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High rates of premature birth are the main reason the United States has higher infant mortality than do many other rich countries, government researchers reported Tuesday in their first detailed analysis of a longstanding problem.

You already know that the Internet is one of the most convenient, effective means of researching and finding information for your classes, but did you know that in some cases it can replace all of your hefty textbooks and reading assignments too? With ebooks, you can read, stream, and listen to lessons, classic literature, poetry and reference books on the Internet or your mobile device. Here are 100 useful links for ebook lovers.

Welcome to the Family Center on Technology & Disability's Online Discussion Center. Join us this month for a discussion of "Improving Teaching and Learning through Technology." Led by national experts, Lisa Thumann and Karen Janowski, our discussion will range from the specifics of using particular applications for both teacher and student learning to the results of recent research on best classroom practices. Our threaded discussion format allows you to follow individual lines of discussion, start new topics, and easily post questions and comments.

Improving Teaching & Learning through Technology with Karen Janowski and Lisa Thumann

In September, Autism Speaks hosted the 2nd Annual World Focus on Autism breakfast seminar, chaired by Ban Soon-taek, wife of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. At the event, Suzanne Wright announced that in 2010, the fifth anniversary of Autism Speaks, the foundation would kick off the "Decade for Autism" — a campaign to raise $100 million to fund autism-related research and services over the next 10 years.

Besides taking many pills, the boy was injected with vitamin B12 and received intravenous infusions of a drug used to leach mercury and other metals from the body. He took megadoses of vitamin C, a hormone and a drug that suppresses testosterone. This complex treatment regimen -- documented in court records as part of a bitter custody battle between Coman, who opposes the therapies, and his wife -- may sound unusual, but it isn't. Thousands of U.S. children undergo these therapies and many more at the urging of physicians who say they can successfully treat, or "recover," children with autism, a disorder most physicians and scientists say they cannot yet explain or cure. But after reviewing thousands of pages of court documents and scientific studies and interviewing top researchers in the field, the Tribune found that many of these treatments amount to uncontrolled experiments on vulnerable children.

Treatment that includes medication plus a structured training program for parents reduces serious behavioral problems in children with autism and related conditions, according to a study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). The study, which was part of the NIMH Research Units on Pediatric Psychopharmacology (RUPP) Autism Network, was published in the December 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Schools today face the challenge of providing appropriate services to a diverse and increasingly numerous student population diagnosed with ASD. In order to achieve this goal, evidence-based practice is essential in the schools. To assist school professionals as they strive to help these students reach their potential, the National Autism Center has produced a comprehensive 245-page manual, Evidence-Based Practice and Autism in the Schools. The manual outlines relevant topics, including the current state of research findings, professional judgment and data-based clinical decision making, values and preferences of families, and capacity building. Each chapter sets a course for advancing the efforts of school systems to engage in evidence-based practice for their students on the autism spectrum.

Bullying, particularly among school-age children, is a major public health problem. This compendium provides researchers, prevention specialists, and health educators with tools to measure a range of bullying experiences: bully perpetration, bully victimization, bully-victim experiences, and bystander experiences.

What: Participants from around the world attend the TASH Conference to learn more about best practices in the field of significant disabilities, network and share information, and most importantly, stake their claim in a movement to include people with disabilities in all aspects of life. We hope you’ll join us! When: November 30 - December 3, 2011 Where: Atlanta, Georgia Who attends the TASH Conference? People with disabilities Parents, siblings and other family members Educators (General Education and Special Education) School Administrators Researchers College Professors Students Click here to learn more about submitting a proposal to present at the 2011 TASH Conference. Proposals are due by May 6, 2011, at 5 p.m. ET.

Click here to download the flyer with registration information (PDF) What: What can you do with students who already know much of what you’re about to teach? This hands-on, interactive class will present specific tools that are realistic and effective to challenge gifted learners in a regular classroom. Participants will leave with a “Tool Kit” full of easy-toimplement strategies to nurture and challenge gifted and talented learners including tools for: Identification, Pre-assessment, Curriculum Compacting, Flexible grouping, Learning centers, Open-ended tasks, Product options, Research Independent study, Tiered instruction, Students as producers, And creative thinking and inquiry. Target Audience: K-8 Educators Date: Wednesday & Thursday June 8-9, 2011 Time: 8:30 a.m.-12:00 noon 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. daily Site: MSU Northern Hagener Science Center Room 112 Havre, MT

