Where Counselors Walked in Campers' Shoes

Dan Perkins sits high atop a horse
with the help of Billy Petty, right,
a summer intern at camp.

EAST HADDAM, Conn. -- Talli Wyler was struggling to write a story, hampered by a writing disorder that makes it difficult for her to produce much more than an illegible scrawl.

Wyler, 18, is a camper at Franklin Academy — a boarding school for high school students with Asperger's syndrome and other related disabilities, which holds a summer program. She looked up from her desk to see Caitlin Anders, her intern-counselor, peering over her work.
"Dysgraphia," Wyler said, explaining the problem.
"I understand completely," Anders said, adding that she has the same thing.

Don't Stop Believin'

From Autism After 16's Liane Kupferberg Carter.

Two days before our 19-year-old son Mickey leaves for sleep away camp, he asks to get a haircut.

No big deal, right? But 15 years ago this would have been unthinkable.
Back then, the barbershop was the scene of some of our worst parenting moments. By 8:00 in the morning of the Dreaded Haircut Day, my husband Marc would already be muttering, “I need a scotch before I can do this”—and he doesn’t even drink scotch.

What My Son's Disabilities Taught Me About 'Having It All'

Marie Myung-Ok Lee is a novelist who teaches at Columbia University and writes for Slate, Salon, The New York Times, and The Guardian. Because of her child's disabilities, she will never have a tidy, peaceful life. But none of this keeps her from being happy -- as long as she asks herself the right questions.

The author and her son on a walk.

As someone in her 40s, unequivocally in middle age, I find myself and my friends in that stage of life that seems to auger constant assessment -- am I happy? Am I doing the right thing with my life?
Evidenced by the number times Anne-Marie Slaughter's Atlantic piece "Why Women Still Can't Have It All" was posted on Facebook, it served as a cri de coeur of the collective unconscious of those of us swimming in the Gen X/Baby Boomer estuary, last stop before becoming truly elderly. (It's apparently also the most-read article in the magazine's 155-year history.) Slaughter rightly questions why having a family complicates the career ladder for women in a way that it does not for men. But the hidden heart of the article, I believe, is its hinting at that unspoken yearning for that perfect life that has been promised to us by ... someone? Ads? TV? Ms. Magazine? Those ATHLETA catalogs?
Let me compare and contrast that with a typical incident that happened just last week in my own 40-something working mother life. My husband and I were sitting in the office of a neuropsychologist who had just run an assessment on our 12-year-old son who has a variety of disabilities and medical problems.

The Trouble with Parents Who Refuse to Vaccinate

Interesting blog post from Andrea Johnson is the education writer for The Minot Daily News.

MINOT, N.D. -- Kids will be heading back to school next month and kids are getting back to school shots, but more parents across the state are apparently refusing to get their kids vaccinated at all. An Associated Press story today reports that 1.6 percent of public school students in North Dakota aren't vaccinated and 4.5 percent of private school students in the state aren't vaccinated.

Autism Is No Excuse? Really?

Shannon Des Roches Rosa is the expert on parenting children with special needs at blogher.com.

Honestly, I don't give a fig about strangers judging how I parent my autistic son. I know I'm doing my best with all three of my kids, and am also constantly learning from my mistakes. Plus Leo has the same right to be in public as anyone, as long as (like anyone) he's not being disruptive. If he's having a hard time, there's always a good reason, and we move on.
What I do care about is how strangers respond when Leo needs accommodation.

The Kids Are All Right

Julie and Joe Greenan play with Quinn, 8, Jacob, 6
and Reilly, 4, on the couch.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Julie and Joe Greenan know what you might think of them. 
They know what it's like, taking even one child with autism out in public -- to the mall or for a haircut. They are used to the stares, the downcast eyes, the whispers. They have had to apologize for outbursts and misbehavior, and deal with raised eyebrows over the size of their brood. Even knowing that, the Greenans want you to know this about them: They have five children -- and all five have autism.

For People with Disabilities, Words Matter

NPR correspondent Nina Totenberg threw herself into the center of a word usage debate in February when she asked the lawyer for a man who had lied about receiving a Congressional Medal of Honor, “So, is your client a nut case?”
A paraphrase of the question about Xavier Alvarez also appeared in a text write-up of the story Feb. 22 on NPR’s website.
In online comments about that story, listeners criticized Totenberg for insensitivity. “I almost dropped my teeth” at the question, wrote commenter Amy Gasper on the day the story was published. “Was she asking if Alvarez had a history of mental illness? Was she asking his attorney to diagnose a mental illness?

Classifying Autism for Effective Intervention

People are finding autism in their families, pediatric offices, day cares, preschools, playgrounds, and classrooms. Individuals with autism are now portrayed in movies, television shows, news reports, and documentaries. The diagnosis of autism is being hotly debated in the media, academic medical centers, universities, autism centers, and advocacy agencies.

Swiss O.K. Controversial Down's Syndrome Test

GENEVA, Switzerland — Switzerland has given the green light for a new prenatal test for Down's syndrome amid controversy over whether this will lead to more abortions, a Swiss newspaper reported Sunday.
Testing will be available in the country from mid-August following a decision by Swissmedic, the national agency for therapeutic products, the Neue Zuercher Zeitung am Sonntag reported.

Gym Caters to People with Disabilities

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- If you think it feels good when you blow off some stress with a hard workout, slip into 15-year-old Jake Eisenstat’s skin for a while. With a diagnosis of severe attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder and executive dysfunction, the Potomac teen has so much trouble focusing that his parents school him at home. His stamina is poor, and the development of his spatial awareness is delayed.
One day last week, he was in the newly reopened Fitness for Health gym in Rockville, using the Trazer, a floor-sized adaptation of the Dance Dance Revolution game, working on his agility and anticipation. The exercise also helps improves his concentration, at least for a while.

Va. Making Progress on DOJ Settlement

RICHMOND -- Virginia has moved several dozen of the hundreds of people living in state institutions for the disabled back to their communities, according to its first progress report on compliance with a federal civil rights settlement.
By June 30, 61 people had moved out of Central Virginia and Southside training centers and into the community.
Of those, 22 received Medicaid waivers — a program the state promised the U.S. Department of Justice it would expand — and 34 received slots through a related program called Money Follows the Person.

