Opening of State Library's Talking Book Services Art Gallery!

March 12, 2008--The State Library's Talking Book Service had a great red-ribbon cutting ceremony today, featuring thirty works of art by talented visually impaired/blind K-12 students from across the state. According to Pamela Davenport, "The idea to display student artwork was a result of conversations with the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind and will promote and educate the public about artwork of blind and visually impaired students in South Carolina."

The artwork on display includes wall hangings and sculpture. The gallery's aim is to promote and provide access to art for visually impaired/blind people. Touching the artwork will be encouraged to sighted as well as visually impaired visitors.

Below are some of the incredible works of art that I witnessed firsthand:

"Rest in Pieces" - by SCSDB Class Project

"Me and my Friends" - by Curtis

"Snake in the Grass" - by Starsha

"Tapping at Sunset" - by Bradley

These are just a handful of the works of art that you can see firsthand in the Talking Books Art Gallery. Congratulations are in order to Pamela Davenport, Director of the Talking Books Program, and to all of the art teachers and students who are responsible for the impressive show.

For more information about the Talking Books Program, click on the title above.

Columbia Parkinson's Support Group

Meeting Date/Time: Third Sunday of every month except June at 3:00 p.m.

Location: Lexington Medical Park Auditorium (next to Lexington Medical Center) - 2720 Sunset Boulevard, West Columbia, SC 29169

Mission: The primary mission of the Columbia Parkinson Support Group is to provide support, encouragement, information, contacts, and education for Parkinson's patients, caregivers, family members and others who are working in related fields or have an interest in Parkinson's disease.

Contact Information: For information about the support group, please contact Dottie Gantt at telephone 803-604-0061 -or- email lakeside@att.net

For more information, please click on title above.

Autism Spectrum Disorders and Employment Two Day Workshop

Thursday & Friday, June 5-6, 2008
Midlands Collaborative Training Center
8301 Farrow Rd. Columbia, SC
Registration starts at 8:30
Workshop hours are 9:00 am to 4:00 pm

This workshop will provide participants with information about autism and how it affects the transition/employment process. Participants will learn about assessment of functional transition/employment skills for individuals with autism and some of the strategies and supports used to enhance employment opportunities and independence in the work place.

Target Audience
This course is designed for professionals, educators, transition and employment specialists, job coaches, and parents interested in assisting individuals with autism prepare for, obtain and maintain employment opportunities.

Goals and Objectives

• Learn to identify the characteristics of autism that affect employment for individuals with autism
• Learn to assess the vocational skills of the individual with autism
• Learn the various strategies associated with teaching vocational skills to adults with autism
• Learn how the job development process needs to be adapted to meet the needs of the individual with autism.
  

About the Speaker
S. Michael Chapman is currently the statewide Director of Services for Division TEACCH's Supported Employment Program. He went to work for the Supported Employment Program soon after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1998. Mr. Chapman advocates for Supported Employment services for individuals with autism around the state of North Carolina and has trained audiences both nationally and internationally about the TEACCH model. Mr. Chapman is one of the coauthors of Division TEACCH's new transition assessment tool, the TEACCH Transition Assessment Profile (TTAP). The TTAP is a revision of the older Adolescent and Adult Psycho Educational Profile (AAPEP). In addition, Mr. Chapman also helped coauthor the Chapter on Adult Services in TEACCH's new book, the TEACCH Approach to Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Registration Fees
APSE Members
*Early Bird: $40.00
Regular Registration: $50.00

Non-APSE Members
*Early Bird: $55.00
Regular Registration: $65.00

KU Center Develops Online Disaster Training To Assist People With Disabilities

"LAWRENCE — When disaster strikes, people with disabilities face greater risk of serious injury — even death.

Researchers at the Life Span Institute at the University of Kansas have taken this lesson from the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and Hurricane Katrina to create a two-hour online training course on how to assist people with disabilities during a community emergency."

To view entire article, please click the title above.

Government Concedes Vaccine Injury Case

"By MARILYNN MARCHIONE - AP Medical Writer - Government health officials have conceded that childhood vaccines worsened a rare, underlying disorder that ultimately led to autism-like symptoms in a Georgia girl, and that she should be paid from a federal vaccine-injury fund.

Medical and legal experts say the narrow wording and circumstances probably make the case an exception - not a precedent for thousands of other pending claims.

The government "has not conceded that vaccines cause autism," said Linda Renzi, the lawyer representing federal officials, who have consistently maintained that childhood shots are safe."

