FIRST EVER ASL VIDEO PODCAST LAUNCH
May 13, 2008
The first ever video podcast in
American Sign Language is being launched today on
the Disability Law Lowdown website at
ASL.DisabilityLawLowdown.com. The Disability Law
Lowdown ASL podcasts will bring a new level of
service to the Deaf community by expanding
traditional audio-only podcasts to include video
that allows subscribers too see native Deaf
speakers signing the show's content. The
podcasts will deliver the latest in disability
law information every other week via American
Sign Language, captioning, voice-over, and
transcripts to maximize accessibility. Free
subscriptions to the ASL podcasts are available
to have shows automatically delivered to MP3
players. The ASL podcasts are also available on
the Disability Law Lowdown website, where
transcripts of the shows are simultaneously
available. And for the fastest viewing, the ASL
podcasts are available on YouTube at www.youtube.com/disabilitylawlowdown.
The hosts for the ASL Disability Law Lowdown are
native Deaf signers Danny Warthling and AJ Roupp.
They will provide the latest information about
disability rights and obligations under the
Americans with Disabilities Act, and other
disability-related topics. Subscription is free
and RSS feeds are available to automatically
download the shows to video iPods, computers,
phones, and other video-capable devices.
Disability Law Lowdown is provided by the
Disability Business Technical Assistance Center
(DBTAC), a national network of ten ADA Centers
across the country, offering technical assistance
and training in the Americans with Disabilities
Act and other disability-related laws. DCRE Labs
developed the Disability Law Lowdown website and
brought together several new technologies as part
of the Disability Law Lowdown project.
To subscribe, look for the ASL Disability Law
Lowdown podcast on iTunes, or visit ASL.DisabilityLawLowdown.com.
Labels: ASL, Deaf
California Democrats push bills to fight spread of autism
By Aurelio Rojas
April 3, 2008
'"West Wing" series actor Gary Cole speaks Wednesday at the Capitol about his daughter's autism. Cole said he was "thrilled" with the legislative package by Democratic lawmakers to deal with the nation's fastest growing developmental disability.
Undeterred by the state's budget woes, Democratic lawmakers Wednesday unveiled eight bills to address the dramatic rise in diagnosis of children with autism.
The legislation is the result of three years of public hearings throughout the state by the Legislature's Commission on Autism, consisting of health experts, educators and families affected by the nation's fastest-growing developmental disability.
Once considered rare, autism is now more prevalent than juvenile diabetes, childhood cancer and pediatric AIDS combined – and affects one of every 150 children and one of every 94 boys."
NOTE: To view the entire article click the title above.
Labels: Autism
Service Dogs May Help Autistic ChildrenMany Parents Who Spoke to ABC News Raved About Their Experience With the Dog TherapyBy BOB WOODRUFF
April 1, 2008"On Matthew Plunk's third birthday, his parents, Jeff and Jennifer, received some life-changing news: Their son had autism.
Matthew Plunk's parents say they have seen a vast improvement in their autistic son since he got a service dog.
The diagnosis came as no surprise to the Plunks, who had long struggled to contain their son's emotional outbursts and antisocial behaviors.
"He had a lot of fears," said Jennifer. "Just a truck going by would make him want to climb up you."
After years of trying different therapies and experimental diets for Matthew, the Plunks noticed he had made significant progress but still suffered from intense anxiety and difficulty interacting with strangers.
"The biggest thing I was looking for [was] a calmness for Matthew," said Jennifer. "His mind is just going 90 miles an hour. It's like his foot is always on the gas pedal."
So when Matthew was 6, Jennifer went online in search of something else she hoped could help him -- a dog. She had heard about service dogs specially trained to work with children with autism so she researched a program that would help her find a canine companion for Matthew."
NOTE: To read the rest of this article, click on the title above.
Labels: Autism
Best Practice Series featuring
Paula Kluth, Ph.D. You’re Going to Love this Kid, Inclusion of Students with ASD
Columbia Conference Center on Laurelhurst Avenue, Columbia, SC
June 12 9:00am-4:00pm
Registration: 8:30am
To access the DSAL's latest newsletter, and to read about up-and-coming events, click on the title above to be redirected to their home page.