Questions Linger with N.J.'s Closings of Centers

TRENTON, N.J. -- North Jersey will bear the brunt of the decision by a state panel to close two of the state’s seven developmental centers in the next five years, in terms of job losses and the impact on the disabled people who live in the public institutions.
But if Christie administration officials are true to their word, the region also will see an influx of millions of dollars for the establishment and expansion of community residences and other private-sector services for the disabled.

Target Model with Downs Is Almost Progress

Interesting post from policymic.

There was a very heartwarming post in Jezebel this week. Target is, so graciously, running an ad campaign that features a boy with Down syndrome. I love heart-warming stories. Here’s another beauty! And another! (ok, yes. That’s my brother.) It’s great to see a progressive community that’s so proud and sure of their progressivism that they’re wiling to let people with developmental disabilities do normal things. Like, things that typical kids are supposed to do. Who ever would have thought that a kid with Down syndrome could be a model? Or a prom king or queen? Vice President? Guys, this is truly a mark of how progressive we are.

Workers with Disabilities Still Struggling

If you didn't catch the PBS Newshour's report on the Americans with Disabilities Act Thursday night, you may want to watch the video or read the transcript.


Now, unemployment as it affects people with disabilities.
That was the subject of much attention today on the 22nd anniversary of the signing of the Americans With Disabilities Act. During the recession, disabled workers were hit five times as hard as other workers when it came to losing their jobs. People with disabilities have also had more trouble finding new jobs during the recovery.

Now there's a new push from some leaders in politics and business to fight those trends, including by the new chairman of the National Governors Association, Delaware's Jack Markell, who says he plans to make this his signature issue.
Well, we talk now to two individuals closely involved with all these efforts. Senator Tom Harkin, a Democrat from Iowa, he is the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee. And Jill Houghton, she's the executive director of the non-profit U.S. Business Leadership Network.

N.J. Doctor Under Scrutiny for 1995 Study

TRENTON — A doctor under investigation for allegedly conducting unauthorized research on disabled patients at a state institution is also under scrutiny for a study he co-wrote in 1995, a spokeswoman for the Human Services Department confirmed Wednesday.
In the 1995 report published in the Annals of Clinical Psychology, Philip May and five other researchers wrote about a study involving 23 men at the Hunterdon Developmental Center, whom they had weaned off anti-psychotic medication to measure their degree of aggressive behavior and whether the drug was necessary.

22 Years Later, Time to Get Serious About Jobs

Proud to share a post by our CEO Stephen Freeman, which appears on Huffington Post.

Why is the workplace still inaccessible to so many people with disabilities 22 years after the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act?
This bipartisan legislation held so much promise. Its authors and those of us in the field had visions of doors to employment flying open for individuals with disabilities. Unfortunately, that promise has only been partially realized. Employment for people with disabilities is lower today than it was before the passage of the ADA. As of June 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 32 percent of working age people with disabilities were in the labor force, and only about 27.6 percent were actually working.
Despite the statistics, I am hopeful that we are finally ready to get serious about the power of people with disabilities to enrich the workplace.

A Call to Focus on Finding Jobs for People with Disabilities

Robert Lambert, a blind worker at
Blind Industries and Services of
Maryland, carries fabric that
has been cut into pieces for
military uniforms in Baltimore, M.D.

As the United States prepares to observe the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act Thursday, it's tempting to say, "hold the celebration." That's because for those with disabilities, the employment picture has, sadly, not improved since the ADA was signed into law 22 years ago.
In fact, during the recent recession, it deteriorated five times as badly as did employment for the rest of American workers. While the non-disability workforce shrank by about 2 percent, for people with disabilities, the number working fell by over 10 percent. And according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the picture has remained grim as the economy has begun its recovery: While 3 million new jobs were added to the able-bodied work force, workers with disabilities have seen their ranks shrink further.

ADA Helps Iowans Succeed as Business Owners

Em's Coffee Co

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa -- ‘I am the boss down here,” Emilea Hillman declared one afternoon last week. “I have six employees. Ain’t it cool?”
But for a federal law passed two years after her birth, it’s doubtful Hillman would be working today, let alone running Em’s Coffee Co.
The Americans with Disabilities Act, signed 22 years ago today by President George H.W. Bush, extended civil rights protections to those with “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity.”
Ensuring a place in the mainstream of American life for those with disabilities meant a change in attitude that’s often taken for granted by a generation that grew up with the act.

Special Ed Funding May Drop $900 Million

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The nation’s top education official is warning that special education programs across the country will face “devastating” budget cuts next year unless Congress acts.
Federal education spending for students with disabilities could be reduced by $900 million next year, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told a U.S. Senate panel Wednesday.
That could translate to layoffs for over 10,000 teachers, aides and other staff who support the nation’s 6.6 million students with special needs, he said.

How to Be a Special Needs Parent

From SFGate.com's Laura Shumaker.

Kathy Marshall is the first “special”parent that I connected with. Her son John and my son Matthew were in the kindergarten together in a special day class. John, I learned, had cerebral palsy. Kathy had a bemused smile on her face when she told me this. I wondered what that was all about, but it made me feel less anxious about my situation. Matthew was described as pervasively developmentally delayed, a phrase that I took literally, and I was in the process of helping him catch up, hopeful that this would be the only year that he’d need special education.
I was struck by how comfortable Kathy seemed in a room full of 5 and 6 year olds with developmental disabilities.She chased after her mischieveous son John cheerfully when he bolted away with a handful of cookies, maintaining an upbeat conversation the entire time. Seeing this woman looking positive and engaged rather than downbeat and bedraggled gave me hope. Looking back, I think meeting her was my first “Aha” moment special-mom-style. I was going to be OK.

Opinion: Real Lives Bill Would Empower Individuals with Disabilities

His real life inspired state Representative Tom Sannicandro’s Real Lives bill.
Sannicandro’s 28-year-old son, David, has Down syndrome. The Ashland lawmaker knows from personal experience how important it is to empower his son to make as many life choices as he can. From constituents, he also knows how challenging that can be, especially given a state bureaucracy that favors service providers instead of beneficiaries.

