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Developmental Disabilities |
Colorado Center of Excellence for Autism
and Other Developmental Disabilities
The Colorado Center of Excellence for Autism and Other
Developmental Disabilities is the CADDRE program studying ASDs in the
seven-county metropolitan Denver area (Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder,
Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson counties).
The Colorado center will conduct four major projects:
1. Monitoring Activities
It is not currently known how many children living in Colorado have an ASD.
During the 2000–2001 school year, 370 children in Colorado aged 3–11 years
were classified as having autism under the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA). IDEA is the federal law that supports special
education and related services for children and youth with disabilities.
However, there are additional children with ASDs who are classified in
other disability categories under IDEA. There are also other children with
ASDs who are in regular education classes, who attend private school, or
who are home schooled.
The Colorado center is working with health care
facilities and schools to obtain a more complete estimate of the number of
children in the Denver Metropolitan area with an ASD. Currently, the
monitoring activities focus on children 8 years of age.
2. National CADDRE Study
The Colorado center will work with the other CADDRE programs to find
factors that make it more likely that a child will have an ASD and to
identify conditions that are associated with ASDs. This information will
come from families who choose to take part in the study, from evaluations
of children with ASDs, and from medical records of the children. Children
3–5 years of age will be included in the combined centers study.
3. Special Studies
The Colorado Center of Excellence for Autism and Other Developmental
Disabilities is interested in how ASDs are related to other health problems
that children have. This project is focused on the gastrointestinal
problems that children with ASDs frequently have. The Colorado center will
also explore screening strategies that schools can use to help them better
identify children with high-functioning ASDs.
4. Sharing Information
The Colorado center is interested in finding better ways to help community
service providers identify children who have an ASD. The center is
providing training to expand the ability of community providers to screen
for ASDs. Topics address common signs of ASDs, how a child is diagnosed
with an ASD, where to refer a child with a suspected ASD, and services
available for families of children who have ASDs. The center will
contribute to local and national websites to keep families updated about
Colorado’s activities.
For further information, please contact:
Lisa Miller, MD, MSPH, Principal Investigator
or
Andria Ratchford, MSPH, Project Coordinator
Colorado Dept of Public Health and Environment
4300 Cherry Creek Drive, South, A3
Denver, CO 80246-1530
Phone: 303-692-2680
Fax: 303-782-0188
E-mail: andria.ratchford@state.co.us
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Date: October 29, 2004
Content source: National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental
Disabilities
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