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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.

A Washington, D.C. newspaper is facing rebuke after an editorial written by its own staff criticized federal efforts to hire more people with disabilities. The opinion piece from The Washington Times editorial board focused on a recent U.S. Department of Justice memo informing employees about the agency’s plan to hire more people with so-called targeted disabilities including cerebral palsy, deafness, blindness and severe intellectual disability. “Most employers would balk at even minor mental disabilities in hiring a lawyer, let alone severe ones. But the policy states that the Cabinet department run by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. must ‘achieve a work force from all segments of society,’ which includes those who are teetering on the edge of sanity,” The Washington Times said in its Aug. 22 editorial. The commentary is drawing strong backlash from disability advocates who say the criticisms are baseless and rely on untrue information. “While the Times editorial suggests applicants with disabilities would be fast-tracked into jobs at the DOJ without due screening and assessment, the DOJ memo clearly states otherwise,” said Jonathan Young, chair of the National Council on Disability. “To mischaracterize the DOJ initiative with fear-mongering and hyperbole misses the point.”

Register here!What:This webinar, presented by directors of two emerging programs for students with ID, will present information on mentoring programs.  Topics to be covered are: Mentors and their different roles, Recruiting and Training Mentors, Matching Mentors and Students, Supporting Mentors, the Benefits of Mentorship and Assessment of Mentor Programs. Additional web and print resources on mentoring will also be shared.  The webinar will be presented by Dr. Cindi May of College of Charleston and Dr. Missy Jones from Northern Kentucky University.When:Wednesday, January 18, 2012 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm MT Contact: Cate Weir at Cathryn.weir@umb.edu or Debra Hart at Debra.hart@umb.edu

Section 485 of the Higher Education Opportunity Act permits students with certain intellectual disabilities to receive Pell Grants, FSEOG, and Federal Work Study under certain circumstances for the first time.

When: September 29th at 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. MT What: Information will be provided regarding current legislative and funding priorities around enrolling students with intellectual disabilities in postsecondary education, as well as insights into characteristics of model programs and potential challenges. Time for questions and discussion will be included.

The toolkit offers best-practice tools and information regarding specific medical and behavioral concerns of adults with IDD, including resources for patients and families. The website is divided into four categories: General Issues; Physical Issues; Health Watch Tables; and Behavioral and Mental Health Issues.

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Autism spectrum disorders are surrounded by a haze of misconceptions, many of which are harmful for autistic children and adults. It’s time to straighten a few things out, and to spread the word on this complex series of cognitive and intellectual disabilities with a little good old-fashioned debunking. 1. Autistic people have no empathy. This is a common belief about autism; people think that because autistics are sometimes blunt or have difficulty navigating social norms, they aren’t empathetic. In fact, just the opposite seems to be true. Rather than not feeling enough, many autistics feel very intensely, and are easily overwhelmed by the emotions of those around them. 2. Autistic people can’t communicate. Autism spectrum disorders take a variety of forms, and some people with autism are nonverbal, but that doesn’t mean they can’t communicate. Some use communication boards and other methods to communicate with the people around them, but it requires patience to establish and maintain communication with them. Historically, people with more severe forms of autism were often isolated in institutions, but more modern treatment of autism encourages the use of therapy and other techniques to interact with patients and find a communication mode they feel comfortable with. 3. Autistic people are violent. This particularly damaging assumption about autism was widely bandied around in the aftermath of the horrific Sandy Hook shooting. In fact, autistic people are no more likely to commit acts of violence than anyone else, and when they are violent, self-harm is a much more significant concern. Autism and other disabilities also put people at an increased risk of violence, which means autistics have far more to fear about the world around them. Some autistic people do act out or have what are known as “meltdowns,” usually as expressions of frustration with themselves or situations, but this doesn’t equate to violence against other people; an autistic might throw objects in frustration, for example, without any desire or intent to hit people with them. 4. Autistic people are savants. Everyone who’s seen Rainman thinks autistic people are savants, capable of extreme feats of memorization and other amazing skills. While it’s true that some savants are autistic, not everyone with an autism spectrum disorder has these capabilities; some in fact have significant learning disabilities that require accommodations in the classroom. 5. Autism is the result of “refrigerator mothers.” This awful myth about autism has been largely debunked, but it’s still worth a mention. Some people used to believe that autism was caused by bad parenting, with a specific focus on cold or isolated mothers. The result was a lot of misinformation about autism, and terrible pressure on mothers who were already learning about how to navigate the world with autistic children. In fact, autism has no clear cause. 6. Autistics can’t make friends. Along with the belief that autistic people lack empathy comes the assumption that they live isolated lives and have difficulty making friends. Just like everyone else, though, autistics are perfectly capable of establishing and maintaining not just friendships but other kinds of relationships with the people around them. Isolating autistic people in a misguided attempt to protect them can be very harmful, just as it would be for anyone else. 7. Stimming (repetitive behavior like flapping or rocking), is undesirable and should be stopped. Stimming is familiar to many people who are at least vaguely familiar with autism — sadly, it’s often used in mockeries of autistic people, by individuals who think that making flapping gestures or imitative noises is funny. For autistic people, stimming is one way to deal with chaotic environments or stress, and rather than being something that should be suppressed, it can actually be a healthy method of personal expression and sometimes communication as well. Autistics who are forced to modify or hide their stimming behaviors can develop even more stress, which can interfere with focus, completing tasks of daily living, and other activities. It’s important to be aware that the autism spectrum is vast, and that autism spectrum disorders can manifest in a huge variety of ways. Every autistic is different, and every one deserves respect and dignity. That includes not perpetuating harmful stereotypes, and correcting people who falsely repeat them.

Directing one’s life is essential for experiencing self determination. People providing support have many questions about capacity and consent for people with intellectual and developmental disability and few resources to rely on. This presentation will outline the issues, and share resources developed by an with special focus on how to support people of all different abilities to find decision making solutions that support maximum autonomy, preserve civil rights and while providing people with support for decision making.

The Social Security Administration will become the latest federal agency to start using the term “intellectual disability” in lieu of “mental retardation.” In a final rule published in the Federal Register on Thursday, Social Security officials said they approved the change in terminology citing “widespread adoption” of the term “intellectual disability.”

Here's one reason Micah Fialka-Feldman wants to live on his college campus, instead of remaining at home with his parents: To get to college in the morning, he takes the public bus near his home, then transfers to a second bus. The trip takes about two hours.

Fialka-Feldman, 24, attends classes at Oakland University, as part of a program for students like him, with intellectual disabilities. The campus is about 20 miles from where he lives with his parents in Huntington Woods, Mich.

A few years ago, Fialka-Feldman helped his younger sister Emma move into her dorm room when she went off to college at Mount Holyoke. It gave him another reason to want to live on campus: He thought he was missing out on an important part of college life. But his school said because he was in a special program and not a full-time student, he couldn't live on campus.

The Department of Education is funneling millions into post-secondary programs for students with intellectual disabilities at 27 colleges and universities. The grants totaling $10.9 million will help bolster programs designed to incorporate those with special needs on college campuses through a focus on academics as well as job skills, socialization and independent living.