Labels: DSAL
***SC Assistive Technology Exchange May 2008 Update***
The SC Assistive Technology Exchange is an online
recycling database to help citizens with
disabilities and older people with functional
limitations find affordable assistive technology
devices and equipment. For more information or to
buy, sell or donate, visit the Web site at
http://www.scatpexchange.net/
or email Catherine Graham at Catherine.graham@palmettohealth.org.
Catherine Graham and Janet Jendron, SC AT Exchange Administrators
Items added since April 7th are listed at the
beginning of the available and needed sections in red.
Please visit the page at
and find the contact information for these and other items.Labels: SCATP, Technology
"NEW YORK - Scientists for the first time have used gene therapy to dramatically improve sight in people with a rare form of blindness, a development experts called a major advance for the experimental technique.
Some vision was restored in four of the six young people who got the treatment, teams of researchers in the United States and Britain reported Sunday. Two of the volunteers who could only see hand motions were able to read a few lines of an eye chart within weeks."
To view this entire article, please click the title above.
Labels: Cool News, Low Vision
The Daniel Island Rotary Club has named Down Syndrome Association ofthe Lowcountry as one of the benefactors of the upcoming CharlestonCharity Duck Race!
This is the 2nd annual Charleston Charity Duck Race * last year 10,000rubber ducks were dropped from the top of the Wando Bridge on I-526 and floated downstream to the Duck Trap at Children's Park on Daniel Island where everyone was gathered to greet them. This year 15,000 will be dropped, and 3 ducks will be worth one million dollars if they come in first!
All other prizes are guaranteed to be given away the day of the race.The first 25 adopted ducks to cross the finish line will be deemed the consecutive winners. Please visit CharlestonDuckRace.com for more information and to adopt ducks. Be sure to indicate DSAL on your registration form where it indicates "Name of Rotarian" and encourage everyone you know to adopt a duck for DSAL! This wonderful family event is scheduled for June 7, 2008.
For more information, please click the title above.
Labels: Down Syndrome, DSAL
5/06/2008
6:30 pm - 8:30 pmPRO-Parents Overview
Sponsored by: The Epilepsy Foundation
Greenville Memorial Hospital
Conference Center, Room 5
701 Grove Road
Greenville, SC
5/08/2008 10:00 amTransitioning Into Special Education Workshop
Transitioning In Workshop
Williamsburg DDSN
61 Greenlee Street
Kingstree, SC 29556
5/08/2008 7:00 pm - 9:00 pmIndividualized Education Program (IEP) Workshop
Sponsored by: Dorchester County DSS
Knightsville United Methodist Church
Summerville, SC
5/09/2008 6:00 pm - 8:30 pmIndividualized Education Program (IEP) Workshop
C.R. Neal Dream Center
2430 Atlas Road
Columbia, SC
5/12/2008 5:30 pm - 7:30 pmTransitioning Out of Special Education Workshop
Bluffton High School
12 North East McCracklin Circle
Bluffton, SC
5/13/2008 5:30 pm - 7:30 pmTransitioning Out of Special Education Workshop
Special Service Building
305 Burroughs Avenue
Beaufort, SC
5/13/2008 5:00 pm - 7:00 pmCommunication Workshop
Hope Center
901 North Main Street
Sumter, SC
5/13/2008 6:00 pm - 8:00 pmIs Your Child A Target of Bullying? Workshop
Union County YMCA
106 Lakeside Drive
Union, SC 29379
5/15/2008 6:00 pmIndividualized Education Program (IEP) and Section 504 Overview Workshop
