What's in a Name? Rosa's Law Passed

Federal statutes will no longer use the term “mental retardation” instead substituting the phrase “intellectual disability.”  President Obama officially signed into law this October a bill that has spent months wending its way through Congress. Who is Rosa? Rosa is a now 9-year old Maryland girl with Down’s Syndrome.  Her mother took issue with the… Read More »

Jennifer Aniston, Politically Incorrect?

In the latest controversy this year over the use of the word retard or retarded, Jennifer Aniston used the word “retard”  self-deprecatingly on Regis and Kelly Live while describing how she plays dress-up for a living. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a retard as a mentally disabled person.  From Wikipedia:  Mental retardation (MR) is a… Read More »

Are Schools Prepared for an Increase in Autism-Related Special Needs?

The reported rate of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has significantly increased and is now expected to affect 1% of children ages 3 to 17, or approximately 1 in every 100 children, according to two recent major studies.  Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and a study published in the journal Pediatrics indicate… Read More »

Reaching out to the Disability Community-An Important Government Resource

Recently, the federal government moved to the technological forefront with its launch of Disability.gov.  This relaunched website fulfills its stated purpose of Connecting the Disability Community to Information and Opportunities.  Disability.gov successfully uses social media tools to reach out to visitors and encourage interaction.  There are online discussions and a user-friendly way to get answers… Read More »

Disabled Students Paddled More Often in School

According to a study just released, disabled students are subjected to corporal punishment at a far higher rate than other students. The American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch collaborated on the report entitled “Impairing Education: Corporal Punishment of Students with Disabilities in US Public Schools.” According to the report, at least 41,972 disabled… Read More »