Disability Group Files ADA Suit Against Wal-Mart

SAN FRANCISCO — A legal advocacy group filed suit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in San Francisco federal court Wednesday, alleging that the retailing giant discriminates against wheelchair users by placing check-out machines too high and out of reach.
"Because many customers who use wheelchairs and scooters cannot easily view, reach and use Wal-Mart's [point-of-sale] terminals securely and independently, they must often process their transactions without knowing the information displayed on the POS viewscreen," Kevin Knestrick of Berkeley-based Disability Rights Advocates wrote in the complaint.

Little Leaguer in Wheelchair Can Stay in Dugout

Evan Sussman in his wheelchair.

The Brewster Little League team player who has cerebral palsy can continue to sit in the dugout with his teammates after Little League International apparently reversed its position, the team told NBC 4 New York.

Evan Sussman, 12, is in a wheelchair, but has sat in the dugout with his teammates for every game for the last three years. His coach, Bryan Brooks, said a league tournament administrator recently told them Sussman was not allowed to be in the dugout in future games for liability reasons.

13 States Cut Medicaid to Balance Budgets

Thirteen states are moving to cut Medicaid by reducing benefits, paying health providers less or tightening eligibility, even as the federal government prepares to expand the insurance program for the poor to as many as 17 million more people.

States routinely trim the program as tough times drive up enrollment and costs.  But the latest reductions – which follow more extensive cuts last year -- threaten to limit access to care for some of its 60 million recipients.

Turner Classic Movies to Focus on Disability in Film

A month-long film series on cable this fall will focus on people with disabilities as portrayed by Hollywood.
Turner Classic Movies will air more than 20 films harkening from the 1920s to the 1980s during the month of October that include storylines about those with disabilities, the network said Tuesday.

Nearly 1-in-5 Americans Have Disability, According to Census Bureau Report

WASHINGTON, D.C. — About 56.7 million people 19 percent of the population had a disability in 2010, according to a broad definition of disability, with more than half of them reporting the disability was severe, according to a comprehensive report on this population released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The report, Americans with Disabilities: 2010, presents estimates of disability status and type and is the first such report with analysis since the Census Bureau published statistics in a similar report about the 2005 population of people with disabilities. According to the report, the total number of people with a disability increased by 2.2 million over the period, but the percentage remained statistically unchanged. Both the number and percentage with a severe disability rose, however. Likewise, the number and percentage needing assistance also both increased.

Children's Swimwear Designer Launches Campaign

Ten-month-old Valentina Guerrero has a very exciting new job: she's the face of Spanish swimwear designer Dolores Cortés‘ 2013 kids’ collection and appears on the cover of the brand's American catalog, AdWeek reports. Valentina also has Down syndrome.

Local Businesses Benefit From Jobs Program

FORT SMITH, Ark. -- For more than two decades the Elizabeth Richardson Center has been rehabilitating people with disablities, teaching them a skill and giving them a job.
The non-profit organization, which is located on South Old Missouri Road in Springdale, also houses Richardson Industries. On any given weekday, you`ll find up to 80 adults with disabilities working in the warehouse.
“I wake up with a smile on my face and come through the door and just interact with people more,” says ERC client, Joseph Welch.

D.C. Gets More Time to Improve Care

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Public corruption charges have been the main attraction down at the District’s federal courthouse of late, but other momentous D.C. government matters quietly soldier on there — such as the long-standing class-action lawsuits concerning the city’s provision of human services.
D.C. officials were in court Tuesday facing Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle and lawyers representing the approximately 550 District residents suffering from developmental disabilities and in the city’s care. They were asking for more time to comply with a court-imposed improvement plan that is now over a decade old.

Fight to Keep Little Leaguer in Wheelchair with Team

How can people even think this way. How is having Evan in the dugout bothering anyone one or any opponent. So disturbing and my only hope is that Little League officials see the light. Sorry about 14-second ad preceding this report. 

BREWSTER, N.Y. -- Evan Sussman has long enjoyed being part of the Brewster Little League team but now he's being told he can't stay in the dugout.

N.J. Panel Recommends Closing 2 Institutions

TRENTON — State-run institutions for people with developmental disabilities in Woodbridge and Totowa will close in five years, under a binding vote taken by a task force Monday.
The governor and legislature agreed to accept and abide by the panel's recommendations.

Disability Rights Treaty Held Up In Senate

Despite bipartisan support for a United Nations disability rights treaty, a group of Republican lawmakers is holding up U.S. Senate consideration of the matter.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee planned to consider the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities last week, but was unable to after Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and a number of other Republicans reportedly placed a hold on it.
The move effectively squashed efforts by supporters of the treaty to get the U.S. to ratify it before the 22nd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act on Thursday.

1-in-13 Women Drink During Pregnancy, CDC Says

Drinking alcohol during pregnancy is the leading preventable cause of birth defects and developmental disabilities in children, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But according to a new report, that's not stopping pregnant women from drinking.

Lives Too Fragile to Move?

LACKAWANNA, N.Y. -- A facility on Ridge Road in Lackawanna is the only home that Jennifer Weintraub has ever known.

Cyndy Wisniewski visits son Raymond,
21, at Baker Victory Services
intermediate care facility

Weintraub, who suffered brain damage when she was born 37 years ago, gets fed through a tube and regularly has fluid cleared from her lungs. She lives with 16 other severely disabled residents who receive round-the-clock medical care.
Baker Victory Services, a nonprofit Catholic human services agency formerly run by Father Nelson H. Baker, has operated the residence since the 1950s.
But now the agency plans to close the facility, and parents such as Barry Weintraub wonder if their medically frail children will survive being relocated.

Tracking Device Brings Peace of Mind to Families

NATICK, Mass. -- At 7 years old, Brian Starling is sly, escaping his Natick home at times by working the three front door locks meant to contain him.
But if he wanders from his house, or gets separated from family members at an amusement park, he probably won’t realize he’s lost. His severe autism means he’s also unlikely to respond to anyone searching for him, even if he becomes dehydrated or hypothermic.

