By The Star Staff
Michael Ayala, the president of the Association of Child Care and Development Centers (better known as ASOCUIDA), announced over the weekend the launch of an initiative aimed at addressing the notable increase in autism diagnoses in Puerto Rico at early ages.
The announcement was made in front of a gathering of 600 child care center owners during the first Saturday conference at ASOCUIDA’s annual convention.
“Over the past 11 years, statistics from the Puerto Rico Autism Alliance have revealed a 180% growth in autism diagnoses in public schools, and 146% more of these are at an early age of 3 to 5 years, which raises the urgent need for a review and verification of these diagnoses,” Ayala said. “This is crucial to validate that we are on the right track and to ensure that the clinical assistance our children receive from an early age is adequate. To this end, we have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Education, which not only ensures access to services and care for preschool children with disabilities, but will also train owners and employees of our child care centers and parents, strengthening their regulatory domain and promoting a more inclusive and effective early care and education system.”
According to the island Department of Education’s (DE) Child Count data, autism accounted for 2.64% of enrollment served in the 2012-2013 school year, a number that skyrocketed to 10.43% in the 2022-2023 school year. The alarming increase not only reflects increased identification of autism spectrum disorders, but may also be related to confusion between autism and sensory integration difficulties.
“We have a genuine commitment to each and every child with disabilities on our island,” said Dr. Jessica Díaz Vázquez, academic liaison for the DE’s associate secretary of special education. “Thanks to the collaborative agreement we have with ASOCUIDA, we will be sharing what we do in the Department of Education in special education in order to work together. Taking into consideration that the enrollment of boys and girls continues to increase on our island, the Department of Education currently serves more than 101,000 students with disabilities, of which 30% are preschoolers.”
Díaz Vázquez noted that the collaborative agreement with ASOCUIDA is part of the DE action plan and consists of holding informative meetings with child care centers to ensure that they are well informed about the special education program’s processes and services.
“As a second and third step, we will be holding meetings with smaller groups on how to make inquiries and observations, and how to carry out the registration processes and expand services.”
“It is essential that we differentiate between these two diagnoses [autism and sensory integration difficulties] in order to offer adequate support to our children and their families,” Ayala said. “Accurate identification of each condition will allow the most effective interventions to be implemented, ensuring that each child receives the support they really need.”
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