Action Alerts
February 21, 2007
Please Call Your State Senator Today!
ASI's IEP bill (SB 79) is in committee this Thursday, February 22!
If your State Senator is on the Senate Education Committee (see below), please call their Springfield offices and ask him or her to vote in favor of SB79.
If your Senator is not on the committee, please ask them to sign on to the bill as a co-sponsor. Look them up below and call ASAP.
National studies tell us that autism is the most expensive disability category for schools and that most districts lack expertise in this uniquely difficult disability. In Illinois, many kids with autism are given minimal safeguards or are segregated from the general curriculum, often without considering how best to deal with the particular challenges that affect most kids with autism.
Introduced by Sen. Susan Garrett, SENATE BILL 79 seeks to improve the way districts plan for the education of their students with autism. SB79 would require IEP teams to consider various areas of concern for kids with autism.
The bill mirrors a Massachusetts law that was passed last year. It is meant to clarify what is already a federal requirement, not to create new legal rights. But for many parents and school districts this will be a useful and necessary guide in planning to meet a child's educational needs.
SB 79 requires an IEP team to discuss and consider 7 areas that are commonly overlooked in considering an educational plan for a child with autism:
- The verbal and nonverbal communication needs of the child.
- The need to develop social interaction skills and proficiencies.
- The needs resulting from the child's unusual responses to sensory experiences.
- The needs resulting from resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines.
- The needs resulting from engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements.
- The need for any positive behavioral interventions, strategies, and supports to address any behavioral difficulties resulting from autism spectrum disorder.
- Other needs resulting from the child's disability that impact progress in the general curriculum, including social and emotional development.
Click here to read the full text of the bill here.
Attend the hearing if you can.
Senate Bill 79 is set for hearing before the Senate Education Committee on Thursday, February 23 at 2:30 p.m. in Room 212 of the Capitol in Springfield. If you can attend, please email me ASAP.
Senate Education Committee
Chairperson: Kimberly A. Lightford D
Vice-Chairperson: Deanna Demuzio D
Member: Jacqueline Y. Collins D
Member: William Delgado D
Member: Susan Garrett D
Member: James T. Meeks D
Member: A. J. Wilhelmi D
Minority Spokesperson: Dan Cronin R
Member: J. Bradley Burzynski R
Member: David Luechtefeld R
Member: John J. Millner R
Click here to LOOK UP YOUR STATE SENATOR.
Call and ask your State Senator to become a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 79 to help children with autism receive better educational services. (Note that Barack Obama and Dick Durbin are your federal Senators, not State Senators, so there is no need to call them on this bill.)
Thank you for your support. Our success depends on you!
Sincerely,
Christopher M. Kennedy
Legislative Director, Autism Society of Illinois
Autism Society of Illinois
2200 S. Main Street, Suite 205
Lombard, IL 60148-5366
630-691-1270 Phone
888-691-1270 Toll-Free
630-932-5620 Fax
www.autismillinois.org
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