I Love Special Olympics Review

(This airs again on Friday, July 20, and Sunday, July 22)
It’s a week until the Olympic Games kicks-off and it’s fair to say that people have been going a bit bananas. Folk everywhere have been clammering for a glimpse of the Olympic torch, G4S Security have admitted to everything but failing to organise a piss-up in a brewery and Channel 4 put out [an] excellent, if not bombastic advert to promote the Paralympics.
But if you’re one of the many who has failed to take on board the official message of “be really excited, but stay at home”, BBC4 have put out an excellent documentary about athletes, but without any of the enforced hype. There’s no big names with sponsorship deals here, as it focuses instead on the lesser known event of the Special Olympics.
For the uninitiated, the Special Olympics are not to be confused with the Paralympics. Whilst the Paralympics is for athletes with all manner of disabilities, the Special Olympics is specifically focused on those with intellectual disabilities. In I Love Special Olympics, film-maker Thomas Leader introduces us to four athletes as they prepare for the competition.

HIV Conference: Include People With Disabilities

Donors supporting HIV programs, policymakers, and service providers should ensure that the world’s 1 billion people with disabilities have equal access to HIV prevention and treatment, Human Rights Watch said today, in advance of the 19^th International AIDS Conference. The conference will begin on July 22, 2012, in Washington, DC.
“The world’s 1 billion people with disabilities are largely invisible when it comes to HIV prevention, education, treatment, and counseling,” said Shantha Rau Barriga, senior disability rights advocate and researcher at Human Rights Watch. “To ensure effective programs, people with disabilities need to be included, beginning with the design of HIV services all the way through to the evaluation phase.”

World-Renowned Fragile X Experts to Announce Major Breakthrough Findings

The National Fragile X Foundation will announce major research findings related to the Fragile X premutation and to the relationship between the Fragile X protein and autism during its upcoming 13th International Fragile X Conference in Miami, Fla. July 25-29. Prominent research scientists in the Fragile X (FX) field will discuss their recent and soon-to-be-published papers. Both papers suggest an increased understanding of FX will lead to a better understanding, and ultimately treatment, of other public health issues such as reproductive problems, tremor/ataxia/memory problems, mental health problems, and autism.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/19/4642556/world-renowned-fragile-x-experts.html#storylink=cpy

Malloy Signs Order Formally Establishing DDC

Governor Dannel P. Malloy on Thursday signed an executive order formally establishing the Connecticut Council on Developmental Disabilities, a move that will allow the council to better carry out its mission of promoting self-determination, independence, productivity, integration and inclusion in all facets of community life for people with developmental disabilities.
“The purpose for formally establishing the council through an executive order was to provide a more comprehensive framework for the council, so that it can more effectively and productively conduct its business as mandated by federal law,” said Governor Malloy. “I wholeheartedly support the council’s advocacy of promoting the full inclusion of all people with disabilities and want to ensure its mission can be achieved in the most productive way possible.”
While the council is mandated by the federal Developmental Disabilities Act of 2000 and has existed in Connecticut since 1971, it has never been formally established by executive order or statute. 

Volunteers of America sues Springfield

Volunteers of America has sued Springfield in federal court because the city won’t grant a variance to allow a second home for mentally ill adults in the city.
The group says the city’s zoning practices “discriminate against individuals with intellectual disabilities and those who provide services to such individuals.”
In a 39-page lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, the agency argues that the people living in the home are “family” who have lived together for many years and should not need a variance. And if a variance were needed, the city should grant it as “reasonable accommodation” under the Fair Housing Act or Americans with Disabilities Act.

Stephanie Handojo: The Wonder Kid

Some people incorrectly believe that people born with Down syndrome cannot function independently or contribute to society, but Stephanie Handojo has shown that she, like every other person born with Down syndrome, is very special, and more than capable.
On the surface, the 20-year-old looks like an average person with Down syndrome, but beneath the exterior that sometimes people judge her on, she is an extraordinary girl. She has plenty of talent and has already achieved tremendous things.
Her latest achievement is being selected as one of torchbearers in the run-up to the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
The multitalented girl flew to Britain last month to undertake her leg of the torch relay in Nottingham, London. She was chosen from over 12 million candidates from all around the globe to carry the torch, due to her amazing achievements in sport and other fields.

US DOL's Office Of Disability Employment Policy, Administration On Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities Join Forces

Kathleen Martinez, assistant secretary of labor for disability employment policy, and Sharon Lewis, commissioner of the Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, today signed a memorandum of agreement.
Together, the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy and AIDD, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Community Living, will work to expand and promote integrated employment as the first employment option for individuals with significant, including intellectual and other developmental, disabilities.

Disability Should Not Be a Deterrent to Job Market

Recently, entertainment personality Jack Osbourne said he lost a job on a reality show because he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS).

As a professional who knows the value that people with disabilities in the workplace can bring, the news was stunning, sad and alarming. It also was proof that too many employers today underestimate the potential effectiveness of an employee with a disability.

Ratifying the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

As two individuals with disabilities who served in Congress, the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990 was not only a proud moment in our careers, it was also remarkable bipartisan legislation that has benefited millions of Americans. Twenty two years later, this important legislation continues to support the independence and dignity of Americans with disabilities.

During this Congress, the United States has a rare opportunity to share our disability rights commitment with other countries. On July 30, 2009, the U.S. signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). On May 17, 2012, the administration transmitted the CRPD treaty package for ratification, and a bipartisan group of Senate leaders immediately expressed their support for its ratification. By ratifying the treaty, the U.S. Senate will stand up for the equality and dignity of people with disabilities around the globe, just as Congress did for Americans in 1990. 

Politics Aside, Officials Find a Common Ground: Jobs for People with Disabilities

How to bring down the nation’s high unemployment rate and create jobs for millions of people seeking work dominated last weekend’s confab of governors in Williamsburg, Va., setting the stage for an admittedly “niche initiative” targeted at employing people with disabilities. “There are a lot of people who want to be working in our country, and aren’t given a shot,” says Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, who was selected by his peers to head the National Governors Association (NGA) for the next year.

