Published: June 12, 2009 09:01 am      

Educators consider area autism school

County school officials meet with health group

CUMBERLAND — An educational center for children with autism could be in Western Maryland’s future.

Allegany County school officials have been meeting with Sheppard Pratt Health System to explore the possibility of a partnership to create a school-based therapeutic program.

The nonprofit Sheppard Pratt, based in Baltimore, operates almost a dozen schools in Maryland for children with behavioral and emotional problems, including the Jefferson School at the Finan Center in Cumberland.

“We are currently looking for a space to create it,” said Bonnie Fetzger, principal of Jefferson School, where about 40 students attend. “Allegany County has expressed a need, and we’ve had discussions about what form it will take. That’s as far as it is right now.”

Another meeting is scheduled for July, Fetzger said.

More than 5,700 students in Maryland public schools were diagnosed with autism in 2006, according to the Maryland State Department of Education. A figure for Allegany County wasn’t immediately available. Last year, public schools here served more than 1,400 students with special needs, according to Tim Miller, assistant superintendent of special education for Allegany County schools.

A program dedicated to autistic children is sorely needed in Western Maryland, said Marcy Hardinger, chairwoman of the annual walk for Autism Speaks in Allegany County. Eight years ago, when she organized the first walk, she was inundated with phone calls from anxious parents.

“Every single parent had the same exact tone, the same exact words: ‘I don’t know what to do. I don’t know where to turn,’” said Hardinger, whose 11-year-old daughter, Hannah, is autistic. “There is such a need for help here.”

Sheppard Pratt operates at least three other schools especially designed for autistic students — one in Hunt Valley, one in Gaithersburg, and another in Westminster.

The newest, Forbrush School at Hunt Valley, opened in 2008 and provides individual and small classroom instruction for up to 72 students with autism. It includes a therapeutic playground and an indoor “sensory integration area” with swings, small trampolines, and weighted vests and blankets.

Autism is a complex neurobiological disorder that inhibits a person’s ability to communicate, respond to his surroundings and form relationships with others. Today, one in 150 individuals is diagnosed with autism, making it more common than pediatric cancer, diabetes and AIDS combined.

Currently, children in Allegany County with autism receive special education services through the public schools or through private facilities outside the county, Miller said.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to develop, with their support, a nonpublic program that would provide more intensive services so children wouldn’t have to go outside the county for help,” Miller said.

Contact Kristin Harty at kharty@times-news.com.