I’ve got a new gig! I’m pleased to announce I am now co-hosting Special Needs Long Island, a weekly radio program dedicated to the special needs community on Long Island. My co-host is Jeffrey Silverman, Director of Special Needs Planning for the Center for Wealth Preservation in Syosset, New York. Every Monday night,… Read More »
Posts Tagged: disabled students
"It's Not as Bad as it Looks"
Right, Judge. If it was possible to somehow put the frosting on the cake of this horrifying story about a judge caught on videotape beating his daughter, a life-long sufferer of cerebral palsy, that quote from the perpetrator did it. According to the article, Texas Family Court Judge William Adams was secretly taped by his… Read More »
Desperate Parents Try Desperate Measures
The Judge Rotenberg Center, a special needs school in Massachusetts that receives much of its funding from New York State, is back in the center of controversy again. The Center is the only school in the nation that uses aversive therapy such as skin shocks as behavioral modification on its students. Many of the… Read More »
The R Word: Tracy Morgan: Oops!…I Did it Again
In the latest incident of a celebrity using the “R” word, Tracy Morgan, fresh from his apologies over making anti-gay remarks, made “jokes” about “young retarded males” during a recent comedy appearance. It was reminiscent of Jenifer Aniston’s description of herself as “retarded” on the David Letterman show. The New York Times reported Morgan’s gaffe… Read More »
Play Ball! Special Needs Kids on Long Island
A brand new baseball little league has been form on Long Island, welcoming disabled children. The Little League of the Islips’ Challengers team is comprised of two teams, the Hurricanes and the Cyclones. As CBS News commented, “the Field of Dreams belongs to everyone.” The Challengers are the brainchild of Kelly Pipitone and Frank Fritz. … Read More »
Charlie Will Never Return: MTA to No Longer Run Long Island Bus
According to Newsday, the MTA voted today to end its contract with Long Island bus, despite protests from bus riders and pleas from transit advocates. As of December 31st, a private company will take over the operations. What private company? It isn’t yet known. This does not bode well for a smooth transition. As I… Read More »
Long Island Bus Cuts–Public Hearing March 23
Call to Action Everyone who has any family members or friends who are disabled or elderly must attend this public hearing at Hofstra University March 23, 2011 at 3PM to protest the plans to cut 25 of Long Island’s bus routes and 20% of Able-Ride’s service cuts. Cuts unfairly target Long Island’s Disabled Riders… Read More »
Special Education Success at School for Disabled
The Henry Visconti School, a New York State supported special education school that prides itself on treating its students with dignity and respect, was recently praised in the New York Times for allowing severely disabled students to succeed in school through the use of technology and on-site medical care. According to the school website, the… Read More »
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 »
Apple’s iPad Proving to be a Boon to Special Needs Families
Children with speech and communication problems are benefiting from apps designed for the iPad. “Before she got an iPad at age two, Caleigh Gray couldn’t respond to yes-or-no questions. Now Caleigh, who has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, uses a $190 software application that speaks the words associated with pictures she touches on the “tablet”… Read More »