Taste Perceptions May Aid Depression Treatment

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - "Taste sensitivity is altered by changing levels of so-called neurotransmitters that are thought to be involved in depression, British investigators report."
"In a press release from the University of Bristol, Dr. Lucy F. Donaldson said, "we hope that using a taste test in depressed people will tell us which neurotransmitter is affected in their illness," and thus assist in treatment decisions."

To view this entire article, please click the title above.

The Social-Cue Reader

"People with autism tend to have difficulty understanding other people’s emotional states, which can turn even casual conversation into a minefield of missed emotional cues and inadvertent faux pas." "But last spring, two computer scientists at M.I.T.’s Media Lab unveiled a new device that promises to help people with autism perform the kind of everyday “mind reading” others take for granted."

To view this entire article, please click the title above.

ADHD Raises Kids' Health Costs Even Before Diagnosis

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 4 (HealthDay News) -- "In the two years before and after they're diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), children with the condition typically use more health-care services than other children, U.S. research shows."

To view this entire article, please click the title above.

Court: Make Currency Recognizable to Blind

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government discriminates against blind people because American currency is not designed to be distinguishable to visually impaired people, a federal judge said on Tuesday...

...Robertson was ruling on a lawsuit filed by The American Council of the Blind against the U.S. Treasury Department. The council accused the department of violating the Rehabilitation Act, which was passed by Congress to ensure that people with disabilities can maximize their independence and 'inclusion and integration into society.'"

To view this entire article, please click the title above.

Actors Summons Tears of LA CAST of Characters:Gifted in Special Ways, This Troupe of Laughter ... and Pride

"Erin O’Neill is an actress."
"Sure, she never has been in a dramatic production, but when you watch her do improv as an employee at a retail store return counter, it’s hard to imagine anyone’s learning more in just eight acting classes."

To view this entire article, please click the title above.

Video Games for ADHD

"SAN JOSE, Calif. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- As much as 6 percent of the American population has attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, a disorder that makes it hard to focus. The usual treatment is medication that can have serious side effects. But now, some doctors are successfully treating ADHD with video games. "

To view this entire article, please click the title above.

Cell Transplants Restore Sight in Blind Mice

"Blind mice regained some ability to see after getting transplants of cells taken from the eyes of other mice, strengthening the prospect that it may someday be possible to restore vision in some people who have lost most or all of their eyesight, scientists reported yesterday.

Researchers in London and Michigan who did the work warned that it would be years before similar efforts might be tried in people who have lost their vision from macular degeneration or other kinds of blindness that might respond to the treatment."

To view this entire article, please click the title above.

Anxiety Sensitivity a Risk to Mental Health

"NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The fear of fear itself may make people more vulnerable to developing certain psychiatric disorders, a study suggests.

Researchers found that people who are especially sensitive to the physical signs of anxiety - from sweaty palms to a pounding heart - have a higher risk of developing anxiety disorders, including recurrent panic attacks."

To view this entire article, please click the title above.

Students Work on Life Skills

"There is no textbook to teach someone how to function in everyday life, but Beth Tuten has found a curriculum."

"Every day in her special education class, students simulate life on their own in an apartment, step-by-step."

To view this entire article, please click the title above.

Can Caffeine Protect Against Alzheimer's?

"Connie Lesko's not looking for the jolt that a cup of hot java offers."
"Instead, she's hoping new research that shows caffeine may protect against Alzheimer's pans out: The 56-year-old from Wimauma, Fla., has two parents with this incurable disease."

To view this entire article, please click the title above.

Walking Under Water for Cerebral Palsy

Ivanhoe Broadcast News(Murfreesboro, TN)

Swimming, splashing, sliding... must kids love the water, and 11 year old Sarah Grace is no different. But all the water works is actually physical therapy. Sarah Grace was born more than four months premature and weighed just over one pound. She was the smallest baby to ever survive at her hospital.

To view this entire article, please click the title above.

Study: Autism Affects Entire Brain

"Report Challenges Theory That Condition Is Limited To Specific Regions

(WebMD) New research is challenging the long-held belief that autism affects only those regions of the brain that control social interaction, communication, and reasoning — suggesting, instead, that the disorder affects the entire brain. The government-funded study found that even highly functioning autistic children had difficulty when asked to perform a wide range of complex tasks involving other areas of the brain. This suggests different parts of the autistic brain have difficulty working together to process complex information. This may be the driving component of autism, the researchers say. "

To view this entire article, please click the title above.

Mutated Gene Raises Autism Risk, Study Finds

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- U.S. researchers said Monday that they had identified a genetic mutation that raises the risk of autism and could also explain some of the other symptoms seen in children with autism...Dr. Pat Levitt and colleagues at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, studied 743 families in which 1,200 family members were affected by autism spectrum disorders, which range from fully disabling autism to Asperger's syndrome.

