| U.S. underfunds disabled education | | Posted Sunday, February 04, 2007 2:47:46 PM by Blog57 Team | | As the number of children diagnosed with disabilities has grown, so have the numbers of disputes over their education, which often end up in court. Three decades ago, Congress passed a law now called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The law requires schools to tailor educational plans to the student's special needs. If parents and school districts don't agree on the plan, parents can appeal to the state. Advocates on both sides said that many disputes could be resolved if the federal government adequately funded the programs as they had promised long ago. About 6.8 million students nationwide have been identified as having some kind of disability qualifying them for special education, according to the U.S. Department of Education.... | |
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| | | Srinagar has only one school for disabled | | Posted Monday, January 29, 2007 12:49:23 PM by Blog57 Team | | Srinagar, Jan 27: Failing to act on the recommendations of the Srinagar Master Plan, the state government is yet to provide the much-needed schools for the disabled here. Against the required number of 26 such schools for Srinagar alone, only one school for mentally disabled children, catering to some 50 children, is presently functioning at Solina here. "It is a known fact that number of handicapped/disabled youth in Kashmir has grown during the past decade. There is only one school for handicapped at Rambagh and 26 such schools are required to be provided," the Master Plan reads. The Plan clearly mentions that by the end of the year 2000, the required number of such schools here "is 26 but only one exists, putting the backlog of 25." Of this, the Srinagar Development Authority recommended that "since the backlog is heavy, only 7 such schools are proposed to be provided during 9th Plan period." But that was a long way back.... | |
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| | | Governor Richardson seeks funding for children with disabilities | | Posted Wednesday, November 15, 2006 12:49:54 PM by Blog57 Team | | SANTA FE (AP) - Gov. Bill Richardson is proposing more than $10 million in spending that would help children with disabilities, including a measure that would provide a tax credit for those who adopt a child with special needs.Taxes would be cut by $1,000 per child or $1,700 per family as long as the special needs child is at home, according to the governor's office. The credit would cover children who are blind, permanently disabled or having severe emotional or behavioral health disorders.Richardson's package also includes $1.15 million for the Children Youth and Families Department to increase adoptions and stipends for adoptive families, expand support for these families and to help with childcare.The governor said Monday the state has made what he called "huge steps" for New Mexico children over the past year."We have built schools, invested millions in education and ensured that every New Mexico child five and younger has access to health care coverage," Richardson said in a statement.... | |
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| | | Stillwater couple urge state funding for special school | | Posted Wednesday, November 15, 2006 2:50:15 AM by Blog57 Team | | OKLAHOMA CITY -- A Stillwater couple went to the state Capitol Monday with their effort to establish a new school for children with developmental disabilities, and other children, on the OSU campus. Mary and Jimmy Gonzales' 1-year-old daughter, Mya, was born with Down syndrome, a genetic condition characterized by moderate to mild developmental disabilities. The family wants a special school, eventually to be housed on the OSU campus and partially funded by the state, for children with developmental disabilities. The couple and Mya met with lawmakers, OSU officials and agency representatives at the Capitol on Monday to talk about starting a Rise school in Stillwater. Rise schools provide early childhood education for children with disabilities and for children without disabilities.... | |
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| | | Uganda: Limbless Australian Lobbies for Children | | Posted Sunday, November 12, 2006 6:52:39 AM by Blog57 Team | | LIMBLESS Australian youth Nick Vujicic wants the Government to enact laws that enable people with disabilities to have equal opportunities with the able-bodied. The 23-year-old, who holds a Bachelors degree in accounting and financial planning, wants disabled children accepted and integrated into the country's mainstream education. Vujicic, who braved depressing teasing at school before accepting his condition, arrived on Wednesday on his evangelism tour. The jolly young man with neither arms nor legs wants to identify areas in which his ministry, Life Without Limbs Ministry, could help disabled children in Uganda. Drawing from his own experience, Vujicic says children with disabilities are treated unequally with others in many countries. He said they are rejected and isolated, yet they need to be at the same footing with the rest.... | |
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| | | Kennedy Krieger awarded $9 million to study learning disabilities in growing ranks of adolescents | | Posted Thursday, November 09, 2006 10:52:44 AM by Blog57 Team | | (Baltimore, MD) -- The substantial number of today's adolescents struggling with weak literacy skills presents an urgent national concern, yet very little is known about reading disabilities beyond the early elementary grades. To address this critical gap in knowledge, the Kennedy Krieger Institute has been awarded a $9 million grant from the National Institute of Health (N.I.H.) to establish a Learning Disabilities Research Center. The new center is among only four centers awarded in the country. The Center at the Kennedy Krieger Institute will undertake projects to illuminate the neurobiological and behavioral underpinnings of learning disabilities in children grades three through eight. By gaining a deep understanding of learning disabilities in these children, more effective educational interventions can be developed to improve the country's literacy.... | |
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| | | Ex-school converted to help autistic children | | Posted Monday, November 06, 2006 6:57:32 AM by Blog57 Team | | CANTON TWP. Brianne Nightingale is turning an abandoned school building into a private school for children with autism. The old Trump School at 511 Trump Ave. NE is now the Dragonfly Academy. Children with autism are different, she said. They have problems with social skills and communication. Autism is a developmental disability stemming from a neurological disorder, according to the Autism Society of America. It impacts how someone interacts and, while specific behaviors vary, normal sights and sounds often overstimulate someone with autism. People with autism also tend to take things literally and learn better through repeated demonstrations. The Stark County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities has a program to accommodate autistic children. It has 35 children enrolled.... | |
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| | | Employers finding assets in workers with disabilities. | | Posted Friday, November 03, 2006 10:53:52 AM by Blog57 Team | | When Kathryn Giordano, director of administration at Baker Botts LLP, suggested to Pat Berry that his daughter come work at his law firm for the summer, he shook his head in disbelief. "I thought no, not a law firm," he said. "It was absolutely scary." That's because Berry's 19-year-old daughter, who loves to ride horses and types 45 words a minute, has a cognitive disability. His daughter's stint at the Washington firm allayed his initial fears. "Professionals with cognitively disabled children think they can't do this," he said. "But they can." Other organizations have had the same realization. A decade ago, Cincinnati Children's Hospital opened a division called Project Search, which helps place people with cognitive disabilities in jobs within the hospital and teaches other organizations how to do the same.... | |
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| | | Ethiopia: People With Disabilities to Be Provided Assistance | | Posted Tuesday, October 31, 2006 10:51:13 AM by Blog57 Team | | The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs said the government would provide the necessary assistance to NGOs and the society at large in their efforts geared towards supporting people with disabilities. During the 20th anniversary of Mentally Retarded Children Training Centre of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church here yesterday, representative of the Ministry, Assefa Ashengo said the government would cooperate with NGOs and the public in alleviating the multifaceted problems of the people with disabilities. .... | |
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| | | McLean playground designed to include children with disabilities | | Posted Sunday, October 29, 2006 12:50:37 PM by Blog57 Team | | McLEAN, Va. -- It wasn't long after Ethan Pedlikin discovered the swings at Clemyjontri Park that he fell in love with them. With their high backs and supportive handlebars, they were unlike any he'd seen. The swings were designed for disabled children such as Ethan, who has Down syndrome. "You want to see smiles? Just look at him," said Adrianne Pedlikin of Vienna as her 8-year-old son soared overhead. For the parents of disabled children, finding a place where their kids can play is a challenge. "You want your kids to do as many normal things as possible, but you take them to a regular park and set them up for failure," Pedlikin said. Now those children have Clemyjontri Park, where hundreds of parents and children explored the new playground equipment for the first time at the park's recent dedication.... | |
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