Statistics from the California Department of Education

•Between 1992-1993, there were 1,982 autistic students enrolled in K-12 education in California. In 2004, the number of students with autism had increased to 21,948

•There has been a 1,000 percent increase in the number of students with autism enrolled in K-12 education during the past 22 years.

•The number of students with autism as the proportion of the total student enrollment has more than quadrupled during the last nine years alone.

•Though the incidences of other developmental disabilities have remained relatively constant, the number of students with autism as the proportion of special education has quadrupled over the last nine years.

•In the Los Angeles Unified School District, the number of students identified with autism increased from 2,700 in 2001 to 5,300 in 2004. The district states that these numbers may underestimate the true frequency of autism spectrum disorders since higher functioning children are often classified with other diagnoses.

•Nearly every part of California has seen a doubling of the incidence of students with autism in K-12 over the past four years alone.

Statistics from the U.S.

Department of Education

•The number of children in the U.S. served by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has increased from under 20,000 in 1993 to almost 120,000 in 2002, the most recent year that data is available.

•Students with autism have increased by more than 500 percent in the last 10 years.

•Approximately 68 percent of all federal expenditures for children with autism are used for education and instructionrelated services