With so many able-bodied people out of work, why would Markell choose to focus on the special-needs community? It’s not politically correct to even ask such a question, but Markell has a ready answer, and he is not the least fazed by the unseemliness of the inquiry. He says hiring people with disabilities is good for the bottom line of companies that are doing it, which means it’s good for the shareholders. “It’s not just for charity,” he told The Daily Beast. His NGA initiative is dubbed “A Better Bottom Line: Employing People With Disabilities.”

N.J. Probes Doctor's Treatment of Disabled

TRENTON, N.J. -- A longtime doctor and nurse practitioner at a New Jersey-run residential center for the developmentally disabled are under investigation for allegedly conducting research on residents without agency permission.
Dr. Philip May and his wife, Robin Davidson May, of Oxford, have been accused of giving vitamin D supplements to residents of the Hunterdon Development Center in northwestern New Jersey as part of unapproved research, the state Department of Human Services said.

More D.C. Special-Ed Students Attending Public School

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The number of D.C. special-education students who are sent to private institutions at taxpayer expense because they can’t be adequately served in public schools has fallen about 20 percent since early 2011, officials say.
The trend has saved money and reduced segregation of kids with disabilities, but has raised concerns that students are being pushed into city schools that aren’t equipped to handle their needs.

Disability Employment: Are We at Tipping Point

Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa weighs in on Huffington Post.

Later this month, when our country marks the 22nd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, many of the law's champions will lament that the employment situation for our citizens with disabilities has not improved since the ADA was signed.
In recent years, that situation has gotten worse. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the disability workforce shrank by over 10 percent during the recession, five times faster than the non-disability workforce, which shrank by only about two percent.

Provider Sued for Disability Discrimination

In an unusual twist, a nonprofit that provides services to people with developmental disabilities is being sued for allegedly turning down a job applicant because of her special needs.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is charging that Pace Solano — a California disability services provider — violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when the organization withdrew a job offer made to Katrina Holly.

Companies Turn to Workers with Autism

When Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association and College Retirement Equities Fund purchased a massive apple orchard in Washington state as part of its investment portfolio, managers soon discovered that workers often would show up drunk or not show up at all.
"We needed a better workforce, people who really wanted to do the work," says Heather Davis, senior managing director and head of global private markets for the Fortune 100 financial-services organization headquartered in New York.

Needing reliable workers, the company took an unconventional turn: It decided to focus on hiring employees with autism for its Fruits of Employment program. The move has paid off, Davis says.

Autistic Teen Finds Strength with Rescued Horse

When Sabrina Christensen is on horseback, all her cares and stress melt away.

Sabrina Christensen, 16, rides Charmer
for the first time in competition on
Saturday during the 4-H Open
Schooling Show at the Richland
Riders Club.

Read more here: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/07/15/2020696/autistic-teen-finds-new-strength.html#storylink=cpy

The 16-year-old is autistic and has severe scoliosis, so her lower back was surgically fused. Those two challenges can make riding difficult for her.
"But when she's had a rough day, riding takes the world away," said her mom, Gina Reese of Richland.

Read more here: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/07/15/2020696/autistic-teen-finds-new-strength.html#storylink=cpy

Illinois Near Bottom in Care, Advocates Say

An Algonquin mother who abandoned her disabled daughter more than two weeks ago in a Tennessee bar said she did it because of a lack of state assistance and options in Illinois.
As Tennessee officials care for 19-year-old Lynn Cameron and discuss what, if any, charges can be brought against her mother, Eva Cameron, advocates say the state of Illinios is in dire need of improvement to deal with its disabled people.
“We have situations every day with families who feel as though they have reached the end of their abilities or resources to care for their disabled children,” said Cindy Sullivan, executive director of Options and Advocacy for McHenry County.

Autistic Man Found Alive in Desert After 3 Weeks

DENVER — An autistic man lived on a few frogs he caught and roots as he wandered for weeks in the remote Escalante Desert of southern Utah until being rescued, emaciated but alive.
William Martin LaFever, 28, of Colorado Springs, Colo., told rescuers that in addition to the bits of food he scavenged, he drank water from the Escalante River while attempting to walk from Boulder, Utah, to Page, Ariz., a distance of approximately 90 miles or more by the route he appeared to be taking.
The Garfield County Sheriff’s Department estimated he had traveled about 40 miles over at least three weeks before he was found Thursday.

An Autism Mom on Having It All

From Huff Posts Parents blogger Hannah Brown.

The debate on mothers "having it all" continues. This is just one more example of a controversy where, as the mother of a son with autism, I feel I must watch from the sidelines.
To mothers raising children with special needs, especially those who are single moms like me, it seems to be a superfluous argument at best, and a ridiculous one at worst.

Asperger's and Uniqueness in Little Rosie Miller

From Huffington Post's Robert David Jaffee.

Autism, a disorder that in the past 20 years has seen its rates of diagnosis increase twentyfold, seems to afflict white children more frequently than minority kids. No one knows exactly why. It may be because white families tend to have greater financial resources and more information available to them than minority families. As a result, parents of white kids with autism are more likely to press their cause or even sue school districts so as to get behavioral aides for their children.
Julie Otto Miller, a computer consultant from a middle-class, white family in the Los Angeles area, is not contemplating suing a school district, nor does she think at this point that her daughter Rosie, a gifted six-year old who has been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, needs a behavioral aide to take her from class to class at her school.
Julie just wants Rosie to learn more about social cues, skills she hopes Rosie can pick up from talk therapy and play therapy.

No Charges for Mom Who Abanodoned Daughter at Bar

Such a disturbing story. Anyone as stunned as I am?

A mother who drove to a bar in Tennessee and left her severely mentally disabled daughter there before zipping back home to Illinois is not expected to face any charges, police said Wednesday.
Eva Cameron, of Algonquin, Ill., stopped in Caryville, Tenn., on June 28 and left 19-year-old Lynn, whose vocabulary and mental capacity is no more than that of a 3-year-old, at The Big Orange Bar with no money, ID, or other belongings.

It Gets Better

Post from Susan Senator, mother of three sons, writer and activist. Her oldest son Nat, 22, was diagnosed with autism at age 3.

