Bill Text: MS HB562 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: MS Autism Therapy Scholarship; authorize to provide additional funds for students with autism spectrum disorder to receive therapy.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2014-02-04 - Died In Committee [HB562 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2014-HB562-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2014 Regular Session
To: Education; Appropriations
By: Representative Barker
House Bill 562
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE MISSISSIPPI AUTISM THERAPY SCHOLARSHIP FOR STUDENTS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER PROGRAM, WHICH ALSO MAY BE CITED AS THE "CONTINUOUS PROGRESS CURRICULUM ACT OF 2014"; TO DEFINE CERTAIN TERMS USED IN THIS ACT; TO REQUIRE THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO DEVELOP RULES AND REGULATIONS REGARDING THE DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS UNDER THE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM; TO REQUIRE THAT ALL CHILDREN BE SCREENED FOR AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER BEFORE THE END OF GRADE 1 IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THIS STATE; TO ESTABLISH THE PROCEDURES TO BE FOLLOWED IN THE SCREENING AND EVALUATION OF STUDENTS FOR AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER; TO REQUIRE EACH SCHOOL DISTRICT AND SCHOOLS THEREIN TO PROVIDE A CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION SUITED TO EACH STUDENT'S INSTRUCTIONAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL LEVEL; TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO SUBMIT AN ANNUAL REPORT TO THE LEGISLATURE SUMMARIZING STUDENT PERFORMANCE, STUDENT ASSESSMENTS, FUNDING AND ANY RECOMMENDED CHANGES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. As used in this act, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed in this section unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(a) "Board" means the State Board of Education.
(b) "Department" means the State Department of Education.
(c) "Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)," as defined under IDEA, means a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before the age of three (3) years, that adversely affects a child's educational performance. Other characteristics often associated with ASD are engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences. The term does not apply if a child's educational performance is adversely affected because the child has an emotional disturbance.
(d) "Autism therapy" means an appropriate instructional program that is delivered by a highly trained therapist, teacher or paraprofessional, which is scientific and research-based. These components shall be taught using instructional approaches that include intervention methodologies which focus on the social skills, language and communication, imitation, play skills, daily living and motor skills, individualized to meet the specific learning needs of each individual student, and which such therapy includes, but is not limited to, the following behavior and communication approaches:
(i) Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) which encourages positive behaviors and discourages negative behaviors in order to improve skill, including:
1. Discrete Trial Training (DTT), which uses a series of trials to teach each step of a desired behavior or response.
2. Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI).
3. Pivotal Response Training (PRT), which aims to increase a child's motivation to learn, monitor his or her own behavior, and initiate communication with others.
4. Verbal Behavior Intervention (VBI), which focuses on teaching verbal skills;
(ii) Developmental, Individual Differences, Relationship-Based Approach (DIR), also called "Floortime," which focuses on emotional and relational development, and the child's management of response to sights, sounds and smells.
(iii) Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication-handicapped Children (TEAACH), which utilizes visual cues to teach skills;
(iv) Occupational Therapy, which teaches independent living skills;
(v) Sensory Integration Therapy;
(vi) Speech Therapy, which helps to improve the communication skills; and
(vii) The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), which uses picture symbols to teach communication skills. (e) "Highly trained therapist" means a licensed developmental pediatric physician, neurologist, psychiatrist, psychologist, speech-language pathologist, occupational therapist or behavioral therapist who has met the requirements and acquired a certificate of clinical competence from the professional or clinical association which accredits the respective discipline of study or professional practice, or who has completed a department approved speech-language pathology, occupational therapy or behavioral therapy training program attaining an AA license in the required discipline.
(f) "Mississippi Autism Therapy Scholarship for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder Program" means a scholarship to provide the option to provide a scholarship to a nonpublic school of choice, for students in kindergarten through Grade 6 or its equivalent with an eligibility ruling of an autism spectrum disorder in order to receive comprehensive multimodality autism intervention therapy delivered by holders of an appropriate license and clinical certification.
