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This two-course, expert-led, series is focused on the aspects and competencies necessary in order to navigate the transition process; preparing for the transition of individuals with autism towards adulthood.

There’s a group of students struggling through school rd to navigate that gets little attention in the media or in the debate about how to fix schools: Children with ADHD. ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, is a brain condition that makes it especially hard for children to focus and concentrate in school and has a number of other symptoms. It is too often misunderstood by teachers, parents and even the students themselves. According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 9.5% or 5.4 million children 4-17 years of age, had been diagnosed with ADHD, as of 2007. Many others who have the disorder haven’t had the benefit of a diagnosis. Here is a powerful post by David Bernstein, a nonprofit executive who lives in Gaithersburg, Md., writing about the difficulties that his two sons, ages 7 and 15, have confronted in school as a result of ADHD.

LINCOLN CITY - They may look strange, but they have a true purpose. What appear to be devices out of a science fiction movie are actually specially designed wheelchairs to help the disabled navigate outdoor recreation areas in Lincoln City.

Parenting a school-aged child with dyslexia requires strategy, savvy and time. Frankly, not all of us possess these attributes in equal measure and the job often seems beyond our means and abilities. The screenings and evaluations, planning and homework support, emotional pep-talks, talking to teachers and administrators, identifying best supports and assessing what is available, navigating legalities, keeping up-to-date on the latest educational interventions and assistive technologies — all of this leaves most parents feeling depleted and inadequate.

Compared with youth with other disabilities, young adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) face a disproportionately difficult time navigating work and educational opportunities after high school, finds a new study by Paul Shattuck, PhD, assistant professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

Learning to navigate the special education process can be overwhelming for all parents and for non-English speakers, language is yet one more obstacle to their active participation.

Many kids struggle with developmental problems at some point in their childhoods, and getting care for them can be costly and confusing. If your child isn’t babbling or sitting at nine months, for instance, struggles with stairs or speaks unclearly at age three, you might be worried about a developmental delay. Help is available to enable your child to catch up, but parents will need to navigate a complicated zone where health care rubs up against education—and kids sometimes fall through the cracks.

The statistics weren’t comforting: In March 2012 the Centers for Disease Control estimated that one in 88 American children is somewhere on the autistic spectrum. We’re still not sure exactly what causes autism, and we’re not sure why the number of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) has increased since the early 1990s. According to the National Academy of Sciences, it could be because people are more aware of autism spectrum disorders today; because pediatricians are doing more screening; and because there have been changes in how autism disorders have been defined and diagnosed. In other words, more children with milder symptoms are being identified as somewhere “on the spectrum,” where they wouldn’t have been in years before. But as the Dimicks discovered—like many other parents before them—plenty of doctors claimed to have all the answers. The road parents must navigate is made more perilous by medical professionals willing to prescribe all sorts of treatments, from hyperbaric oxygen chambers and chelation therapy (which removes heavy metals with chemicals) to shelves full of dietary supplements and other alternative remedies they say can treat, even cure, autism. At best these treatments remain unapproved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; at worst they are downright dangerous. To compound the problem, a host of celebrities act as unpaid marketing reps for these unproven treatments, touting a pervasive (but incorrect) belief that autism is caused by childhood vaccines. This misinformation campaign has led, in the last few years, to a decline in the number of children receiving lifesaving inoculations. And Texas has become a center for alternative autism treatment and the anti-vaccine crusade.

Getting into, paying for, and navigating through college is rarely easy. For students who have been diagnosed with learning disabilities (LD), that struggle can take on even more dimension

Getting into, paying for, and navigating through college is rarely easy. For students who have been diagnosed with learning disabilities (LD), that struggle can take on even more dimensions. Learning-related issues such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often lead to difficulties in traditional classrooms and on standardized tests; if scholarship applications look foremost at test scores and GPAs, it can mean that LD students lose out. Fortunately, there are resources and scholarships out there that can help.

Imagine walking into a public library filled with PlayStations, Wii game consoles, and electric keyboards pumped up to maximum volume. Teenagers are munching on snacks, checking out laptops and slouching on sofas or beanbags. A carousel of computers sits in the middle, navigated to Facebook. That’s exactly how one enormous room on the ground floor of the Chicago Public Library’s main branch functions. And this noisy library model is expanding around the country.

Steve Silberman, investigative reporter for Wired and other national magazines, declared Thinking Person's Guide to Autism his Book of the Year (!): Covering a wide range of nuts-and-bolts subjects — from strategizing toilet training and and planning fun family outings, to helping your kid cope with bullying, to identifying the issues that a skilled speech-language therapist can work on with your child, to spotting and avoiding “autism cults,” to navigating byzantine special-needs bureaucracies and providing your child with appropriate assistive technology, to fighting for your kid’s right to an individualized education — the Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism is bracingly free of dogma, heavy-handed agendas, and pseudoscientific woo. What distinguishes it from, say, the fine guide for parents recently made freely downloadable by the National Autism Center, is the heart, soul, fierce intelligence, and subversive wit of the authors and editors, which shines on every page. Offering observations from parents, professionals, and autistics themselves, the book is a welcome dose of optimism and uncommonly good sense.