Riding along with Max today it struck me how happy I was. But this is typical when I’m on my bike (and with Max). Again and again, the wide open sky is my source of ecstasy. Going fast into the rushing air, or pushing up into it working so hard that my arms tingle at the summit — this is my element.
If you’ve been reading, you know this. But I mention it today because it occurred to me that I always want to be outside. I want to do as much as possible outside. I live for the hot weather, so I can be outdoors as much as possible (coffee on the porch, lunch on the porch, dinner on the porch or at an outdoor cafe). Riding, riding, riding.
Working, too. Now I leave. I am out of my house, in the world, teaching, speaking, traveling. I’ve even been involved in politics. I write controversial stuff. I’m out there, people say.

Autism: It Gets Better, But Cherish Each Stage

From blogger Laura Shumaker of SFGate.com.

I was hiking with my dogs early this morning, thinking about how much easier my life has become now that Matthew, who has autism, is an adult. I’d just had a conversation with him about a problem he resolved with one of the people he lives with.
“I was seriously angry with him,” he told me, “and I wanted to yell or throw something at him, but I decided to give him space. Backing off is good sometimes.”
Remarkable.

What Child Prodigies and People with Autism Have in Common

Child prodigies evoke awe, wonder and sometimes jealousy: how can such young children display the kinds of musical or mathematical talents that most adults will never master, even with years of dedicated practice? Lucky for these despairing types, the prevailing wisdom suggests that such comparisons are unfair — prodigies are born, not made (mostly). Practice alone isn’t going to turn out the next 6-year-old Mozart.
So finds a recent study of eight young prodigies, which sought to shed some light on the roots of their talent. The prodigies included in the study [PDF] are all famous (but remain unidentified in the paper), having achieved acclaim and professional status in their fields by the ripe age of 10. Most are musical prodigies; one is an artist and another a math whiz, who developed a new discipline in mathematics and, by age 13, had had a paper accepted for publication in a mathematics journal. Two of the youngsters showed extraordinary skill in two separate fields: one child in music and art (his work now hangs in prestigious galleries the world over), and the other in music and molecular gastronomy (the science behind food preparation — why mayonnaise becomes firm or why a soufflé swells, for example). He became interested in food at age 10 and, by 11, had carried out his first catering event.

The authors found that prodigies scored high in autistic traits, most notably in their ferocious attention to detail. They scored even higher on this trait than did people diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism that typically includes obsession with details.

Taking the Time to Remove Barriers to Dental Care

OAKLAND -- The Mickey Mouse Club blares on the TV in the waiting room of La Clinica de La Raza’s dental clinic at Oakland’s Children’s Hospital. As a mother and grandmother speak Spanish and English to the three children in their care, their eldest sits by the door, jerking her arms up and down, talking to herself occasionally.
That child is called in to see Dr. Ed Rothman with her mother at her side. He calms her fears by explaining what he’s doing as he examines her recently cleaned teeth for cavities. Two years ago, he had to put her under general anesthetic in a hospital operating room to fill in her cavities.
Children’s Hospital opened the dental clinic nearly thirty years ago to address the oral health of hospital patients who had special behavioral or medical needs, such as hemophilia, cancer or heart problems.
Rothman spent his residency working with special needs children at the Kennedy Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the University of Maryland; and he likes serving special needs kids. “It’s more thinking than just filling and drilling and cleaning and looking at x-rays,” Rothman said. He’s been at the clinic for almost two decades.

Dog Returned to Boy with Special Needs

Lukas Smith with his dog Bailey.

OK, I can't resist a story with a happy ending, especially when it involves animals. 

A special needs boy from Canada has been reunited with his beloved dog after the stolen pet was returned anonymously to the child's family.
Four-year-old Lukas Smith made headlines last week when his dog Bailey was stolen in front of a grocery store in Peterborough, Canada.

Mom Realizes Denial Is No Way to Live

Schuyler and mom Christine
Walker on Capitol Hill.

CHICAGO -- Recently I had the privilege of meeting Maria Shriver at a conference. I told Shriver that her book, Ten Things I Wish I'd Known Before I Went Out into the Real World, served as inspiration for my upcoming book and consulting business, Chasing Hope.
Why Chasing Hope? Because as any parent of a childliving with a challenge knows too well, effort, energy, time and money spent seeking treatment can feel as though you are chasinghope.

Witness: Ex-Beatrice Staffer Hit, Choked Men

BEATRICE, Neb. — Matthew Pangborn listened quietly Monday as a former co-worker told a jury how she saw him “choke out” one mentally disabled man and hit another with a fist at the Beatrice State Developmental Center.
Stacie Bohlmeyer, a certified nursing assistant who worked with Pangborn for two years, was the first witness called by the prosecution during what will be a significant trial in Gage County District Court in Beatrice.

Joey Travolta Brings Film Camp to San Diego

Joey Travolta, left, with camerman
Domenic Moen, interviewing
Marine Lt. Col. Greg Lane at film camp.

 

 

 

 

SAN DIEGO -- Youngsters who may have a future in movies found that autism is no obstacle to their dream after attending a special camp to learn film-making skills last month.
Actor and film-maker Joey Travolta ---- yes, he's John's older brother ---- created the film camp for autistic children seven years ago. He brought the camp to San Diego for the first time in June.
In another first for the project, the two-week camp partnered with a national nonprofit focused on improving awareness and services to military families with autistic children.
The camps usually are held at universities and funded with grants, but this one was held at Cox Communications in San Diego from June 18-29.
"It's the process that teaches people," Travolta said at Cox on the final day of camp. "The process of collaborating."

Your Child's Autism Cures You From Trying to Please Everyone

Fron Huffington Post's Dafna Maor.