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

Disability Awareness Fair & Walk

Family Connection's 2nd Annual Disability Awareness Fair and Walk

Saturday, March 8, 2007

Westgate Mall in Spartanburg

9 am to 4 pm

The Disability Awareness Fair and Walk will be held to raise awareness of the special needs community in Spartanburg and the surrounding cities and counties. The Walk will begin at 9 am with the fair/exhibits to follow.

We will walkaround the inside of Westgate Mall and stop at 4 points along the way to"Try on a Disability." A table will be set up at each stop that will have an exhibit from our disability awareness program, Awareness: The Key toFriendships.

Walk Participants ~ $10 for registration (includes one t-shirt).

Steve Holt (Magician) will MC the walk and perform.

The Gifted Warriors Demo Team will perform at 11am and 1pm.

For more information, please click the title above.

MARK THE DATE! For The SC Statewide Brain Injury Conference

“Life with Brain Injury”
Presented by Brain Injury Alliance of South Carolina
and South Carolina Brain Injury Leadership Council

Thursday, May 1st and 2nd, 2008

Columbia Conference Center
169 Laurelhurst Avenue
Columbia, SC 29210

Call: (803)731-9823 or (800)290-6461
Email: scbraininjury@bellsouth.net or burgessenterprises@sc.rr.com

For more information, please click the title above.

1st Annual Run for Thought

2008 5K ‘Run for Thought’
Furman University
Greenville, SC
Saturday, March 29, 2008

March is Brain Injury Awareness Month!

Plan to join us for the 5K Run, Walk and Roll! For those interested, there will be two hours worth of informational and recreational opportunities following the race event.

Registration 8:00 a.m.
Race Start 9:00 a.m.
Participant Fee $25.00
Children under 12, students and Brain Injury Survivors $15.00
Registration on date of the race $30

For registration forms and more information, call Carey Garrett at (864)455-3934 or BIASC at (800)290-6461

For more information and to register online, please click the title above.

Impaired Fetal Growth Linked With Epilepsy Risk

"NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Infants with impaired growth in the womb, indicated by low birth weight or birth before full term, appear to have an increased risk of epilepsy in early childhood, according to a new study.

Conflicting findings have been reported regarding the relationship between epilepsy and birth weight or gestational age, Dr. Yuelian Sun, of the University of Aarhus, Denmark, and colleagues note in the American Journal of Epidemiology."

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

Study Sheds Light On How Down's Prevents Cancer

"By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor WASHINGTON, Jan 2 (Reuters) - People with Down's syndrome suffer cancer less than most other people and a study in mice published on Wednesday gives one possible explanation -- they produce higher levels of a certain protein.

The protein may keep tumors from growing, and this finding may help in the development of new cancer drugs, the team at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore reported. "

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

Study Finds Why Some Benefit From MS Drug

"CHICAGO (Reuters) - Genetic factors may help reveal which multiple sclerosis patients are likely to benefit from a widely used therapy and explain why some are not helped, according to a report published on Monday.

The treatment involved uses a protein known as recombinant interferon beta to try to treat multiple sclerosis symptoms and perhaps slow the course of the disease, for which there is no known cure."

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

Blind, Deaf Actors Take Centre Stage in Israel

"By Rebecca Harrison

JAFFA, Israel (Reuters) - The theatre lights dim and the audience settles into their seats -- usually a cue for the actors to deliver their opening lines. Instead, the Nalaga'at troupe start pummeling and stroking each other's hands.

This is not a high-minded avant garde dance piece, but a group of deaf-blind actors, who are captivating audiences in Israel by blending touch, mime, sign language and music on stage in a cabaret-style show about dreams and disability."

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

Diet Change Gives Hyperactive Kids New Taste for Life in Norway

STAVANGER, Norway (AFP) - "Tears streak Rita's cheek as she recalls what it was like trying to figure out what was wrong with her son more than a decade ago, but she breaks into a smile when she explains how changing his diet made all the difference.

'I could tell something was wrong with him as soon as he began eating solids as a baby. It was if the food was draining him,' says Rita, 50, describing how her son Christoffer had yoyoed between passive and hyperactive behaviour until she had removed several staples from his diet including milk and grains.

Christoffer, today a normally developed 14-year-old, is one of 23 children suffering from hyperactive disorders who were put on milk-free diets in 1996-1997 and whose development has been tracked ever since by a small group of educators and researchers in the southwestern Norwegian town of Stavanger."

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