Tabernacle Baptist Church
(Fellowship Hall) 3076 Dexter Street
Blackville, SC 29817
5/19/2008 5:30 pm - 7:30 pmCommunication Workshop
Marlboro Foster Parent Association
DSS Office
713 South Parsonage Road
Bennettsville, SC 29512
5/20/2008 6:00 pm - 8:00 pmADD / ADHD Workshop
Darlington County Foster Parent Association
Wesley United Methodist Church
Hartsville, SC
5/22/2008 3:00 pm – 5:00 pmCommunication Workshop
3 South Church Street
Clarendon County DSS
Manning, SC
5/27/2008 4:30 pm – 6:30 pmTransitioning Out of Special Education Workshop
Growing Homes
Aston Mfg
1310 North Jefferies Blvd.
Walterboro, SC 29488
5/27/2008 5:00 pm - 6:30 pmTransitioning Into Special Education Workshop
Sponsored by: Marion School District 2
Palmetto Education Center
(Parenting Center)
200 Broad Street
Mullins, SC 29574
5/28/2008 5:30 pm – 7:30 pmTransitioning Out of Special Education Workshop
Growing Homes
6650 Rivers Avenue
North Charleston, SC
5/29/2008 5:30 pm – 7:30 pmTransitioning Out of Special Education Workshop
Growing Homes
Teen Center
Boys & Girls Club
1211 Harrington Street
Beaufort, SC 29902
For more information and to register, please click the title above.Labels: Pro-Parents, Workshops
The SC Assistive Technology Advisory Committee of the Office of the Chief Information Officer of the SC Budget and Control Board, is beginning a pilot program to train people who use assistive technology to evaluate state agency web pages for accessibility and usability.
We're looking for people who are proficient in using assistive technology to access the Internet. We need people who have the ability to learn the basics of accessibility and usability (with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act as a guide), and apply these principles to evaluate web pages using a testing matrix or evaluation tool that we'll develop specifically for this program.
If you or someone you know is interested in learning about this program, contact Janet Jendron at the South Carolina Assistive Technology Program at
jjendron@usit.net.
Labels: SCATP, Technology
Tonight at the Crayton Lecture Hall,
Reflection Obscured: A Portrait of Autism will be the opening act for the play
Lion and Mouse Tales.
Written by Christopher Cook, instructor of theatre at Crayton Middle School and a father of a child recently diagnosed with autism,
Reflection Obscured is a 10 minute one-act play about a little girl with autism and how autism affects the entire family unit.
It was entered in the Ensemble Category at the South Carolina Speech and Theatre Association's annual festival. Out of 8 entries, it won 2nd Place!
The play will be presented at 6:30 at Crayton Lecture Hall.
For more information, please click the title above. Labels: Autism, Special Events
Midland residents will walk in support of families affected by autism and the South Carolina Autism Society (SCAS) on Saturday morning, May 10th in Columbia.
Strides for Autism is SCAS's signature fund raising and awareness event. The non-profit agency is launching its campaign in a walk in Columbia on May 10th and just finished a successful walk in Greenville on April 12th at Greenville Tech.
The Columbia walk is scheduled for Finlay Park in downtown Columbia with registration starting at 8 a.m. and the walk starting at 9 a.m.
Registration and other information, along with information about autism and SCAS, is available on the agency's Web site,
www.scautism.org, and the walk Web site,
www.stridesforautism.org, or by calling the Columbia SCAS office at 1-800-438-4790 or (803) 750-6988.
For more information, please click the title above.Labels: Autism, SCAS
Monday, April 21 6pmAutism Connection Family Potluck!
It's Autism Awareness Month!
Bring a warm or cool dinner dish to share and join us at the Family Connection Office in Columbia and let's celebrate our blessings and joys of knowing one another!
Drinks and paper products will be supplied!
No dishes with PEANUTS, please!
2712 Middleburg Drive 103-B
Contact Susan Haney for childcare at 252-0914
Wednesday, April 23 9 amMom's Morning Coffee
Lizard's Thicket
10170 Two Notch Road
Columbia
Thursday, April 24 6pmSingle Parent Connection
Contact Susan Haney at 252-0914 for childcare!
Come learn money saving tips and feel free to share your own tips.
Friday, April 25 8pmBandKamp (an 80's / 90's rock band that is compiled of doctors) is playing at Delaney's in Five Points
***NOTE: This is NOT a Family Connection sponsored event but one of the band members, Dr Chris Hutchinson, is a father of 2 children with Autism and the band whole-heartedly supports Family Connection and it's efforts! Parents and Friends, come out and play, dance, and socialize!
Saturday, April 26 6 pmScrapbooking
"Pages from the Heart" The Scrapbooking Store
3250 Forest Drive
$2 per person. Bring your own supplies or buy them there!