Click here to registerWhat:Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 protects the rights of individuals with disabilities in programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance. Students eligible for special education services under the IDEA are typically also eligible for services under Section 504; additionally, students not eligible under IDEA may be covered by Section 504. Therefore, it is critical that advocates for students with disabilities understand protections under Section 504 as well as ways to deal with suspected violations.    This webinar will provide an overview of the structure of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Education, which enforces Section 504 with respect to entities that receive federal financial assistance from the Department. The Section 504 complaint process will be examined in depth, including who may file a complaint, when a complaint may be filed, how to file a complaint, what type of information is necessary to file a complaint and how to effectively present that information. Additional ways to address suspected violations will also be explained as well as strategies to effectively navigate procedural safeguards provided by the law. The webinar will also provide an overview of how the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act applies to Section 504. Time will be provided for questions for participants. When: Wednesday, December 7, 2011  12:00 to 1:30 PM MT Cost: $50.00

Schraf is a child life specialist, a type of health care provider whose job is to help sick children and their families navigate difficult medical situations emotionally and psychologically while in the hospital. They do it largely through play—the basis of how a child learns and grows.

Students with disabilities face several longstanding challenges accessing services that may assist them as they transition from high school into postsecondary education or the workforce—services such as tutoring, vocational training, and assistive technology. Eligible students with disabilities are entitled to transition planning services during high school, but after leaving high school, to receive services that facilitate their transition they must apply as adults and establish eligibility for programs administered by multiple federal agencies. Students with disabilities may face delays in service and end up on waitlists if these programs are full. In addition, while all five states GAO contacted have taken steps to coordinate their transition services and assist families with the transition process, officials said that it is still difficult for students and their parents to navigate and for providers to coordinate services across different programs. Officials and parents GAO spoke with also noted a lack of sufficient information or awareness of the full range of service options available after high school on the part of students with disabilities, parents, and service providers. In addition, state and local officials said students with disabilities may not be adequately prepared to successfully transition to life after high school. This may be due, in part, to limited opportunities to engage in vocational and life skills training or obtain work experience while in school.

In support of the DCoE mission to identify and promote effective instructional material for wounded warriors, families, and health care providers, we developed the Children of Military Service Members Resource Guide – an online resource to assist families and health care providers address the mental and emotional health needs of military children.

Google has added features to Drive and the Docs apps suite to make the products easier to use for people who are blind or have poor eyesight, an issue over which the company has been criticized.The improvements include smoother interaction with third-party screen readers for better text-to-speech performance and expanded keyboard navigation capabilities. The enhanced products include the Drive storage service, the Docs word processor, Slides presentation app, Sheets spreadsheet software, Drawings tool and Forms creator.

Transitioning into adulthood can be awkward for nearly every young person. For transition-age youth with disabilities, issues surrounding managing Personal Assistance Services (PAS) can be intensified by normal developmental concerns such as striking out on your own and navigating the road into adulthood.  Accessing and maintaining long-term supports, such as PAS, has often been a significant barrier to employment youth and adults with disabilities. This new guide assists youth in strengthening some of the most fundamental skills essential for successfully managing their own PAS: effective communication, time-management, working with others, and establishing professional relationships.  Such skills are key to not only enhancing independence, but also thriving in the workplace and growing professionally. 

Increased awareness of learning challenges such as dyslexia and attention-deficit disorder, together with improved diagnosis and treatment, has helped millions of students improve their academic performance. But, as they enter their senior year of high school and begin the college admissions process, they face a whole new set of challenges. Now is the time to begin preparing to meet them.

A new institute at Purdue University will soon study ways for students with physical impairments to better navigate and excel in scientific research. <SCRIPT language='JavaScript1.1' SRC="http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/N5654.285258.JOURNALANDCOURIERLA/B4859995.6;abr=!ie;sz=160x600;ord=[timestamp]?"> </SCRIPT> <NOSCRIPT> <A HREF="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/N5654.285258.JOURNALANDCOURIERLA/B4859995.6;abr=!ie4;abr=!ie5;sz=160x600;ord=[timestamp]?"> <IMG SRC="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/N5654.285258.JOURNALANDCOURIERLA/B4859995.6;abr=!ie4;abr=!ie5;sz=160x600;ord=[timestamp]?" BORDER=0 WIDTH=160 HEIGHT=600 ALT="Click Here"></A> </NOSCRIPT> The university has been awarded a $2 million grant to create the Institute for Accessible Science, which will include a physical laboratory and a Web-based interactive community for those interested in biomedical research careers.