BAC Rutland

You can see the Minds on the Edge program tonight on Vermont Public Television, Channel 33.  Tune in at 5:00 p.m.

NAMI-Vermont presents a screening and discussion of the eye-opening public television program MINDS ON THE EDGE: Facing Mental Illness

Discussions to follow each screening with: Local Legislators, Local Community Leaders, and Mental Health Professionals & Advocates.
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According to an AP Poll, 1/3 of parents oppose or will not get their children or themselves vaccinated with the new flu vaccine this year.

Concerns are wide ranging.  A lack of trust of the new vaccine, purseived by some that not enough testing had taken place.  There are feelings that the risks of Swine Flu has been overblown and that it is just another “flu”.  And, again the highly controversial yet wide spread concern and worry about vaccines or something in them being linked with Autism.  Despite recent studies stating there is no link between Autism and vaccinations, parental fears continue and the debate surges on.
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It amazes me to see that the Obama Administration and mainstream media have been rather nonchalant about the startling news that 1-in-100 American children – and perhaps around 1-in-60 boys – have an autism spectrum disorder.

On Friday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told listeners on a conference call about an upcoming CDC study showing that the estimated rate of autism increased by about 50% among children living in study locations who were born in 1994, compared with those born in 1996.
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Film Festival will air on VPT-World (Channel 33-4)

6-7 p.m.  Get Off Your Knees: The John Robinson Story
The story of John Robinson, a congenital amputee.
The story of John Robinson, a congenital amputee born with no hands or knees, who’s a successful marketing executive, competitive golfer and family man.
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On Monday, October 5, the U.S. Senate confirmed former Kansas Commissioner of Education Alexa Posny to fill the position of Assistant Secretary in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the U.S. Department of Education.

President Barack Obama nominated Posny for the position in July. She had previously been the Director of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), located within OSERS, from 2006-20007.  In addition to OSEP, both the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) and the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) are located within OSERS.
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Researchers at Harvard University and Children’s Hospital Boston will sequence the genomes of at least 85 people diagnosed with autism in a bid to tease out the genetic basis for some cases of the neuropsychiatric disorder.

Funded by $4.5 million from the federal stimulus package, the study’s broad outlines were unveiled Wednesday.
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CHICAGO – Two new government studies indicate about 1 in 100 children have autism disorders — higher than a previous U.S. estimate of 1 in 150.

Greater awareness, broader definitions and spotting autism in younger children may explain some of the increase, federal health officials said.

“The concern here is that buried in these numbers is a true increase,” said Dr. Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health. “We’re going to have to think very hard about what we’re going to do for the 1 in 100.”
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Sep 28, 2009 (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Documents and Publications/ContentWorks via COMTEX) — AUSTIN, Texas – AT&T Services, Inc., doing business as Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, L.P. (AT&T), a major telephone company, violated federal law by refusing to hire an applicant simply because he is an insulin-dependent diabetic, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed today.
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From Bloomberg News – Sears Roebuck & Co. agreed to settle a case under the Americans With Disabilities Act for $6.2 million, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Tuesday.

A federal court judge approved a consent decree settling the lawsuit today, the agency said.The case, in which Sears was accused of terminating employees instead of providing reasonable accommodations for their disabilities, is the largest settlement for a disability-related case for the employment commission, the agency said.
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Friday, October 16, 2009
Killington Grand Hotel, Killington, Vermont

Register by Friday, October 2nd
Early Bird deadline September 1st

Featuring:
Keynote Address by Dr. Anthony Quintiliani

30 Workshops  -  Music   -   Art   -   Resources   –   Bookseller

Our theme is CollaboraFantasy – turning dreams into reality and embracing the collaborative spirit during challenging times.

During our opening session, we’ll hear from Agency of Human Services Secretary Rob Hofmann, and Anthony Quintiliani, a past presenter and a first time keynoter at our conference. Anthony’s workshops have been amongst the most popular over the past 6 years.

We have 30 workshops on important and interesting topics such as housing, transition youth, art and human services, Circles of Support and Neighborkeepers, leading during challenging times, improving educational outcomes for children and youth in foster care, parent involvement, promising trends in child welfare, refugee communities, supporting our military families, and many others.

The Arts Bus will be on-site (check out A10 in the brochure) as will participant favorites from last year, Ikkuma and Sura, therapy dogs (C10). In B1, you’ll have an opportunity to be trained to use a “low ropes” course so dress casually.

Our conference bookseller, Everyone’s Books from Brattleboro, will be with us again. We’ll present this year’s winner of the John Burchard “Spirit of Collaboration” award (nomination inside the conference brochure).

This will likely be the last year of this unique and special event, so don’t miss out!!

See you in Killington on October 16th.
Don Mandelkorn

Download the Collaboration Conf Brochure 2009 Word doc

Download the Collaboration Conf Brochure 2009 PDF