Weekly Paper

Thinh Ngoc Tran

A statewide collaboration against autism in Missouri

According to the Autism Factsheet of National Institute of Neurological Disorder and Stroke,
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a range of complex neurodevelopment disorders,
characterized by social impairments, communication difficulties, and restricted, repetitive, and
stereotyped patterns of behavior. Although ASD varies significantly in character and severity, it
occurs in all ethnic and socioeconomic groups and affects every age group.  Experts estimate
that three to six children out of every 1,000 will have ASD.  Males are four times more likely to
have ASD than females. Autism is increasing at an alarming rate, with the most recent studies
reporting that autism affects 1 out of every 110 children in the U.S. Autism can usually be
diagnosed by age three, but in Missouri the median age of diagnosis is five years for white
children and eight years for black children.

In order to provide a proven set of best practices to help clinicians, educators and service
providers, the Thompson Foundation has partnered with the Missouri Department of Mental
Health to produce Missouri’s first best practice guidelines for screening, diagnosing and
assessing autism. The Missouri Autism Guidelines Initiative was formed in 2008 as a direct
result of Missouri’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Autism. The guideline initiative is sponsored by the
Thompson Foundation for Autism and the Division of Developmental Disabilities, Missouri
Department of Mental Health.

These project sponsors were brought together by their shared belief that current research and
data would help inform professionals’ clinical judgment for earlier screening, more accurate
diagnosis, and comprehensive assessment for intervention planning of autism spectrum
disorders (ASDs). The main purpose of the initiative is to produce comprehensive guidelines
with best practices in screening, diagnosing and assessing autism. The targeted audiences of
the initiative are: clinicians, families, mental health professionals, educators, therapists and
service providers.

The Guidelines are designed to facilitate those critical first steps toward treatment for children
with autism: screening, diagnosis and assessment. The Guidelines were produced by a
statewide collaboration of parents and professionals, including physicians, psychologists,
pediatricians, and parents of individuals with ASDs, other professionals including therapists,

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educators and service providers. Driven by knowledge that earlier identification and
intervention lead to better outcomes, the guidelines were developed on current research,
review of best practices and broad-based experience of Missouri professionals and parents.

The Guidelines are a powerful example of the public and private sectors working together to
make a real difference. The Guidelines emphasize the role of community collaboration model in
addressing the autism problem in Missouri.

Based on the different models of collaboration in Collaborative Public Management by Agranoff

and McGuire, the initiative can be considered as donor-recipient model of collaborative
management. This can be considered as donor-recipient model of collaborative management
because the initiative is sponsored by the Thompson Foundation for Autism and the Division of
Developmental Disabilities, Missouri Department of Mental Health. The collaboration involved
many actors and stakeholders in the field. In this case, the grantors (Thompson Foundation,
Department of Mental Health) collaborate with grantees (clinicians, families, mental health
professionals, educators, therapists and service providers). The model recognizes that
collaborators must rely on each other in order to achieve the same objectives. Although, donors
acknowledge their dependence upon the actions of the recipient, with expertise and power,
donors take more control in the management of this collaboration model.

References:

Missouri Autism Guideline Initiative’s Website:

http://www.autismguidelines.dmh.mo.gov/default.htm

Autism Factsheet, National Institute of Neurological Disorder and Stroke, available online at
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm

Missouri Families for Effective Autism Treatment’s Website: http://www.mo-feat.org/

Missouri Autism Coalition’s Website: http://www.missouriautismcoalition.com/

Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental disorders, University of Missouri:

http://thompsoncenter.missouri.edu/

Agranoff, Robert; McGuire, Michael (2003), Collaborative Public Management, Georgetown

University Press