(g) "School" means any state accredited nonpublic special purpose school that is organized to provide and emphasizes instruction in autism therapy and intervention as a focused component of the educational purpose of the school and provides a specific learning environment that provides comprehensive autism therapy instruction and intervention delivered by highly trained therapists licensed or certified by the department providing highly qualified education and intervention services to children with an eligibility ruling of autism spectrum disorder.
SECTION 2. The Mississippi Autism Therapy Scholarship for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder Program, is established to provide additional funds for appropriate autism therapy outside of the instructional day for eligible public school children in Grades K-6 to receive appropriate autism therapy specific to the needs of the child who has been properly evaluated and received an eligibility ruling of autism spectrum disorder, subject to the availability of funds for such purposes.
SECTION 3. The maximum scholarship granted per eligible student with autism spectrum disorder shall be based on the amount determined by the State Department of Education in accordance with rules and regulations established and promulgated by the department for the disbursement of scholarship funds to eligible children.
SECTION 4. (1) Each local school district shall adopt a policy to ensure that students will be screened for autism spectrum disorder before the end of Grade 1. The components of the diagnostic screener must assess the following criteria:
(a) Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts, as manifested by:
(i) Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, ranging from:
1. Abnormal social approach and failure of normal back-and-forth conversation;
2. Reduced sharing of interests, emotions, or affect; or
3. Failure to initiate or respond to social interactions;
(ii) Deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction, ranging from:
1. Poorly integrated verbal and nonverbal communication;
2. Abnormalities in eye contact and body language or deficits in understanding and use of gestures; or
3. A total lack of facial expressions and nonverbal communication; or
(iii) Deficits in developing, maintaining and understanding relationships, ranging from:
1. Difficulties adjusting behavior to suit various social contexts;
2. Difficulties in sharing imaginative play or in making friends; or
3. Absence of interest in peers;
(b) Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests or activities, as manifested by at least two (2) of the following:
(i) Stereotyped or repetitive motor movements, use of objects or speech;
(ii) Insistence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines or ritualized patterns or verbal nonverbal behavior;
(iii) Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus; or
(iv) Hyper- or hyporeactivity to sensory input or unusual interests in sensory aspects of the environment;
(c) Whether symptoms are present in the early developmental period;
(d) Whether symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of current functioning; and
(e) Whether or not these disturbances are better explained by intellectual disability (intellectual developmental disorder) or global developmental delay.
(2) If a student fails the screener, the parent or legal guardian will be notified of the results of the screener.
(3) If a student fails the screener, the school district, in its discretion, may perform a comprehensive autism spectrum disorder evaluation.
(4) A parent or legal guardian may provide written notification to the local school district opting out of the mandatory screening provided by the district. The provisions of this section shall not apply to homeschooled students.
(5) Each public school district providing educational and intervention services to any student in Grades K-6 receiving a scholarship under this act shall require the school in which the student is enrolled to provide instruction at the student's instructional level. Each school district having students enrolled who receive scholarship funds under this act shall provide a curriculum appropriate to each eligible student's developmental level.
SECTION 5. (1) The department shall publicize information regarding the Mississippi Autism Therapy Scholarship on the department's official website.
(2) The department shall annually, by December 15, report to the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives the department's actions with respect to implementing accountability in the scholarship program under this section, any substantiated allegations or violations of law or rule by an eligible nonpublic school under this program concerning the enrollment and attendance of students, the credentials of teachers, background screening of teachers, and teachers' fingerprinting results and the corrective action taken by the department.
SECTION 6. No liability shall arise on the part of the state based on the award or use of a Mississippi Autism Therapy Scholarship.
SECTION 7. Sections 7 through 9 of this act shall be known and cited as the "Continuous Progress Curriculum Act of 2014."
SECTION 8. The Legislature finds that the state's public education system has a responsibility to develop and operate an educational program that provides sequential intellectual development necessary for students to progress on a continuous basis in elementary school. In meeting state statutes and state educational standards, each school district's education system should provide for placement of a student at his or her individual learning level and curriculum that meets both state learning standards and is appropriate to the student's learning style.
SECTION 9. Any child in kindergarten through Grade 6 shall be taught at his or her instructional level. Each school district in the State of Mississippi shall provide curriculum appropriate to each individual student's developmental level.
SECTION 10. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2014.