Click here to register for this event What: Ensuring School Readiness will explore how and why smooth transitions among early learning environments are critical for school readiness and are the first step toward preparing students for success in college and career. Presenters will focus on what it takes to foster continuity as children move from early learning programs to preschool to kindergarten, and will discuss the specific roles of early learning programs, schools, and families in preparing young children to enter school ready for success. This webinar will highlight innovative practices, explore the range of supports and services offered to young children and their families, and emphasize how to help families understand how to remain involved in their child’s education as the child moves into the early school grades. Jacqueline Jones from the U.S. Department of Education will discuss the importance of successful early transitions to education reform. Sharon Ritchie from FirstSchool, a research-based preK–3rd grade initiative, will discuss “seamless education” and how to use data to improve practice. Judith Jerald from Save the Children will talk about developing early childhood programming with an eye toward facilitating transitions. And Whitcomb Hayslip will discuss how a Los Angeles-based transitional kindergarten initiative uses deliberate collaboration between teachers and families to prepare children for school success. When: April 14, 2011 12:00 - 1:30 p.m. Mountain Featured speakers include: Moderator: Tom Schultz, Project Director for Early Childhood Initiatives, Council of Chief State School Officers Jacqueline Jones, Senior Advisor to the Secretary for Early Learning, U.S. Department of Education Sharon Ritchie, Senior Scientist, FPG Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Judith Jerald, Early Childhood Advisor, Save the Children Whitcomb Hayslip, Early Childhood Education Consultant and Former Assistant Superintendent, Los Angeles Unified School District Click here to view the webinar archive for this event series

While medication is often used to treat children with autism, “strikingly little evidence” exists to support the approach, researchers said Monday. That’s the conclusion of an analysis published online in the journal Pediatrics looking at 10-years worth of studies on the effectiveness of antipsychotics and other drugs in treating children with autism.

Click here to download the The Learning Options’ Spring Newsletter (PDF) What: The Seminar introduces findings of recent research about and effective methods available to correct learning disabilities involving reading, writing, math and attention focus skills.  Pre-registration is required and can be made by calling Learning Options at 406-282-7416 or emailing elsie@thelearningoptions.com. Seminars are free of charge (Pre-registration is required). Seminar Dates: Bozeman Public Library Tuesday, May 3, 2011 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Great Falls Public Library Tuesday, May 10, 2011 12–2 pm and 6:00—8:00 p.m. The Summit in Kalispell Thursday, May 19, 2011 1– 3 pm and 6:30—8:30 p.m. For more info or to register: Email elsie@thelearningoptions.com or call 406-282-7416.

Click here to register for this event What: Family members, youth, service providers, and researchers will offer perspectives on how to involve families in services in ways that are preferred by youth and young adults. Presenters will discuss the developmental, legal and confidentiality issues that affect young people; the balancing act between families and providers; the role of mentors and adult allies; and the strengths and needs of diverse families.  When: May 24, 2011 11:00am-12:00pm Mountain

The longest study of its kind shows that an early education program for children from low-income families provides benefits that last well into adulthood.

Diabetes HealthSense is designed to provide people with diabetes, people at risk for the disease and those who care for them with easy access to useful tools and programs that exist within the public domain and facilitate the behavior change process. The research articles in Diabetes HealthSense are a selection of review articles, landmark studies and meta-analyses on the science of behavior change and psychological health that promote the practical application of these strategies. To be included, resources must clearly address how to implement a change in behavior, be accessible to the public and contain limited or no advertising of commercial products.

Recent data — and personal experience — suggest that autism can be an advantage in some spheres, including science, says Laurent Mottron.

Most grant proposals, research papers and reviews on autism open with, “Autism is a devastating disorder”. Mine do not.

oday, Hart continues to challenge status quo assumptions about the frequency of addiction and how drug use affects people. He’s even held Eric Holder to task for calling heroin use in the country “an epidemic.” Instead, Hart argues that the number of true addicts is much smaller, and when addiction does occur, it’s often because of environmental factors, rather than hardwired doom in the brain. His conclusion: Much of what we’ve been taught about drugs is wrong. With more than $40 billion being spent on anti-drug efforts a year, it’s not a message that many people want to hear. But when mass incarceration, often for misdemeanor drug possession charges, affects communities of color so deeply that health studies can’t conduct statistically sound surveys on the population not in prison, it’s a message that could disrupt the social order. We spoke to Hart about how he reached his conclusions and what it takes to speak truth to power in the scientific community.

The animated characters in your preschooler’s favorite TV show invite her to interact, play and learn. But is she learning? Only a little, according to a Vanderbilt study, which found that educational programming is minimally effective unless parents watch too—and engage the child. In a first-of-its-kind study, parents were trained to pause, ask questions and encourage the child to tell parts of the story while they watched educational videos together. When evaluated, the 3-year-olds whose parents used this simple technique—known as dialogic questioning—showed significant gains in vocabulary and comprehension over those who watched alone.

Get organized. Create an organized medical file and save every piece of paper pertaining to a child’s disabilities, services, needs and more. Make copies monthly and scan new documents into the computer. Get educated. Research your rights, therapies, and more. Be willing to learn, ask questions, and keep asking questions until you understand. Educate others. Respond patiently with the appropriate information when people say hurtful things or respond in ignorance. Be persistent. Don’t give up when you can’t get an appointment. Instead of getting angry, keep restating your need in a nice way. Look for solutions. Instead of talking poorly about a doctor or the insurance company, focus on finding solutions. Take care of yourself. Take some time to care for yourself; otherwise you’ll quickly burn out and be unable to care for your child. Find time each day, even if it’s only 5 minutes, to focus on your own needs.