Sunday, April 27 6pmFamily Connection Annual Benefit Auction at The Millstone at Adam's Pond
***Honorary Hosts: The Ryan's Law Grassroot Gang
Call Debby Jernigan for more information at 803-252-0914
Monday, April 28 6 pmUp on Downs: Down Syndrome Support Group
Come learn about Music Makers of the Midlands
Labels: Autism, Down Syndrome, Family Connection, Special Events
"By Kristin Roberts - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Teams of university scientists backed by U.S. government funds hope to grow new skin, ears, muscles and other body tissue for troops injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Defense Department said on Thursday. The $250 million effort aims to address the Pentagon's unprecedented challenge of caring for troops returning from the war zones with multiple traumatic injuries, many of which would have been fatal years ago."
To view this entire article, please click the title above.
Labels: Cool News
"By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Skin cells reprogrammed to act like embryonic stem cells eased symptoms of Parkinson's disease in rats, researchers reported on Monday in a first step toward tailored treatments for people that bypass concerns about using human embryos.
The experiment suggests it may be possible to take a small sample of skin and turn it into a transplant perfectly matched to patients with Parkinson's and other diseases, the researchers reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."
To view this entire article, please click the title above.
Labels: Cool News
"By Julie Steenhuysen - CHICAGO (Reuters) - A blow to the head that knocks a person unconscious can result in widespread loss of brain tissue, Canadian researchers said on Monday, explaining why some people who suffer head injuries are never quite the same. The more severe the injury, the more brain tissue is lost, they said."
To view this entire article, please click the title above.
Labels: Brain Injury
"By Toni Clarke-BOSTON (Reuters Life!) - When her son Alex was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder at the age of 10, Karen George was reluctant to put him on medication. Instead, she enrolled him in a clinical trial designed to test the efficacy of a brain stimulation program made by Cogmed, a private company that uses computer programs to exercise parts of the brain responsible for short-term memory.
The five-week program required Alex to spend up to an hour a day on a computer, pitting his wits against a robot. Among other exercises, the robot blinked out sequences of flashing lights that Alex was required to replicate."
To view this entire article, please click the title above.
Labels: ADHD, Alzheimer's, Cool News
ScienceDaily (Apr. 16, 2008) — Using a rodent model of epilepsy, researchers found one of the body's own neurotransmitters released during seizures, glutamate, turns on a signaling pathway in the brain that increases production of a protein that could reduce medication entry into the brain. Researchers say this may explain why approximately 30 percent of patients with epilepsy do not respond to antiepileptic medications.
The study was conducted by researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health, and the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy and Medical School, in collaboration with Heidrun Potschka's laboratory at Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany.
"Our work identifies the mechanism by which seizures increase production of a drug transport protein in the blood brain barrier, known as P-glycoprotein, and suggests new therapeutic targets that could reduce resistance," said David Miller, Ph.D., a principal investigator in the NIEHS Laboratory of Pharmacology and co-author on the paper.
To view this entire article, please click the title above.Labels: Epilepsy
WASHINGTON - Summer camps just for kids with chronic diseases are booming — places to learn about epilepsy or finally meet someone else with Tourette's tics or slice open a cow's heart to see what's wrong with their own.
Now fledgling research suggests such special camps may offer more than a rite of passage these children otherwise would miss: They just might have a lasting therapeutic value.
It's work that helps explain why children's hospitals increasingly are sponsoring disease-specific summer camps. One in the nation's capital actually integrated the camps into the neurology department.
"How do you live well with a chronic condition? I believe in part, the power of being amongst your peers normalizes the experience," explains Sandra Cushner-Weinstein, a social worker at Children's National Medical Center who founded the hospital's weeklong camps for five illnesses, and is studying the impact on campers
To view this entire article, please click the title above.Labels: Cool News, Epilepsy, Special Needs, Tourette Syndrome
When: Saturday, May 3
Time: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Graham’s Turnout, Denmark, S.C.
Family Fest is an outdoor experience for youth and adults with disabilities.
Activities include: fishing, archery, target shooting (BB guns only), hunting and fishing simulators, arts and crafts, and entertainment. Adaptive equipment so you can participate regardless of a disability.
Lunch with be served from 12:00 to 2:00 pm. Hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, ice cream, cookies, and a variety of drinks will be served!
The entire event is free of charge, but registration is required.To register, please call (803) 584-4225 or visit
www.owlfamilyfest.net for more information.
For more information, please click the title above. Labels: Family Connection, Special Events
May 13, 2008
