Where Disability and Poverty Intersect

Disability can be both a cause and consequence of economic insecurity. It is a cause because disability or illness can lead to job loss and reduced earnings, barriers to education and skills

development, significant additional expenses, and many other challenges that can lead to economic hardship. It can also be a consequence because poverty and economic insecurity can limit access to health care and preventive services and increase the likelihood that a person lives and works in an environment that may adversely affect health. As a result, poverty and disability go hand in hand.

Indiana Expands Medicaid and Charges Beneficiaries a Montly Fee

WASHINGTON — After a lengthy back-and-forth, the Obama administration has agreed to let Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, a Republican, expand Medicaid on his own terms, including some that have not been allowed before under federal rules.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence

The plan will extend coverage to an additional 350,000 Indiana residents with incomes of up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level — about $16,100 for a single person and $27,310 for a family of three — starting next month. As in the 27 other states that have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government will cover the entire cost through this year and at least 90 percent in future years.

Workers with Autism are Advantage for Florida Family Car Wash

If you're in the Northeast, hope you're recovering from the storm. Check out this story -- especially the video -- it will be a great way to start your day wherever you are.

Most car washes are filled with less-than-enthusiastic workers. But in Parkland, Fla., there’s a place to clean your car where the employees — 80 percent of which are along the autism spectrum — are extremely excited about their daily responsibilities, making the turnover rate is almost non-existent.

Started by the father-and-son team of John and Tom D’Eri, Rising Tide Car Wash gives their son and brother, Andrew, who was identified as an autistic individual at the age of three, and its other employees the chance to lead a fulfilling life.

Opinion: Connecticut Budget Cuts Reflect 'New Level of Inhumanity'

Powerful Op-Ed piece in The Hartford Courant by Stanley and the Rev. Kathleen Peters, parents of an adult child with ID/DD.

Enough is enough. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the Office of Policy and Management Secretary Benjamin Barnes have shown a whole new level of inhumanity with their continued cuts to the Department of Developmental Services budget. As two of the thousands of parents of an adult child with an intellectual/developmental disability, who has been on the department's waiting lists for residential funding, we are sickened by the Malloy administration's indifference to our children and all the children affected by the budget cuts.

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities are among the most vulnerable members of our society and the least able to personally advocate for themselves. We can only think that it is because of their vulnerability that the governor and the secretary of policy and management feel that they are an easy target to take the brunt of cuts to balance the state budget.

Report Cites Behavioral and Genetic Differences Among Siblings with Autism

Most siblings with a diagnosis of autism do not share the same genetic risk factors for the disorder and are as distinct in their behaviors as any brothers and sisters, scientists reported on Monday in a study that came as a surprise to many doctors, if not to parents.

Scientists analyzed genetic material from 85 families, using a technology called whole-genome sequencing. Unlike other approaches, which illuminate a sample of a person’s genetic material, the whole-genome technique maps out the entire voluminous recipe, every biological typo, every misplaced comma or transposed letter. Each of the families had two children with a diagnosis of autism.

‘Food Is a Death Sentence to These Kids’

“Are you ready to go to teenager college?” Rhoda Ross-Williams asked her 13-year-old daughter. “You really want to leave us?”

“Mm-hmm,” Rachelle said. She had pulled off her pajamas and was sitting on the toilet so her mother could bathe her. At 4-foot-7 and 278 pounds, she could no longer step over the side of the tub to take a shower.
Rhoda soaped a washcloth and began to scrub beneath the folds of her daughter’s skin. “They’ll have all kinds of stuff for you there,” she went on.

Designers Had People with Autism in Mind with Development of Smart Scarf

What better to add to your collection of contactless payment gloves and music beanie hats than a smart scarf? Microsoft Research has just presented exactly that at Stanford University's Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction (TEI).

The smart scarf is still in the early stages but the current prototype both heats up on demand via a smartphone app and vibrates - we assume to alert the wearer to notifications and alarms. What's really clever is that the smart garment is modular so the heating and vibrating modules can be snapped off and switched around to best suit the wearer.