Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are a set of neurodevelopmental disorders that affect how children process information and see the world. ASD can impact children’s social relationships, communication skills and behaviors in different ways and to different degrees. Children with ASD may have restricted interests or repetitive patterns of behavior. ASD usually appears during the first three years of a child’s life. Most parents first notice the loss of skills or developmental delays when their child is 15 to 18 months old. Symptoms can range from very mild to severe. Each child might display a unique combination of characteristics ranging from low to high functioning forms of ASD, requiring individually determined educational and treatment programs.

NEW Autism Spectrum Disorder Teacher Licensure – Transition Process
Current Minnesota special education teachers who are interested in the new Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) license can now use a process to review their experience and professional development activities so they can be considered. Teachers who hold a current full-time Minnesota teaching license in a special education field, have experience providing specialized instruction to students with ASD, and have participated in ongoing professional development in ASD may now initiate a review process to determine eligibility to add the ASD license to their current Minnesota license. Find information related to the ASD licensure transition process for current special education teachers, the eligibility review forms, materials, submission timelines and FAQ on the Special Education Licensure page. View a 20 minute WebEx presentation on the new process.

Basic information about ASD in English, Spanish, Somali and Hmong is available on the Minnesota ParentsKnow website, as is the ASD Video Glossary, an innovative web-based tool designed to help parents and professionals learn more about the early red flags and diagnostic features of ASD. Find this information and more, including Minnesota Rule language regarding ASD, under Offsite Resources.

• Autism Spectrum Disorder Needs Survey 2011-12 
  Executive Summary of the statewide survey conducted collaboratively by the Minnesota Department of Education and the Autism Society of Minnesota.
• Promising Practices: Effective Early Intervention in Autism (video) 
  Information about early intervention for autism.
• Promising Practices - Somail video 
  Information about early intervention for autism in Somali. (Windows Media) (Software, for example Windows Media Player, is needed in order to view this video.)
• Promising Practices - Spanish video 
  Information about early intervention for autism in Spanish. (Windows Media) (Software, for example Windows Media Player, is needed in order to view this video.)
• Promising Practices - English/Somali transcript 
  English and Somali transcript of video with information about early intervention for autism.
• Promising Practices - Spanish transcript 
  Information about early intervention for autism.