Stamm disputes the singular nature of Lovaas therapy, and adds that a number of court cases have concluded differently. Thus, the Anchorage School District has no clear mandate to provide or pay for intensive early intervention. Furthermore, he cites the program's demanding nature. Autistic children can place a heavy burden on the school system, and as a result the district can be reluctant to accept the diagnosis. Stamm adds that the autism diagnosis is not an easy one to make, clinically or politically.
Autistic behavior comes from so many things.
And it's hard to diagnose, especially in younger kids. We don't want to stick our necks out and call them autistic, we'd rather just call them developmentally delayed. As far as statistics on autistic children in Anchorage schools, few are readily available because of the vast number of special needs students, and the way the records are organized. Stamm says the School District has 18,000 special needs students, and 25 autistic students. Most of these students are not in Risley's program, and many are likely beyond the six-year treatment window.