It was one of those things that anyone who works in the digital age comes across from time to time. Sometimes you send an email to the wrong person and then there is hell to pay. Oh, the shame. Sometimes, it's a Word document that gets deleted the second you finish writing a terrific proposal for a new project, the one which will catapult you to stardom at work. And sometimes, it's just a little misunderstanding of nuance when you use your instant messenger or Facebook chat to discuss work with a colleague.
Working in a media outlet doesn't necessarily guarantee that you are surrounded by people with high communication skills and knowledge of the human psyche. When egos and dispositions are involved, things tend to heat up.
It was a nice morning, and a colleague of mine was consulting with me, via messenger, about an idea for a feature for the supplement she was editing. In a matter of a few short minutes, that 'talk' turned very unpleasant. She wanted something and I suggested her idea was not very appealing. She asked for other ideas and I didn't have any, so I said maybe later. She asked why I was so hostile, and when I said she's reading something into my words that wasn't really there, she blew up. She walked over to my desk -- she was sitting just a few feet away, in a niche behind a wall. She demanded I come to the conference room and clear it up.
When this colleague, who is also a good friend, started ranting about hostility and uncooperativeness, I stopped her short.
It was a few months after my son had been diagnosed with autism.

'The Next Thing We Knew, These Folks Were a Part of Our Lives'

Tom Lawson with Bank of America
took food orders from women
who live in group home
run by the UMAR nonprofit group.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- For the past 15 years, a group of prominent businessmen and a group of developmentally disabled women — two sets of people who otherwise would likely never cross each other's paths — have forged a friendship built on mutual respect and admiration.
And also Christmas trees. And pizza. And the Winston-Salem Dash, and laughter, and love.
"We just began simply — going to a baseball game or going to a basketball game or going to a movie or to get ice cream or going to watch the Tanglewood lights — you know, anything that anybody would enjoy if they lived in Winston-Salem," said Tom Lawson, a businessman with Bank of America who had wanted volunteer opportunities. "And what we found was the more that we did things with them, the more committed we became to them. And that wasn't planned, it wasn't strategic, it was just something that we began doing and the next thing we knew, these folks were a part of our lives."

Learning the Virtues of Physical Fitness

Tina Escher participates with
the Get Fit Club line dance.

Sounds like a wonderful program.We definitely need to promote better health habits for all.

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- Tina Escher brings a no-nonsense approach to her job and a similar dedication to her weekly workouts at St. Petersburg's YMCA.
Toil is not always fun, but it is important, the 50-year-old says, reflecting values common among her generation — work hard and you'll be rewarded, stay active and improve the odds for a long, healthy life.
But it's not that simple for Escher, one of nearly 1.9 million American adults living with a developmental disability. With a mountain of intellectual and physical challenges, they face a constant battle for wellness the general population can't fathom.

50 Cent Apologizes for Insensitive Tweet

The rapper, who rarely apologizes for his often-offensive language in his music, has responded to the backlash on his Twitter after he told an angry fan he "dont want no special ed kids on [his] time line." 

Rapper 50 Cent caused a Twitter uproar after he responded bitterly to an overeager fan on the social networking site, writing for his nearly 7 million followers, "yeah just saw your picture fool you look autistic." The fan had earlier jabbed at the rapper about his upcoming new record, "5 (Murder by Numbers)," "Release the album or get shot again."

Sheltered Workshops, Exploitation or Lifeline?

BLAINE, Minn. -- Workers in wheelchairs swarm around a table, stuffing envelopes.

Miles LeTourneau of Ramsey high-fives
Achieve Services Inc. CEO Tom
Weaver after opening his paycheck
at the sheltered workshop
in Blaine last month

One man runs in a circle, asking people to tie his shoe. At the next table, workers are prying plastic gaskets out of their casings. A woman is sprawled in an easy chair, sound asleep, her mouth wide open.
Everything about that scene bothers Scott Schifsky.
He and a growing number of advocates say sheltered workshops -- such as the one operated by Achieve Services Inc. in Blaine -- should be abolished. They say it's wrong for people with disabilities to be grouped together to do menial work for less than minimum wage.

What Independence Day Means to My Autistic Brother

From Elizabeth Blessing's Caregiving Blog -- just an amazing piece. Better late than never.

Elizabeth and her brother, Bobby.

My profoundly autistic brother, Bobby, was born on July 4. He is my wonderful Independence Day birthday guy who loves American cars from the 1950s, making grape jelly sandwiches, petting cats and going on long walks with his caregivers. Or, as George M. Cohan's song goes, he is a real-live representation of our country, a Yankee Doodle Dandy:
I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy,
A Yankee Doodle, do or die;
A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam,
Born on the Fourth of July . . .    
As Bobby's representative payee for his government benefits, I received a curious letter from the Social Security Administration the other day. In 13 pages of boiler-plate bureaucratese, the letter announced that they would be reducing Bobby's Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits from $683 per month to $427. Combined with his Social Security benefits, he will now be living on $874 per month.
The reason for this reduction?
"He is living independently with cooking facilities." (page 2, paragraph 4, Notice of Planned Action)

Olympic Distance Triathlon Is His Next Challenge

PARAMUS, N.J. -- Zachary Hamrick, a 22 year old with autism, will compete in the Aquaphor New York City Triathlon on July 8. The event is an Olympic Distance race consisting of a 1500m swim, a 40k bike, and a 10k run. That’s about 1 mile swimming in the Hudson River, 25 miles riding on the Westside Highway and 6 miles running through Central Park.

Holly Peete's Open Letter to 50 Cent

50 Cent has found himself in hot water. The rapper, who has a rather colorful Twitter presence -- and 6.8 million followers -- recently made statements that offended people with autism and parents of kids with autism. Given that new data shows one in 88 American kids are on the autism spectrum, that's a very large community to ostracize.
The ugly tweets were in response to an eager fan who wrote to 50: "Release the album or get shot again." The rapper allegedly tweeted back, "yeah just saw your picture fool you look autistic." And, he didn't stop there. "I dont want no special ed kids on my time line follow some body else," he posted later.
Unsurprisingly, the twitterverse was horrified. Actress and autism activist Holly Robinson Peete, took to her own website to write an open letter to 50 Cent expressing her disappointment with his actions.

Study Finds Schiozophrenia-Autism Link

Families with a history of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder are also more likely to have a child with autism, new research from Sweden and Israel suggests.
Researchers found that kids whose parents or siblings had been diagnosed with schizophrenia were almost three times more likely to have an autism spectrum disorder, including autism and Asperger syndrome.

