Rally Support for your Special Needs Child.

With laws in health care and education changing rapidly in recent times, it is important that we remain involved and aware of the way new legislation may affect special needs children. It is important to consider global approaches to this topic, as well as the measures that are being taken by other governments.

David Cameron tackled over special needs in schools

Conservative leader David Cameron was tackled on the election trail over the alleged segregation of disabled children in the education system.

Accompanied by his wheel-chair using son, Samuel, Jonathan Bartley told Mr Cameron of the two-year struggle he had faced to get the seven-year-old into his local school.

He voiced concerns about Tory plans to end the bias towards inclusion of children with special needs in mainstream schools.

Read the full BBC article here.

APD

The New York Times recently published this article highlighting auditory processing disorder, a syndrome we are still working to learn more about.

Little-Known Disorder Can Take a Toll on Learning

Parents and teachers often tell children to pay attention — to be a “good listener.” But what if your child’s brain doesn’t know how to listen?

That’s the challenge for children with auditory processing disorder, a poorly understood syndrome that interferes with the brain’s ability to recognize and interpret sounds. It’s been estimated that 2 to 5 percent of children have the disorder, said Gail D. Chermak, an expert on speech and hearing sciences at Washington State University, and it’s likely that many cases have gone undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.

The symptoms of A.P.D. — trouble paying attention and following directions, low academic performance, behavior problems and poor reading and vocabulary — are often mistaken for attention problems or even autism.

Read the full article here.

It's Special Education Week...

Court Oversight Ends in Longtime Special Education Suit

A federal judge signed a joint settlement agreement last week that puts an end to a 26-year-old special education lawsuit in Baltimore.

Read more about this here.

College professor with autism will speak in Harrisburg

Many of you may have heard of Temple Grandin, author and professor at Colorado State University who has given Autism a whole new platform by speaking publicly and writing about her personal battle with it.

She was also featured in an HBO special about her life, which gave viewers an intimate account of living with Autism.

Grandin is scheduled to speak in Harrisburg, read more about it here.

Picky Eating is Common in Autistic Children, May Be at Nutritional Risk

Two new studies out this year have focused on the nutritional adequacy of diet in children with autism, particularly those who are selective about what they eat. Many children are picky eaters as they go through the more independent stages of toddlerhood and school-age years, but the trait is more common in children diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD).

Autistic children have limitations or difficulties in several key areas of development, including language, communication, social interaction, and rigid or repetitive behavior. “Selective eating”, the clinical term for a picky eater, can be a component of the desire to have a more structured environment. While most children outgrow their tendency to be picky about what they eat, children with ASD often carry the trait into adulthood.

The rest of this article can be found here.

Calling all iPhone users...

Founder of the Grace App, Lisa Domican, created a picture-based iPhone application to help her communicate with her daughter. The tool was so successful she is now trialling it in a school for autistic children in Ireland.

The Grace App is essentially a digital version of the Picture Exchange Communications System - a book of laminated pictures attached to a board by velcro that allows children with autism to build sentences and communicate.

More info on this app can be found here.

To learn more about Lisa Domican's creation and inspiration behind the Grace app, click here.

Linking underserved communities and the developmentally disabled...

Attorney Areva Martin, parent of an Autistic son, co-founded Special Needs Network Inc. to help provide a link between underserved communities, developmental disability organizations and government institutions. The nonprofit has served 20,000 families in California through educational forums, intervention programs and advocacy training (Munz, Michele 2010).

Learn more about Areva Martin's story here.

Special Needs Network, Inc. is an excellent Los Angeles-based organization that works with the community, professionals and parents to help build awareness, support and solutions for Autism in underserved communities.

Find out more about SNN here.