Services may also be delivered to students with autism or autistic-like characteristics through a resource level of service coordinated through the area offices. The student-teacher ratio for these students is four students with one teacher, one instructional assistant, and one attendant. The focus of this program is to provide services to those students whose extremely challenging behaviors have significantly interfered with their success in a class-based program. These students receive a highly structured behavioral program within a clinical model. In some cases, a student who is not primarily autistic may be placed in the autism program if it is decided that the autism program can best meet that student's needs.
Autism is four times more likely to be found in boys than girls.
It is found in all racial, ethnic, and social backgrounds. It occurs in approximately 15 out of 10,000 births. Because autism is a spectrum disorder, students may vary from one another in the manifestation of these characteristics along a continuum, and an individual may have uneven degrees of involvement across the areas. Students in the self-contained program generally require a high degree of structure and routine. They may have difficulty attending to a task unless it is one that is highly motivating, in which case they may not want to be interrupted or discontinue with the activity.