Editorial: Finally, Good News at Nebraska Nebraska Developmental Center

It has been a long time coming, but the latest news from the Beatrice State Developmental Center is encouraging.
This week, the State of Nebraska learned that after nearly six years of problems, all units at the center for the developmentally disabled have regained federal Medicaid certification.
Losing certification had meant losing about $25 million a year in federal Medicaid funding, money the state had to make up. But more importantly, it showed the depth of the problems at the center where there had been repeated cases of patient abuse and neglect.

New Mexico Residents Await Waning Waiver

Jenna Montoya, right, and her mother June.

Jenna Montoya is an active 25-year-old who likes going to the movies, the mall and the zoo. She was born with cerebral palsy and has relied on the developmental disability waiver—a state Medicaid program—to improve her quality of life. She gets services like physical therapy and day habilitation. Even after she was placed in one of the state's most high-needs categories, her mom is concerned that alterations to the waiver program on Oct. 1 will mean big cuts to the therapy her daughter receives.
“If Jenna didn’t get the movement she gets in physical therapy, because of the spasticity of cerebral palsy, her joints would atrophy,” June Montoya says. Her daughter also had issues with drooling until she underwent extensive swallow and speech therapy. “None of us can imagine where she would be if she hadn’t had therapies because she’s been getting them since she was 8 years old,” she says, “and just the maintenance is important.”
Right now Jenna Montoya gets an hour of physical therapy every week, which her parents agree has improved her strength, endurance and digestion. As far as the Montoyas have been able to tell, coming changes could mean that she’d have to scale back all therapy to a total of 32 hours per year.

Study: Students with Disabilities Likely to Bully and Be Bullied

Susan Swearer

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Each week during the school year, two groups of about 20 students each meet in a classroom at Lincoln East High School.
Students with and without disabilities gather for lunch in Laurie Witters-Churchill’s room. The Lunch Bunch, as they call themselves, get together to share their similarities and revel in each other’s differences. Then they take the bonds they’ve formed out into their school’s halls.
One year, a group of Lunch Bunchers went to prom together. This year, one of its most involved members was named homecoming king.
“Most of my students prefer not to be identified as anything but an East High student, which they should be,” said Witters-Churchill, a special-education teacher. “This kind of makes all kids equal.”

Autism Committee Lets Down Community

From the Age of Autism. Managing Editor's Note: "Six years and almost a billion dollars later, Insel has not only failed to produce even one medical intervention or recommendation to prevent or treat autism, the autism rate has DOUBLED on his watch."

Imagine if children were developing life threatening cancer at the rate of 1 in 54 boys -- and in six years with almost a billion dollars the committee had failed to stem the tide, refused to look at causation or prevention, and instead spent a good portion of its time diligently dickering over the curtain colors at hospice? What can Tom Insel say to the families of the fallen children - many of them born after Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) was installed?  IACC is failing the autism community.

Autistic Runner Leaves His Comfort Zone

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Alan Baker, 20, runs more than five miles a day on his home treadmill. The autistic man from Thousand Oaks stays inside and avoids crowds because he feels it’s easier for him to function.
But on June 3, Baker left his comfort zone to participate in the 2012 Love Run for Senior Concerns in Westlake Village.
“Despite the fact that I’m autistic, I did it because I like to run and it was for a good cause—Meals on Wheels,” said Baker, who finished fifth in his division, completing the 5K in 23 minutes, 31 seconds.

Guest Opinion: A Will and a Way

Post by Tom Everill is President & CEO of Northwest Center. 

 MARYSVILLE, WA. -- Lately I have been meeting more and more families who are fighting a civil rights war that one might have thought had been won decisively four decades ago.

It was in 1971 that a group of bold and innovative parents fighting rejection of their children by public schools in Seattle pushed HB 90, the Education for All Act, through the Washington State Legislature. This pivotal legislation requires all public schools in the state to provide equal educational opportunity to all children regardless of ability. The Education for All Handicapped Children Act, modeled after Washington State’s, became a federal law in 1975.

Yet here is Deanna sitting in my office just a few weeks ago telling me the story of her son Dylan, a bright young man with Down syndrome and assorted other challenges, who was placed in isolation — essentially solitary confinement — by middle school administrators who misunderstood Dylan’s unique learning style and behaviors.

Holly Peete Confronts 50 Cent on Autism Insult

The 21 Jump Street star, whose eldest son Rodney, Jr. suffers from the developmental disorder, was dismayed by the hip-hop mogul's choice of language after reading the Monday night (02Jul12) Twitter exchange, which was prompted when one blogger threatened to shoot 50 Cent if he refused to release his new mixtape, 5 (Murder By Numbers), early.
He hit back, "yeah i just saw your picture fool you look autistic".
The retort sparked a flurry of messages to Peete, a celebrity ambassador for autism awareness, and she has now urged 50 to be more considerate next time he lashes out at critics.

Autistic Ticket Taker Yearns for More

David Finland helps guests Tom
Walker of Washington and
his mother, Carole Walker at
Nationals Park.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- David Finland shows up to work at Nationals Park several hours early before each home game because, well, no one’s exactly sure why.
A 24-year-old from McLean, Finland settles into a bumper sticker-laden, paint-scraped and dented silver Toyota Corolla, turns on the radio, then a rock CD, then back to the radio and heads into town. Some days, such as a recent Wednesday, he gets lost and has to rely on his Garmin to find his way. But he always arrives well before it’s time to clock in.

Lawsuit Challenges Agency End of Food Subsidy

Michael Dick

INDIANAPOLIS — A decision by Indiana's social services agency to stop helping hundreds of severely developmentally disabled people in a Medicaid waiver program pay for food violates state law and forces them to do without other necessities so they can eat, the father of an autistic man on public assistance claims.
Indianapolis attorney Steven Dick filed an administrative appeal with the Family and Social Services Administration in December and again in March on behalf of his 28-year-old son, according to previously unreleased documents provided to The Associated Press.

Karate Instills Confidence in Students

TUSTIN, Calif. – Between the front-kicks, grunting and "serious karate faces," the students at Karate For All laugh, dance and help one another off the ground.
The occupational therapy-based martial arts program works with individuals on motor, cognitive, sensory and social skills through the practice of karate. Students range from 3 ½ to 37 years old, with such diagnoses as autism, cerebral palsy and sensory processing disorders.