Eastern on Autism
A community working toward awareness, help, education by Lynn Monson
N
ew courses, degrees and services that focus on autism are positioning Eastern Michigan University as an educational leader in one of the fastest-growing healthcare specialties in the country.
Autism has long been part of the curriculum in the College
of Education and its department of special education, but now EMU is expanding its autism education and services both on campus and off. Te University is developing new undergraduate courses
starting next year so that students majoring in special education can add an endorsement in autism. Tese will complement a relatively new M.A. in Autism Spectrum Disorders, introduced in 2008, that is drawing increased interest from recent grads as well as early- and mid-career educators. EMU is also boosting its commitment beyond the
classroom and into the community. Tis spring it will celebrate a $1 million staff and technology expansion at its Autism Collaborative Center (ACC), a family-based autism clinic located in a former elementary school on the northwest
18 Eastern | SPRING 2013
edge of campus. Currently a resource for about 100 families in Washtenaw and western Wayne counties, the ACC will now be able to link people all around Michigan with a network of autism resources via an array of high-tech digital telecommunications equipment. In addition to these autism-related developments on
campus, Eastern also has a voice in the national autism discussion. Sally Burton-Hoyle, an associate professor in the department of special education, was appointed last year to a federal advisory commitee by Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Te Interagency Autism Coordinating Commitee, authorized by Congress, updates an annual report with the latest scientific research and the “newest opportunities and challenges” for meeting the needs of people with autism and their families. It’s an important emphasis for government health research because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now estimates that 1 in 88 children have Autism Spectrum Disorders; a number much higher than just a few years ago,
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