DSM Panel Takes Heat Over Diagnosis Name

As experts behind a forthcoming update of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders look to revise psychiatry’s definition of “mental retardation” their efforts are becoming unexpectedly contentious.
Under a draft that’s currently open for public comment, experts working with the American Psychiatric Association are proposing that the name of the diagnosis be changed to “intellectual developmental disorder.”
What’s more, they’re looking to give more discretion to clinicians by putting less emphasis on IQ. While people qualifying for the diagnosis would still be required to score at least two standard deviations below average on such assessments, there would no longer be a bright-line IQ requirement of 70 or under.

Studies Show Community Care Is Viable

Case studies across the country have shown that residents of institutions can be successfully moved into smaller settings in the community in most states, according to a court brief filed last week on behalf of national and international academic and advocacy organizations. They include American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and the Association of University Centers on Disabilities.

Minn. Budget to Hurt People with Disabilities

A perspective on the Minnesota budget cuts and the impact on health and human services from Pat Mellenthin, CEO of The Arc Minnesota.

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- State Rep. Jim Abeler writes in his July 21 commentary ("A job well done on health, human Services") that the bill "minimized reductions to disability services." This is an overstatement, to say the least.

We understood going into the 2011 legislative session that funding for human services would likely take its share of cuts, but this bill is far more disappointing than we imagined, in a number of ways.

Under the final health and human services (HHS) budget, hundreds of millions of state and federal dollars that would have paid for services for persons with disabilities in the community will be lost.

Some of these cuts are cruel and unwise and could force Minnesotans with disabilities into nursing homes or other institutions, which will only add to the state's future budget woes.

Passenger with Down Syndrome Barred from Flight

Hopping across the pond a bit to shed light on discrimination against those with developmental disabilities.

LONDON-A 12-year-old British girl was denied passage on a British Airways flight for having Down syndrome, supposedly per airline policy.

Airline staff refused to sell a plane ticket to Alice Saunders for an unaccompanied trip from London's Gatwick Airport to Glasgow. Her mother, Heather Saunders, was told it was company policy to not accept young passengers with Down syndrome flying alone.

Heather Saunders tried to make her daughter's reservation via phone.

"I explained I wanted her to travel as an unaccompanied minor, she was 12 years old, she had Down syndrome and was very independent," she told the Daily Mail.

However, according to the mother, the customer service agent said company policy would not allow it because of problems incurred in the past.

Heather Saunders further revealed that, according to the representative, had she not told the airline about Alice at the time of booking, she would have been turned away at the gate.

OT Cap for Caregivers Sought

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Thirteen-year-old Jonathan Carey died four years ago after an aide at the state's O.D. Heck center, who had worked a string of double shifts, suffocated the autistic boy during an excursion in a van. The aide, Edwin Tirado, was eventually convicted of manslaughter in the case. It was later revealed that Tirado was a veritable overtime king at the Niskayuna institution, having logged 1,647 overtime hours the year before.
Now, Carey's father Michael is pushing a bill that would limit the amount of overtime that caregivers can work, although it's unclear if such controls will actually be passed by the Legislature this year.
"We need to cap it," Carey said of a measure he's supporting that would limit to 60 hours the total amount of time a direct care worker could spend on the job in a given week at centers for the disabled such as O.D. Heck.

New Mexico Program to Gauge Level of Care

New Mexico's Department of Health hopes to sign a $524,000 contract for a pilot project that officials say could lead to a more accurate diagnoses of people enrolled in a small, but costly program for the mentally disabled.
Over the next six months, if the contract is signed, the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities will use a diagnostic tool it developed to discern the level of care needed for 500 individuals enrolled in what is known as the developmental disabilities waiver program, or DD waiver, for short. The tool also is known as the Supports Intensity Scale, state officials said.