Group items tagged

“We found that when creating a story or just responding to pictures, the parent used many words and complex sentence structures while engaging with their child. That level of engagement wasn’t as present when reading books with text,” said Gillam. “These results fall in line with the generally accepted belief that less structured activities, such as playing with toys or creating things with Play-Doh, elicit more productive language interactions between parent and child. These findings in no way diminish the importance of reading printed books, but incorporating interactions with wordless books is a way to build a more solid literacy foundation in children with developmental disabilities.”

Overview Join us on September 27 from 1:30pm to 2:30 pm (Mountain) to learn how to apply the principles of supports planning to create a meaningful system of supports for students with intellectual disability. The content draws upon best practices presented in the11th edition of Intellectual Disability: Definition, Classification, and Systems of Supports, a state-of-the-art manual on defining and classifying intellectual disability.  Intellectual Disability is published by the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

HELENA — After hearing stiff criticism of the state institution for the developmentally disabled, a legislative panel Monday voted to draft a bill requiring the state to develop a plan for closing the Boulder center by 2015.The bipartisan Children, Families, Health and Human Services Interim Committee also voted to draft two other bills to increase oversight of the Montana Developmental Center in Boulder, including placing its “client protection specialist” under the state Department of Justice.

Despite recommendations that doctors routinely screen young children for developmental delays, less than half of pediatricians do so. Just 47.7 percent of pediatricians say they conduct regular developmental screenings of their patients who are under age 3, according to findings from a national survey published online in the journal Pediatrics on Monday.

Today, ED’s Office for Civil Rights has released guidance that clarifies existing legal obligations of schools to provide students with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate alongside their peers in after-school athletics and clubs. We make clear that schools may not exclude students who have an intellectual, developmental, physical, or any other disability from trying out and playing on a team, if they are otherwise qualified. This guidance builds on a resource document the Department issued in 2011 that provides important information on improving opportunities for children and youth with disabilities to access PE and athletics.

Growing numbers of American families say they’re raising a child who has a disability, and the most-prevalent conditions are less and less likely to be physical disorders. A report released this week by Princeton University and the Brookings Institution found that the top five chronic childhood conditions that limit typical activities are some type of developmental, behavioral or mental problem.

Emerging research on the "neurodevelopmental paradox" of twice-exceptional students highlights the need for educators to take an earlier, more holistic approach to evaluating and teaching students with disabilities. Often, when people think of a gifted student with disabilities, they picture an autistic savant, like Dustin Hoffman's character in the movie "Rain Man," but in reality, "there are a lot of kids who are really struggling, and we totally miss them," said M. Layne Kalbfleisch, the principal investigator of the Krasnow Investigations of Developmental Learning and Behavior, or KIDLAB, at George Mason University, in Fairfax, Va. Ms. Kalbfleisch and other experts estimate there were 300,000 twice-exceptional students—intellectually gifted children also diagnosed with learning disabilities—in 2004, when the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act first noted that students with disabilities may also be gifted.

Vermont offers the best Medicaid services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities while Mississippi provides the worst, according to an annual ranking released Thursday.

Click here to download the registration form for this event (PDF) What: People with disabilities, especially developmental disabilities, are outliving their parents (their main caregivers) for the first time in history. Future Care Planning Services was launched in Rochester, NY in 2002 as a unique collaborative service of two disability service providers and an aging service provider to encourage and help aging caregivers develop written health, housing, legal, financial and guardianship plans for the future care of their also aging dependent loved ones with disabilities. The panel will consist of: Doris Green, Evelyn Exman, Ginny Lyness and Margaret Lonnen. When: May 11, 2011 1:00-2:30pm Mountain

Click here to access the webinar!What:Many people do not realize that assistive technology is a continuum of devices and tools, from low-tech to high-tech. However, everyone agrees that the right assistive technology tools can provide a person with a disability the opportunity for increased independence and access to their community. This presentation will focus on low-tech and free tools that are available for older students and adults with developmental disabilities. This presentation will provide the attendees with resources and ideas for 50 free or low-cost assistive technology tools they can implement quickly. The areas of focus are: scheduling, communication, cooking, accessibility to the computer and the internet, and tools for fun.When:Thursday, December 8, 2011 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM MounainContact:Rosemarie PunzalanPhone: 916-325-1690 ext. 343Email: rosemarie@cfilc.org

What:A Christmas dinner and dance, fun to be had!  the cost is $6.00 for persons with developmental disabilities, the balance of their $12.00 dinner paid by the Catherine Luse Developmentally Disabled Dance Trust Fund. Music by DJ John Albright    "ABC Sound of Music" On the menu will be Chicken Fettucine, Jello salad, mixed vegetables, garlic bread, dessert, and coffee or punch. For Dance Only with no dinner the cost is $4.00, otherwise reservations are neccessary and must be made my Wednesday, November 23. Reservations must be pre-paid ($12.00 for all staff- family- and friends) and can be mailed to:                                                                                                    Beverly Owens                                                             602 18th St. West                                                             Billings, MT 59102When: Sunday, December 4, 2011Check-in: 12:15 - 1:15 PMDinner starts at 1:30 PMDance: 3:00 PM - 5:00 PMWhere:Billings Hotel & Convention Center1223 Mullowney Lane (South of Holiday Inn)Contact:Beverly Owens at 406-652-5510 for more information on how to register!