Robot Teaches Stroke Survivors

ScienceDaily (Mar. 16, 2010) — Shaking hands with a robotic arm could be a new way to help stroke patients learn to use their arms again. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation report a pilot trial of the 'Braccio di Ferro' (Iron arm) robot in 10 patients. Elena Vergaro, from the University of Genoa, Italy, worked with a team of researchers from the Italian Institute of Technology, Genoa, to develop the robotic aid. She said, "Our preliminary results from this small group of patients suggest that the scheme is robust and promotes a statistically significant improvement in performance. Future large-scale controlled clinical trials should confirm that robot-assisted physiotherapy can allow functional achievements in activities of daily life."

For more information please click on the title above.

South Carolina Assistive Technology Program (SCATP) Expo Recap

The South Carolina Assistive Technology Program (SCATP) held its 17th annual expo Thursday at the Spartanburg Marriott at Renaissance Park.

More than 55 vendors and agencies were at the event, providing exhibits and workshops for several hundred visitors.

Affiliated with the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, SCATP is a federally funded program that works to put technology in the hands of people with disabilities to help improve their quality of life.

Carol Page, director of SCATP, said thousands of disabled people, their families, educators and caregivers across the state have been affected by assistive technology.

Page said assistive technology is any device that improves or increases a disabled person's functional abilities. It covers a broad spectrum of devices that are used in daily life.

"Technology is the great equalizer," she said. "This goes way beyond wheelchairs."

For more information, visit: www.sc.edu/scatp/index.htm.

To view the full article, click the link in this post's title.

Pro-Parents Calendar of Workshops

Calendar of Workshops Through 4/14

3/25/2010 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm*
Individual Education Program (IEP) Workshop
Clarendon DSS Office, 3 South Church Street, Manning, SC
Kim Preston, PRO-Parents of SC, South Carolina Special Kids Project, Education Coordinator
For More Information or To Register Call: 1-800-759-4776 or (803) 772-5688

3/29/2010 9:00 am - 11:00 am*
ADD / ADHD Workshop
Dillon DSS Office, 1211 Highway 34 West, Dillon, SC
Kim Preston, PRO-Parents of SC, South Carolina Special Kids Project, Education Coordinator
For More Information or To Register Call: 1-800-759-4776 or (803) 772-5688

4/03/2010 10:30 am - 12:30 pm*
Section 504 of Rehab Act of 1973 Workshop
Edgefield County DSS Office, 120 WA Reel Drive, Edgefield, SC
Kim Preston, PRO-Parents of SC, South Carolina Special Kids Project, Education Coordinator
For More Information or To Register Call: 1-800-759-4776 or (803) 772-5688

4/08/2010 9:30 am - 11:30 am
ADD / ADHD Workshop
Anderson Behavioral Health Services, 226 McGee Road, Anderson, SC 29625
Susan Bruce, PRO-Parents of SC Region 3, Education Coordinator
For More Information or To Register Call: 1-800-759-4776 or (803) 772-5688

4/08/2010 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm*
Individual Education Program (IEP) Workshop
Marlboro County DSS Office, 713 South Parsonage Street, Bennettsville, SC
Kim Preston, PRO-Parents of SC, South Carolina Special Kids Project, Education Coordinator
For More Information or To Register Call: 1-800-759-4776 or (803) 772-5688

4/08/2010 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm*
ADD / ADHD Workshop
Colleton County DSS Office, 215 South Lemacks Street, Walterboro, SC
Kim Preston, PRO-Parents of SC, South Carolina Special Kids Project, Education Coordinator
For More Information or To Register Call: 1-800-759-4776 or (803) 772-5688

4/10/2010 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Transitioning Out of Special Education Workshop
Family Connection of SC, St. Francis Hospital, Bernadine Center, 1 St. Francis Drive, Greenville, SC
Susan Bruce, PRO-Parents of SC Region 3, Education Coordinator
For More Information or To Register Call: 1-800-759-4776 or (803) 772-5688

4/13/2010 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Individual Education Program (IEP) Workshop
Beaufort Marine Air Station, Building 807, Beaufort, SC
Gayle Munn, PRO-Parents of SC Region 1, Education Coordinator
For More Information or To Register Call: 1-800-759-4776 or (803) 772-5688

4/13/2010 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm*
Section 504 of Rehab Act of 1973 Workshop
Hope Center, 901 Main Street, Sumter, SC
Kim Preston, PRO-Parents of SC, South Carolina Special Kids Project, Education Coordinator
For More Information or To Register Call: 1-800-759-4776 or (803) 772-5688

