Developmental Disability News and Research

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LoJack and May Institute launch campaign to increase public awareness about autism

What does autism look like? Millions of commuters in Massachusetts will find out during April – National Autism Awareness Month – thanks to a powerful public awareness campaign that features photos and stories of children with autism as well as important information about the disorder.

31 Mar 2010

Scholarships for Special Needs Life Quality Plans available to underserved families

The Training, Education & Research Institute (TERI) led International Association for Life Quality (IALQ) – a national leader dedicated to identifying and removing barriers to a quality life for those with developmental disabilities – announced scholarships for Special Needs Life Quality Plans™ will be available to underserved families with a child with autism or other developmental disability.

5 Feb 2010

LDDI releases biomonitoring report on environmental neurotoxins in health affected community

The Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative (LDDI) today released the first-ever biomonitoring report identifying toxic chemical pollution in people from the learning and developmental disability community.

5 Feb 2010

Class action law suit filed on behalf of children with autism against ELARC

Today, attorneys with Public Counsel and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP filed a class action law suit and preliminary injunction on behalf of children with autism against the Eastern Los Angeles Regional Center (ELARC) for unlawfully terminating the most effective treatment for their condition.

18 Jan 2010

Pediatrician recommends red reflex vision test for all newborns

With the number of premature births and medically fragile infants now increasing in the U.S., a basic eye exam, including a red reflex test, should be given to all children shortly after birth, reports Angela Buffenn, M.D., M.P.H., Director of the Orbit and Eye Movement Institute at The Vision Center of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

7 Nov 2009

Therap Services to host its 4th annual National Provider Administrator conference in Fishkill

Therap Services is hosting its 4th annual National Provider Administrator conference in Fishkill, NY February 2-4, 2010. Therap provides electronic documentation and communication services to providers of service to people with developmental disabilities.

31 Oct 2009

State round-up: Colorado's medicaid woes, Utah's Health Exchange, and more

Thursday's state news includes concerns over Medicaid reimbursement cuts in Colorado, the opening of the Utah Health Exchange amidst skyrocketing premiums and the high number of uninsured in Texas.

21 Aug 2009

A new theory on autism put forward

Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have proposed a sweeping new theory of autism that suggests that the brains of people with autism are structurally normal but dysregulated, meaning symptoms of the disorder might be reversible.

1 Apr 2009

New approach to dental visits may ease kids' fears

For many children, a trip to the doctor or dentist is a stressful experience.

22 Feb 2009

Even small amounts of exercise good for people with serious mental illnesses

A new study from Indiana University suggests that even meager levels of physical activity can improve the mood of people with serious mental illnesses (SMI) such as bipolar disorder, major depression and schizophrenia.

15 Jan 2009

Brain waves show sound processing abnormalities in autistic children

Abnormalities in auditory and language processing may be evaluated in children with autism spectrum disorder by using magnetoencephalography (MEG), according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

1 Dec 2008

Earlier jaundice treatment decreases brain injury in preterm infants

A study from a National Institutes of Health research network found that an early treatment to prevent severe newborn jaundice in extremely early preterm infants reduced the infants' rate of brain injury, a serious complication of severe jaundice.

30 Oct 2008

Selective face processing abnormalities in parents of autistic children

Some parents of children with autism evaluate facial expressions differently than the rest of us - and in a way that is strikingly similar to autistic patients themselves, according to new research by psychiatrist Dr. Joe Piven of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and neuroscientist Ralph Adolphs, Ph.D., of the California Institute of Technology.

17 Jul 2008

Researchers finds further evidence for genetic contribution to autism

Some parents of children with autism evaluate facial expressions differently than the rest of us--and in a way that is strikingly similar to autistic patients themselves, according to new research by neuroscientist Ralph Adolphs of the California Institute of Technology and psychiatrist Joe Piven at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

15 Jul 2008

Report slates service provision for children with autism

A hard-hitting report on the lack of statutory services for children with autism and their parents and carers will be published this week.

26 Apr 2008

Previously unknown chromosomal abnormalities play substantial role in autism

Genome-wide scans of families affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have revealed new evidence that previously unknown chromosomal abnormalities have a substantial role in the prevalent developmental disorder, according to a report published online Jan. 17th in the American Journal of Human Genetics, a publication of Cell Press.

18 Jan 2008

Researchers move 2 steps closer to understanding genetic underpinnings of autism

Today's issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics (AJHG), describes what might be a corner piece of the autism puzzle the identification and subsequent validation of a gene linked to the development of autism by three separate groups of scientists.

11 Jan 2008

New UIC center to study end-of-life transition

The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing has received a federal grant to create a center to study people as they transition to the end of life.

14 Dec 2007

Novel imaging technique shows more gray matter in brains of autistic children

Using a novel imaging technique to study autistic children, researchers have found increased gray matter in the brain areas that govern social processing and learning by observation.

29 Nov 2007

Sexual knowledge and attitudes of men with intellectual disability who sexually offend

Our study “Sexual knowledge and attitudes of men with intellectual disability who sexually offend,” published in Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability in June 2007 did not find that sex education made sexual offenders with an intellectual disability more dangerous.

24 Oct 2007