They found a single mutation in a gene called MET, which is known to be involved in brain development, regulation of the immune system and repair of the gastrointestinal system. All of these systems can be affected in children with autism. 'This is a vulnerability gene,' Levitt said in a telephone interview. 'There are not genes that actually cause autism. It raises the risk.' "

To view this entire article, please click the title above.

CDC Finances Study into Causes of Autism

ATLANTA - "The largest federal study to date into the causes of autism was announced Friday — a multi-state investigation that will involve 2,700 young children."

"The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and five other research centers will study the youngsters over five years. The research is designed to ferret out any genetic and environmental factors that may contribute to autism."

To view this entire article, please click the title above.

High Rate of Sleep Apnea in Down Syndrome Kids

FRIDAY, April 21 (HealthDay News) -- "Abnormal sleep patterns and obstructive sleep apnea affect more than half of children with Down syndrome, but parents may not know whether their children have these problems, U.S. researchers report."

"Based on the findings, they also advise that all parents of youngsters with Down syndrome get their child's sleep patterns tested by polysomnography by age 3 or 4."

To view this entire article, please click the title above.

High-Tech Glasses Help Those With Tunnel Vision

THURSDAY, Sept. 7 (HealthDay News) -- "A visual aid invented by U.S. scientists may help improve vision and mobility for people with tunnel vision."

"The study found that the device -- which combines a tiny camera, a pocket-sized computer and transparent computer display mounted on a pair of glasses -- significantly increased the effectiveness and speed with which visually impaired people were able to find objects."

To view this entire article, please click the title above.

2007 HENRY B. BETTS AWARD

2007 Henry B. Betts Award - Nominations Due October 7, 2006

American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)
is now accepting nominations for the 2007 HENRY B. BETTS
AWARD.

The Henry B. Betts Award program, administered by AAPD, was
created by the Prince Charitable Trusts and the Rehabilitation
Institute of Chicago in 1989 to annually honor individuals who
have, in the course of their work, helped to lead the societal
transformation that is producing dramatically better outcomes
and higher expectations for the diverse groups that make up the
disability community in the United States and around the world.
Typically, one outstanding living individual is selected each
year to receive The Henry B. Betts Award with an unrestricted
$50,000 cash award at AAPDs annual Leadership Gala in
Washington, D.C.

To nominate an individual: http://www.aapd.com/.
Nominations due: Friday, October 7, 2006.

Questions and submissions for the Henry B. Betts Award:
Call: 1-800-840-8844 (v/tty)
Email: aapdbetts@aol.com

--------
American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)
Phone: 800-840-8844 (v/tty) or 202-457-0046 (v/tty)
Fax: 202-457-0473
Website: http://www.aapd.com/

Pathways to Independence Conference

The SC Independent Living Council is holding its 8th annual Pathways to Independence Conference on October 20 - 21, 2006 at Springmaid Beach Resort in Myrtle Beach, SC. The Pathways to Independence Conference is the only statewide cross disability conference in South Carolina. It is also the only one that is designed and implemented by people with disabilities. This year we are expecting to have more than 250 attendants with and without disabilities from across the state.

At Pathways, people with disabilities are the majority, not the minority. People are valued for who they are, and their abilities, not their disabilities. The Pathways conference offers six workshops, a networking social and a luncheon to give participants a chance to learn, ask questions, practice their skills and most importantly, to meet other people with disabilities.

The purpose of the Pathways to Independence Conference is to teach people with and without disabilities about their rights and responsibilities regarding disability and civil rights issues. It has been proven that knowledge is power and there is power in numbers. The Pathways conference is the only statewide conference that addresses the issues that all people with disabilities have in common.

The conference fees are $35.00 for participants and $15.00 for personal attendants. The conference offers scholarships to people with disabilities for overnight stay and registration.

Older Fathers And Autism: Study Found Men Over 40 Were More Likely To Have Autistic Babies

(WebMD) "Children born to older dads may be much more likely to have autism than those with younger fathers." "A new study shows that children of 40-year-old to 49-year-old dads are nearly six times more likely to have autism than children of men under 30, regardless of the mother's age."

To view this entire article, please click the title above.

Many Kids with ADHD not Getting Required Meds

"While many people believe that too many children are being treated for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) these days, a new study shows that many children with the condition are not being treated."

"Rather than the popular belief that children are being overmedicated... in fact they're being undermedicated," study co-author Dr. Wendy Reich, of Washington University School of Medicine, in St. Louis, Missouri, told Reuters Health.

To view this entire article, please click the title above.

Searching for a Cause: Med School Scientists Part of Large Autism Research Project (USC Times)

The childhood diagnosis of autism often foretells a lifetime of dependence and dim prospects for normal development. More troubling is that its causes remain little understood even as diagnoses are on the rise.

Two researchers in the School of Medicine's neuropsychiatry and behavioral science department are collaborating with the Center for Human Genetics at Duke University on a project aimed at learning more about the causes of the disorder that adversely affects communication and behavior.

"Diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder have increased significantly, which is partly explained by better diagnostic techniques and the fact that most of these kids would have been institutionalized in the old days- not mainstreamed in public schools," said Harry Wright, a veteran USC clinician in neuropsychiatry and behavioral science.

Since the late 1980s, Wright and department colleague Ruth Abramson have conducted several autism studies funded by the National Institutes of Health.

"We know there's a significant genetic component to autism- as many as three to ten genes are involved," Abramson said. "But only 10 to 15 percent of autism diagnoses can be attributed to known causes such as maternal rubella. There's so much about the cause of autism that we still don't know."

"The long-term goal of our research is the same as for many genetic disorders," Wright said. "We want to identify the gene defects responsible for autism, then develop appropriate therapy, neonatal diagnosis, and early intervention. In the short term, we want to work with parents to develop better behavior therapy outcomes and explore which medications work best with certain groups of children."

HealthDay News: ADHD Drugs can Stunt Growth

"A new review of past studies on the effect that attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drugs have on children's growth concludes that the drugs do, in fact, suppress growth to some degree."

"While the effect found was statistically significant, one of the study's authors, Dr. Omar Khwaja, an instructor in neurology at Children's Hospital Boston, said the average growth suppression for a 10-year-old boy was probably about three-quarters of an inch in height and a little more than two pounds in weight."

To view this entire article, please click the title above.

CNETnews.com: Google Site to Aid the Blind

"Google was set to unveil a Web search site on Thursday designed to help blind people find results that will work best with their text-to-speech software."
"The new Google Accessible Search site, which will be available at labs.google.com/accessible early on Thursday, prioritizes the list of search results based on how simple the Web page layouts are."

To view this entire article, please click the title above.

Popular Science: Cracking the Autism Puzzle

"Scientists home in on elusive autism genes and the environmental factors that may trigger them." "Can a blood test to check for autism in newborns be far behind?" "What causes the disease, which now strikes 1 in every 166 children, and why does it affect four times as many boys as girls?"

To view this entire article, please click the title above.

Popular Science: Waiting for an Arm and a Leg

"The next generation of artificial limbs- fused directly to human bone and commanded by the brain- promises effortless, natural motion." "It can't come soon enough for the newest group of prosthetics wearers: U.S. Soldiers."

To view this entire article, please click the title above.

Autism Speaks and Kellogg Company team up to bring autism awareness to Rice Krispies cereal boxes

"Autism Speaks, a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing awareness of autism and raising money to fund autism research, is now partnering with the Kellogg Company to bring its message of autism awareness to the side panels of more than 5 million Rice Krispies cereal boxes." "These special Autism Speaks cereal boxes will appear in stores throughout the summer."

To view this entire article, please click the title above.

The New Talking Prescription Bottle

"With the development of Rex-The Talking Bottle, MedivoxRx ® has met its original goal: To manufacture a disposable talking bottle that provides audible label information and thus makes information about their medications more accessible to people who are elderly, visually and cognitively impaired, illiterate, or speak a different language."

To view this entire article, please click the title above.

Review of Newly Acquired Title: Autism- The Hidden Epidemic

Autism: The Hidden Epidemic? [DVD] (2005)

This special program explores the incredible strain autism places on the entire family, and documents the Pichettes' personal struggles as they care for their autistic son. The family discusses their determined quest to provide their son with the best care and education.

Newly Acquired Title: Voices from the Spectrum

Voices from the Spectrum: Parents, Grandparents, Siblings, People with Autism, and Professionals Share Their Wisdom (2006)

A masterful collection of essays from contributors who graciously share their perspectives, quests, struggles, hopes, and thoughts on life mingled with autism.

Review of Newly Acquired Title: Different Like Me

Different Like Me: My Book of Autism Heroes (2005)

This book introduces children aged 8 to 12 to inspirational famous and historical figures from the worlds of science, art, math etc. All excel in their own particular fields, but are united by the fact that they, too, often found it difficult to fit in.

Review of Newly Acquired Title: The Theorem

The Theorem: A Complete Answer to Human Behavior (2005)

Pulling together evidence from recent research from a wide range of disciplines, the author concludes that we are conscious in the womb and we don’t like it. To understand our life in the womb is to understand the origins of human behavior.

Review of Newly Acquired Title: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (2003)

National bestseller about an autistic boy, Christopher Boone. He knows every prime number up to 7,057 and hates the color yellow. This is the improbable story of his quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog. It makes for one of the most captivating novels in recent years.

Welcome to the Center for Disability Resources Blog!

Welcome to the new Center for Disability Resources Library Blog! Here we will welcome your comments and suggestions about books and videos that you have borrowed, materials that you would like to see purchased, or anything involving the day-to-day operations of the library or even of disabilities in general.

(Audio) Welcome to the CDR Library Blog!