, UMass-Boston
Collaborators:
Abbey Eisenhower, Ph.D., UMass-
Boston
Liz Laugeson, Psy.D., UCLA-The
Help Group Autism Research
Alliance

43. Thanks to our private donors, funders, sponsors
National Institute of Health (HD34879-1459)
Institute for Education Sciences (R324A110086)
UCRiverside Graduate School of Education, Vernon-Eady Funds
SEARCH Family Autism Resource Center
First 5 of Riverside & San Bernardino
The Help Group-UCLA Autism Research Alliance

44. Contact Information for SEARCH
Website: http://searchcenter.ucr.edu/
Facebook:
Dr. Jan Blacher
Graduate School of Education
951.827.3875
jan.blacher@ucr.edu