Bryna Siegel is an expert on autism who has long been controversial for her blunt talk and unconventional views about the disorder. In this post, she is as blunt as ever, arguing that most of the money that goes toward autism research is not helping families deal with the disorder — and why that should be made a focus.

Siegel is a professor emeritus of child and adolescent psychology at the University of California at San Francisco and founder and executive director of the Autism Center of Northern California. She is also author of the 2018 book “The Politics of Autism.”

Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disability that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC earlier this year increased its estimate of autism’s prevalence among the nation’s 8-year-olds in 2014 to 1 in 59; its previous estimate was 1 in 85.

Siegel questions how those estimates are made and, in her book, argues against reflexively “mainstreaming” students with moderate to severe disabilities. Mainstreaming calls for placing those with moderate to severe learning impairments in classrooms with children of the same age who do not have disabilities. She says most would do better in special classrooms where they receive “daily living skills” training.

Read more here.