BAC Rutland

From the [Newark, NJ] Star-Ledger:

Advocates say employers need to start preparing now for the expected influx of adults with autism. They encourage employers to respect sensory sensitivities, utilize the strengths of the individual, and, most importantly, understand the gap in social skills.

The traditional focus on children with autism is no longer sufficient, advocates say, as people with autism increasingly are aging out of the educational system and looking for productive, purposeful lives in the workplace.
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The National Youth Leadership Network will be hosting a teleconference on independent media and disability rights on September 21 at 8 p.m.

The teleconference will focus on using blogs, video, and free media tools to revolutionize and remix a powerful disability rights message.

Speakers will include Moya Bailey, the founder of Quirky Black Girls; Anita Cameron, Adapt media maker; Cripchick, a feminist blogger; and Ari Ne’eman and Melanie Yergueau, organizers with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network.
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This is an announcement for a free webcast entitled “Disability Disparities” that will be held on September 23, 2009 form 1:00PM local to 1:45PM. The webcast will be followed by a chat room with the presenter from 1:45 – 2:15pm for a question and answer session. The only equipment you will require is a computer, Internet, and a browser with the Flash Player plug in.
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Mandatory full funding for special education could be closer to becoming a reality now that Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, was named chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.

Just this week, Sens. Harkin and Pat Roberts, R-Kan., reintroduced legislation to fully fund special education. Similar bills have been introduced in years past. Harkin has long been a champion for full funding, and will be in a powerful position as Congress prepares to reauthorize the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
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To ensure adequate legal protections for people with disabilities, Congress recently passed new legislation expanding the scope of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) provides legal protections for workers with disabilities. However, since the passage of the law nearly 20 years ago, a series of court decisions has made it increasingly difficult for those with disabilities to qualify for the law’s protections.
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September 6, 2008, was a clear-blue Indian summer day in Nebraska. Jennifer Ruth sat in the stands and watched her 12-year-old son, Derek, run with the football. She was unconcerned when he was tackled in a routine play. But as he fumbled the ball, she remembers seeing his right arm drop oddly, almost in slow motion. “He never does that” flickered through her mind. The coach noticed a glazed look on Derek’s face in the team huddle. He pulled him aside and asked him for the date, score, and his brothers’ names. Derek answered correctly. Then, minutes later, he screamed, “My head,” pulled off his helmet, and collapsed.
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Save the date!- Thursday, October 22, 2009
Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center – South Burlington, Vermont

Keynote Speaker – Jennifer Field “A Distant Memory”
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They have the thinnest skin, the shortest fuses and take the hardest knocks. In psychiatrists’ offices, they have long been viewed as among the most challenging patients to treat.  They are the kind of people who drive a friend away for interfering and subsequently berate that friend for abandonment.

But almost 20 years after the designation of borderline personality disorder as a recognized mental health condition, some understanding and hope have surfaced for people with the condition and their families.
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With a new school year upon us, the long-simmering issue of how best to accommodate special education students has been pushed to the forefront by a major U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Parents of students with special needs have the right to seek reimbursement from their districts for private school tuition, even if they did not first try their public school’s special education programs, according to the recent ruling.
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TOKYO — Robotics and medical experts in Japan on Wednesday unveiled the prototype of a new hi-tech electric wheelchair that resembles a scooter and promises greater mobility.

Users ride astride the four-wheeled Rodem — rather than sitting in it, as in a conventional wheelchair — steer it with a joystick and hold onto motorbike-style handles while the knees and chest rest on cushions.
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