Learning with Autism

Autism affects 1 in 94 boys. Parents of children with autism are faced with many challenges, including deciding on a plan for their child's education. Some parents are looking at inclusive education as an option, which pairs typically developing children with autistic children. One teacher mentions the major switch in thinking is usually children prepare for going into a class, but in this situation, the class must prepare for the child with autism. This is a great article from the Washington Times that discusses how important inclusive education can be for children on the spectrum.

Cleveland Non-Profit Invests in a Franchise of Its Own

What a great concept. Hope it works out for everyone!
Cleveland -- In today’s economy, more and more shoppers are hunting for bargains, and retail outlets like dollar stores can provide some low cost options to help homeowners extend their budgets. One Cleveland, Ohio dollar store is filling this niche, but with a twist. Not only can area residents shop at the new Just-A-Buck dollar store located in Parma, a Cleveland suburb, but they can do some good, too!
A new Just-A-Buck store in the Midtown Shopping Center in Parma, owned and operated by S.A.W., Inc., the nonprofit partner of the Cuyahoga County Board of Mental Retardation & Developmental Disabilities, recently opened and employs 15 workers who have mental retardation and other developmental disabilities, a store manager and two assistant managers. The workers with MR/DD will handle stocking and receiving, cleaning, check-out and bagging.

Helping Adults with Autism

Nice to see the media focusing on adults who are on the autism spectrum. So much coverage has focused on young children. There are many adults out there with autism, who are working in productive jobs, living in the community and leading good lives.

Missouri Governor to Push Autism Bill

There has been the ongoing discussion of how families with children who have autism are able to afford services and treatment. Now more than ever before, politicians are taking note of the statistics like 1 in 150 children are born with Autism, and realizing something must be done for these families in order to create some type of relief. Missouri's Governor, Jay Nixon, is working on legislation that would require insurance companies to include autism services and treatment in their coverage policies. The General Assembly has a deadline of this Friday at 6 p.m. to pass legislation.

Assembly Members Rip Plan to Shut Special-Needs Schools

TRENTON, N.J. -- As more than 50 parents and teachers staged a protest nearby, members of the New Jersey state Assembly Budget Committee earlier this week pressed Children and Families Commissioner Kimberly Ricketts to explain her decision to phase out 18 state-run special education schools over the next 13 months.
Ricketts said she chose to close the schools and transfer as many as 560 children into their local or county school districts because enrollment has declined from about 1,200 from more than a decade ago. Operating these schools also no longer fulfills the department's "core mission" of child protection, she added.
Some lawmakers criticized Ricketts for rushing the closures before a clear transition plan was developed.
These special schools and their highly skilled teachers welcomed children local school districts have rejected, said Jocelyn Reyes of Elizabeth, whose son, Jonathan, attends the school in Essex County. "They have had many successes with them. Now they are being thanked for their services by getting kicked to the curb as if this dedication didn't matter," Reyes said.

Toddler Brain Differences Linked to Autism

The size of a specific part of the brain may help experts pinpoint when autism could first develop, University of North Carolina researchers report.

The amygdala helps individuals process faces and emotions.

Using MRI brain scans, researchers found that the area of the brain called the amygdala was, on average, 13 percent larger in young children with autism, compared with control group of children without autism. In the study, published in the latest Archives of General Psychiatry, researchers scanned 50 toddlers with autism and 33 children without autism at age 2 and again at age 4. The study adjusted for age, sex and IQ.

Recession Hits Children's Organization

This is one of those rare opportunities where I'd like to feature a story from CBS-TV's The Early Show Saturday edition which focused on our organization -- the YAI/NIPD Network -- and how our preschools are giving hope and opportunity to children on the autism spectrum and their families. Check it out
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4987553n