4/13/2010 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm*
Individual Education Program (IEP) Workshop
Horry County DSS Office, 1951 Industrial Park Road, Conway, SC
Kim Preston, PRO-Parents of SC, South Carolina Special Kids Project, Education Coordinator
For More Information or To Register Call: 1-800-759-4776 or (803) 772-5688

4/14/2010 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Transitioning Out of Special Education Workshop
Sponsored By: Family Connection of SC
Spartanburg County Library, Hoechst Celanse Room, 151 South Church Street, Spartanburg, SC
Susan Bruce, PRO-Parents of SC Region 3, Education Coordinator
For More Information or To Register Call: 1-800-759-4776 or (803) 772-5688

4/14/2010 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Positive Behavioral Interventions (PBI) Workshop
Carolina Youth Development Center, 5055 Lackawanna Blvd, North Charleston, SC
Gayle Munn, PRO-Parents of SC Region 1, Education Coordinator
For More Information or To Register Call: 1-800-759-4776 or (803) 772-5688


*Indicates workshops for foster parents and DSS staff.

An extended calendar of workshops may be viewed by clicking the link in this post's title.

Brain Plaques May Explain Higher Risk of Alzheimer's Based on Mom's History

ScienceDaily (Mar. 17, 2010) — A family history of Alzheimer's is one of the biggest risk factors for developing the memory-robbing disease, which affects more than 5 million Americans and is the most common form of senile dementia. Now an international collaboration led by NYU Langone Medical Center researchers has found the likely basis for this heightened familial risk -- especially from the maternal side. Aided by a new version of a brain scanning technique, the researchers discovered a far greater number of protein clumps linked to the disease among healthy adult children of parents with Alzheimer's compared to counterparts with no family history of dementia. The average increase in these clumps, called amyloid-beta plaques, was particularly striking among study volunteers whose mothers had been diagnosed with the disease. The plaques appeared throughout most regions of the brain.

For more information please click on the title above.

Parkinson's Disease Makes It Harder to Figure out How Other People Feel

ScienceDaily (Mar. 17, 2010) — Scientists are beginning to find out why people with Parkinson's disease often feel socially awkward. Parkinson's patients find it harder to recognize expressions of emotion in other people's faces and voices, report two studies published by the American Psychological Association. One of the studies raises questions about how deep brain stimulation, the best available treatment for patients who no longer respond to medication, more strongly affects the recognition of fear and sadness. A neurodegenerative disorder, Parkinson's causes tremors, stiffness and balance problems, as well as fairly frequent depression and dementia.

For more information please click on the title above.

EdVenture Open House for Children with Disabilities

Visit EdVenture’s Open House for Children with Disabilities on March 20, 2010 from 5:00-7:00 pm.

Admission is FREE for children with disabilities and their family members. Various organizations will also be there to share information about the services available to parents and caregivers of children with hearing/vision impairments. SC Assistive Technology will have a booth for visitors to learn more about assistive technology products and services.

EdVenture Children’s Museum is located at 211 Gervais Street, Columbia, SC 29201-3067. Call for more information at (803) 779-3100.

AT Expo - Adapted Race Car featured

SC Assistive Technology Expo Thursday March 18, 2010 9 am - 4 pm Marriott Spartanburg at Renaissance Park Adapted Race Car Featured at Assistive Technology Expo A specially adapted 200 inch long dragster will be on display as part of the South Carolina Assistive Technology Expo at the Spartanburg Renaissance Marriott on Thursday, March 18. The driver, Craig Hairston, uses a wheel chair and has adapted the race car with hand controls, and will be there to talk about his experiences. In January of 1979, an automobile accident left Craig with paralysis. According to Craig, the challenge was not “What will I have to give up?” but “How can I do it now?” Prior to the accident, Craig had been involved in various forms of racing, and one thing he knew was that motorsports competition would still be part of his lifestyle. By 1983, he raced in one of the toughest races known to man, the Baja 1000. Racing in a specially prepared off road car with hand controls, he not only finished, but won his class and received a special “Racer’s Spirit” award from the SCORE sanctioning body. Since that time he has continued to race in off road vehicles, Mini-Sprint cars, Legends cars, and is now building a dragster he calls the ”World’s Quickest Wheelchair” to see if he can crack the 200 MPH barrier in a quarter mile. When asked why he chose racing as is his recreational passion, Craig responded, “In racing, there’s no separate class for me. There’s no sympathy, special privileges, or accommodations. I’m either going to be the best on that day or I’m going to have to come back and try again. Racing doesn’t separate me from everyone else, it includes me.” Another important part of the racing program is the positive effect it has on other people with disabilities, especially kids. I am always in awe of a young person that has to fight the battles of any disability to have a quality life. Underneath the label of being disabled, they are regular people that have passions, dreams, and goals just like everyone else. So my real joy is inviting a young person with a disability to come join the team and be part of the racing experience. At the end of the weekend, if they go home with a big smile on their face, then I’ve made a small difference.” Don’t miss Craig and other assistive technology exhibits and workshops at the AT Expo March 18 from 9 am to 4 pm. The Expo is free and open to the public.

