ERIC Number: EJ1186825
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Sep
Pages: 32
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0895-9048
EISSN: N/A
Local Autism Policy Networks: Expertise and Intermediary Organizations
Parsons, Bryan M.
Educational Policy, v32 n6 p823-854 Sep 2018
The increasing prevalence of diagnoses for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), now one in 68 children according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), presents a number of policy implications. In particular, many of these children become eligible for special education services under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Given the specialized expertise and resources required of local education agencies (LEAs), how do they respond to this implementation challenge? In May 2015, an online survey was distributed to various governmental and nongovernmental actors in three Virginia localities to measure the extent of collaboration in local autism policy networks. The findings suggest that these networks are driven by autism-related information, and that nonprofit organizations act as intermediary organizations that bridge disparate stakeholders. The results contribute to our understanding of fragmentation across policy subsystems, with the focus here on education policy, and the implementation challenges related to a rapidly changing policy issue.
Descriptors: Autism, Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Children, Special Education, Online Surveys, Educational Policy, Agency Cooperation, Disabilities, Educational Legislation, Federal Legislation, Equal Education, Elementary Secondary Education, Surveys, Networks
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Virginia; Virginia (Richmond)
Identifiers - Laws, Policies, & Programs: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A