The unique educational needs of students on the autism spectrum

From the intro to a feature in the St. Petersburg Times in Florida. In the picture, Cody Underwood, right, 14, fists-bumps his best friend Tulley Chrietzberg, also 14, after science class at Quest Middle School in Tampa.

TAMPA, Fla. — They were at a bowling alley. Their son was with kids from his T-ball team. He was about 5 years old.

The other boys bowled and sipped soft drinks. Cody Underwood was out of control, running around and flapping his arms. "I looked like a bird, I bet," he says.

Sandy Pulliam had wondered if her child just had a lot of energy, or if something more serious was going on.

Now, comparing him with other boys his age, she knew.

Tens of thousands of children are leading their parents to similar awakenings, leading to medical diagnoses barely conceived of in previous generations. Known generically as "the spectrum," autism, Asperger's syndrome and pervasive development disorder are to this era what attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder was to the 1990s, with a potpourri of pharmaceuticals to match.

These conditions create vexing problems for parents, especially when it's time to put the child in school. Where do you send a child who can read and write, but goes into a rage over graffiti on the wall?

That description fits Cody Underwood. He has Asperger's syndrome, a condition in which people with normal intelligence have deficient social and communication skills. Like most parents of disabled kids, Cody's parents believe it is society's responsibility to ensure an appropriate education and social setting regardless of a child's needs.

It's like this, says Crisha Scolaro, one of the founders of a group of charter schools for learning-disabled children: "If a child doesn't want to be in school, there is something wrong with the school, not the child."

Cody has been through six schools and twice as many medications in his 14 years. Nearly every step of the way has been fraught with conflict and humiliation. For his parents, getting Cody an appropriate education has been an education in itself.