MedlinePlus Adds Audio Pronunciations to Dictionary

Have you ever read a medical word and wondered how to pronounce it? Do your customers ask you for help pronouncing medical words? MedlinePlus can help! The MedlinePlus medical dictionary now includes audio pronunciations. Learn how to say words like ptosis, Sjogren's and fibrillation. Search the medical dictionary on MedlinePlus. Then click on the red speaker icon next to your word to hear the pronunciation. If you have any questions or comments about this new feature, please send them to the MedlinePlus team via the contact form on MedlinePlus.

A Guide Special Education Advocacy

A Guide to Special Education Advocacy

Presented By

Matthew D. Cohen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

April 19, 2010

8:30am-4:00pm Glenforest School

1041 Harbor Drive West Columbia SC 29169

Individuals: $35.00 Couples $45.00

Cancellation fee $20.00 if cancel prior to 4/10/2010 NO REFUND AFTER 4/10/2010 CEU's & CLE's available for an additonal fee Scholarships available for Parents and Foster parents

Apply by 4/10/2010 email: jholten@proparents.org or Call PRO-Parents: (800) 759-4776 email: proparents@proparents.org

Workshop: IEP Development & Collaboration Strategies

Full and partial tuition scholarships are available for A Special Full Day Workshop on March 20th on “IEP Development & Collaboration Strategies. How to develop meaningful and correct IEPs and how to work with an IEP team.” This workshop is very helpful for parents, teachers, and others who participate in IEP team meetings.

This workshop is offered in Partnership with SC Autism Society at The 16th Annual Family Connection Conference. Register now at www.familyconnectionsc.org. Location of conference: Gateway Baptist Church in Irmo, SC.

For details contact Les Barker at LesBarker@FamilyConnectionSC.org

The PDF containing workshop and registration information may be viewed by clicking the link in this post's title.

Individualized Education Program (IEP) Workshop

Meeting Description:
Understanding the Individual Education Program (IEP).
Being prepared for the IEP meeting.
Participating in the IEP meeting.
Follow up after the IEP meeting.

Host: Tanya M. Inabinet
Scheduled Date: Sat, Mar 13, 2010
Scheduled Time: 10:00 AM

The registration page for this workshop may be viewed by clicking the link in this post's title.

Google opens up audio caption to all YouTube users

Last Thursday Google announced that it was going one step further to make videos more accessible on YouTube. One of the first steps Google took was the development of a caption feature in 2008. Then in November 2009, Google released auto-captioning for a small, select group of partners. This allowed a small number of users to combine speech-to-text tools to automatically generate video captions when requested by a viewer. The announcement this week by Google will open up auto-captions to all YouTube users. In a statement Google noted that, “with just a few quick clicks videos can be accessed by a whole new global audience. And captions can make is easier for users to discover content on YouTube.” There will be a request processing button for un-captioned videos that any video owner can click on if they want to speed up the availability of auto-captions. In making this announcement, Google representatives stated, “making some of these videos more accessible to people who have hearing disabilities, not only represents a significant advancement in the democratization of information, it can also help foster greater collaboration and understanding.”

A link to Google's blog post about Youtube captioning may be viewed by clicking the link in this post's title.

Second Dose of Gene Therapy for Inherited Blindness Proves Safe in Animal Studies

ScienceDaily (Mar. 4, 2010) — Gene therapy for a severe inherited blindness, which produced dramatic improvements last year in 12 children and young adults who received the treatment in a clinical trial, has cleared another hurdle. The same research team that conducted the human trial now reports that a study in animals has shown that a second injection of genes into the opposite, previously untreated eye is safe and effective, with no signs of interference from unwanted immune reactions following the earlier injection.

These new findings suggest that patients who benefit from gene therapy in one eye may experience similar benefits from treatment in the other eye for Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA), a retinal disease that progresses to total blindness by adulthood. Researchers had exercised caution by treating only one eye in the human trial.

For more information please click on the title above.