Recreation Programs Foster Inclusion

It's all about playing together. That's the philosophy of special recreation inclusion efforts integrating those with special needs into mainstream park programs.
That's good news for kids like Laney and Leah Myers, 6-year-old twin soccer players from Naperville, and Jimmy Bonta, a budding 6-year-old arts and crafts enthusiast who delights in sharing time with neighborhood peers in Roselle Park District's after-school care program.
But for Tammy Kerrins, Western DuPage Special Recreation Association manager of inclusion and certified therapeutic recreation specialist, the real miracle involves seeing participants learning to understand, respect and appreciate those with physical or intellectual differences. This year alone, Kerrins helped the Myers twins, the Bonta family and facilitated 1,800 placements of disabled adults and children in local park district offerings — a huge triple increase from just 10 years ago when 500 placements were made for those with special needs.

A Long Life with Down Syndrome

SUN CITY CENTER, Fla. — In every non-biological way, Jackie Pepin was a little girl.
She dressed her baby dolls each morning at a group home for people with developmental disabilities.
She adored cheap watches and was proud of her ability to tell time.
She enjoyed coloring books and walking a cockapoo she had named Happy.
Chronologically, however, Ms. Pepin stood out for her advanced age, having lived a dozen years past the average life expectancy for people with Down syndrome.
Ms. Pepin died Saturday at Brandon Regional Hospital, a possible result of blood clotting and other circulatory problems, her family said.
She was 72.

Cuomo Signs Autism Coverage Law

ALBANY — A measure requiring health insurers to cover autism disorders was signed into law Tuesday afternoon, making New York the 29th state to enact such coverage mandates for the complex neurobiological disorder.
An estimated 30,000 children in New York are afflicted by autism spectrum disorders, such as Asperger's and Rett's disorder, that affect social skills and learning abilities.

Arc of Indiana Pushes for Better Services

An advocacy group is recommending changes in the way Indiana cares for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities — including an overhaul of the state's largest agency.
The report from The Arc of Indiana released Tuesday envisions finding jobs for most developmentally disabled people while offering broad support for their families so they can live at home.

Once a Leader, Wisconsin Lags in Finding Supported Work for People with Disabilities

Wisconsin was once on the cutting edge of moving people with disabilities into jobs where they work alongside non-disabled individuals.
That's not the case anymore.
Called integrated or supported employment, the state began in the 1970s and '80s pushing for people with disabilities to find jobs in the competitive work force, while providing them services, such as on-the-job coaching, to help them succeed.
The state and federal government provided grants to help boost change in the work force, offering corporate initiatives, building relationships among businesses and developing jobs.
It would be 20 years before some states would catch up to Wisconsin's integrated employment efforts, said Laura Owens, an education professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and president of APSE, a national disability employment rights organization.

Stamps to Feature Work of Artists with ASD

The United Nations will honor autism awareness next year with a series of postage stamps designed by individuals with the developmental disability.
The stamps are part of an annual effort to highlight causes that are important to the international body, according to David Failor, director of the United Nations Postal Administration, which will issue the first-ever autism awareness stamps in early April.

Communication Shutdown Day Takes a Turn

SILVER SPRING, Md. — Last fall, an Australian early-intervention organization designated November 1 as "Communication Shutdown Day." The day is intended for those in the autism community to fall silent online to highlight the communication difficulties that often come with autism.
Not surprisingly, the concept of falling silent in order to speak didn't sit well with many in the autism community, and furthermore, it angered autistic adults who didn't see a lot of parallels between their communication difficulties, often mitigated by online tools, and neurotypical (NT) adults choosing to spend a day away from Facebook and Twitter.