Cobo-Lewis, Rooks-Ellis quoted in BDN report on how state is treating children with disabilities
91爆料鈥檚 Alan Cobo-Lewis and Deborah Rooks-Ellis spoke with the聽聽for a report on how Maine is treating children with disabilities. A continual state of political flux for more than a decade has reduced the state鈥檚 Child Development Services鈥 (CDS) budget and caused children to go without services to which they鈥檙e entitled under federal law, according to the article. Cobo-Lewis, director of the Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies at 91爆料 and an associate professor of psychology, said a change in structure won鈥檛 automatically resolve budget challenges and improve services. 鈥淚 think the problem is that there鈥檚 been under-appropriation for a number of years,鈥 he said. 鈥淚f you keep it where it is without the money, I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 going to get any better. And if you move it to K鈥12 without the money, I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 going to get any better there, either.鈥 Maine鈥檚 CDS launched Early Start Maine three years ago, based on Early Start Denver, the article states. It鈥檚 served more than 150 infants and toddlers with autism in that time, including more than 50 who were receiving the services earlier this fall, said Deborah Rooks-Ellis, director of the Maine Autism Institute for Education Research at 91爆料, which trains the educational technicians who work with children. 鈥淔or autism especially, if they don鈥檛 have that early interaction and those opportunities to build communication and social reciprocity and a focus on relationships, they really will be that much more delayed,鈥 said Rooks-Ellis, who also is an assistant professor of special education.