ORIGINAL PAPER A National Sample of Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Special Education Services and Parent Satisfaction Amy Bitterman Æ Tamara C. Daley Æ Sunil Misra Æ Elaine Carlson Æ Joy Markowitz Published online: 29 January 2008 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2008 Abstract The Pre-Elementary Education Longitudinal Study (PEELS) examines the preschool and early ele- mentary school experiences of a nationally representative sample of 3,104 children ages 3–5 with disabilities from 2004 through 2009. This paper describes the special edu- cation and related services received by a subsample of 186 preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in 2003–2004 and parental satisfaction with those services. Past research and patterns of litigation suggest that parents of children with ASD are not wholly satisfied with the special education and related services their children receive. In the current study, the authors found many similarities between children with ASD and children with other disabilities in the type of services received under IDEA and in parent satisfaction with these services. Still, some significant differences emerged in the number of services received, the amount of time children with ASD spent in special education settings, and parent satisfaction with the amount of time children spent with typically developing peers. Implications about the importance of parent satisfaction and social validity measures are discussed. Keywords Autism Á ASD Á IDEA Á Preschoolers Á Services Á Parent satisfaction Introduction Many children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are now entering the special education system during their preschool years, or even earlier. The number of 3- to 5-year-olds with ASD who are receiving services through their school districts is increasing; based on state-reported child count data, more than 30,000 preschoolers were identified as having autism in 2005 (Office of Special Education Programs 2003, 2005). Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), preschoolers with ASD are entitled to a free appropriate public education (FAPE), which can include instructional as well as related services. While there is consensus that providing services at a young age is critical for children with ASD (National Research Council 2001), children receive intervention in a variety of ways (Hume et al. 2005), and there is dis- agreement over which services are most effective, in what settings, and for how much time. The purposes of this paper are to explore the intersection of services received by young children with ASD under IDEA and parent satis- faction with these services and to contrast children with ASD with children who have other disabilities. Because ASD is pervasive, it typically results in a demand for a wide array of services and is frequently associated with health as well as educational needs. For example, children with ASD are reported to have signifi- cantly more total outpatient visits and physician visits than other children and a greater number of medications, and their families incur significantly greater annual expenses for their total health care (Liptak et al. 2006). High service utilization occurs within the school system as well. Using data from the national evaluation of the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and their Families Program, Mandell and his colleagues found that A. Bitterman Á T. C. Daley Á S. Misra Á E. Carlson (&) Á J. Markowitz Westat, 1650 Research Boulevard, Rockville, MD 20850, USA e-mail: elainecarlson@westat.com Present Address: S. Misra Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA 123 J Autism Dev Disord (2008) 38:1509–1517 DOI 10.1007/s10803-007-0531-9