About two hours after Melissa Thomason gave birth to her son Welles, she and her husband learned their baby had the chromosomal abnormality known as Down syndrome. “I remember sitting in the hospital room and having a lot of uncertainty about what that diagnosis meant for us, what it meant for him.” She wished she could talk to someone who’d had the same experience.

Earlier this year, a minor injury to my right eye left me temporarily blind. I could do little but sit in bed and listen to audio books, until someone told me about the video game BlindSide, which doesn’t, in fact, contain any video. It is a meticulously designed, audio-driven thriller that is entirely devoid of graphics.

I am personally empowered by the potential that inclusive education can initiate. When implemented with integrity, inclusion can energize educators, students, and parents, leading to individual triumphs that also can build successful communities of learners.

Like a lot of people who write about special needs parenting, I get asked for advice by new parents. Honestly, I’m a little surprised by this, since much of my writing, including the better part of my book, goes into great detail of exactly how poorly prepared I was, and probably remain, to take on the task of successfully raising a daughter with a disability. I like to think I make for a good cautionary tale, but I feel woefully inadequate to the advice-giving gig. When I think about it, however, I do feel qualified to give one piece of advice. It’s the one I’ve had to make myself follow time and time again, and yet it’s also the one I’ve always been the least comfortable with. With apologies to delicate sensibilities, I share it with you now: Forgive yourself when you fuck up.

A 17-year-old senior at Paris Gibson Alternative High School, Jordan Monroe leaves this week for the Jobs for American Graduates National Student Leadership Academy in Washington, D.C. He was one of only four students from the Jobs for Montana Graduates statewide program selected to attend.

Every Thanksgiving, I ask everyone at the table what he or she is most thankful for.  My family is truly blessed, so there’s plenty to say in that conversation.  But in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving my friends and I have also noticed all the little things for which we give silent thanks every day.  These are the things that make a complicated life much easier, but usually aren’t part of the discussion at Thanksgiving dinner.  Perhaps you’ll have a few more to add to the list, too.

In a move aimed at boosting mental health treatment, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Friday announced new rules that will put teeth in a 2008 mental health equity law. The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, signed by President George W. Bush, requires doctors and insurers to treat mental illness the same as physical illness.

Disability is part of my family's daily life and it has been since my oldest daughter was born with a chromosomal abnormality over seven years ago. My daughter's genetic disorder resulted in a variety of disabilities, both cognitive and physical, that impact nearly every aspect of our lives. Usually we go along with our routine, but sometimes I am struck by how little others know about disability and what life is like for us. I have been reminded of this recently and wanted to share five things I wish everyone knew about disability.

High-quality preschool is an effective way to reduce social problems associated with poverty because it teaches children the psychological skills they need to succeed as adults, according to a new paper co-authored by Peter Savelyev, a Vanderbilt assistant professor of economics who studies the economics of human development.

About 1 in 323 children has been identified with Cerebral Palsy according to estimates from CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network. There is an abundance of information regarding CP out there. However, it can be overwhelming sifting through all of that knowledge. Here is a list of great resources regarding CP, including research articles, books, support organizations, blogs, and more.

The U.S. Department of Education announced today that its Office for Civil Rights has entered into an agreement with Virtual Community School of Ohio to ensure compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act for students with disabilities at the school. This first-of-its-kind resolution promises equal access to educational opportunities for students with disabilities in virtual charter schools. Virtual Community School of Ohio is an Internet-based, public charter school that serves approximately 1,200 students who reside throughout the state of Ohio. "Students with disabilities who attend online public charter schools are entitled to all the protections of the federal civil rights laws that their peers receive at traditional public schools, including the right to receive a free appropriate education. Online schools also must take steps to ensure that the websites and online classrooms they use to promote their services and to educate students are accessible to individuals with disabilities," said Catherine E. Lhamon, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights. "Online education environments such as this in which students reside across the state and go to school together in a totally on-line environment, may present unique challenges. Nevertheless, these online schools must comply with the civil rights laws. I commend Virtual Community School of Ohio for agreeing to address these issues as part of its agreement with OCR."

Congress passed a bill today(!) that would help fund school efforts to fight allergy attacks. The U.S. Department of Education currently offers grant money to states in which schools are taking steps to prepare for asthma attacks. Under the newly passed H.R. 2094, though, the department would prioritize those funds to benefit states wherein schools also prepare for allergy attacks by having a stock of epinephrine (EpiPen), and staff trained to use it.

the promise of the Common Core State Standards now being implemented by all but four states is colliding with the reality that teachers are struggling to encapsulate actionable goals in an IEP. "I think the bigger issue is we struggle with access to the general ed curriculum, period," said Carol Kosnitsky, a former special education director in New Hampshire who now travels to school districts around the country to provide professional development in the common core and IEPs. "People aren't coming in confident that they know how to do this, so now it's just another layer on top of not-well-defined practice."

New! AutismCares iPad 2 Grant Applications Open! Autism Speaks is thrilled to announce that through the generosity of Sevenly, Wyndham Worldwide, the Geier Foundation, the James Walter Pickle Charitable Foundation, the Agarwal Foundation and Jonathan Izak, 800 schools and financially disadvantaged individuals with autism will receive an Apple iPad 2 with a Kraken A.M.S. case, by Trident Case! iPads will be awarded to financially disadvantaged individuals with autism who are unable to afford an iPad. Applicants must be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and must reside in the United States.

Jocks don't have a reputation for always being nice to the little guy. But this middle school football team went above and beyond for a teammate, and their plan to lift up a student with behavioral and learning disabilities is an amazing example of kids' kindness.

There may be no more dangerous threat to the life of the special needs parent than burnout.   The moment we learn our child has a disability life changes.   We enjoy the new addition to our family, but hanging over our head is the bittersweet reality of work ahead. This does not mean life for special needs parents is miserable, but it isn’t  for the faint of heart.  Those who embrace this life successfully must be or become mentally tough, emotionally secure, and capable of finding purpose in pain or difficulty. “5 Ways to Beat Burnout” is about making a paradigm shift.  Living a life of discovery rather than focusing on difficulty.   Let’s begin!

Google Glass, the hands-free headset that functions similarly to a smartphone or a computer, is a boon to Columbia University law school student Alex Blaszczuk, paralyzed since 2011. See how the emerging technology of Glass may help the disabled.

Taking care of you child with special needs is an important job. I have compiled 13 Key things a caregiver must do for a child with special needs. I call these my Baker’s Dozen – This is in no way a complete list, and each and every family’s situation will have nuances. Remember, it all can’t or doesn’t need to be done at once;

An increasing number of entertainment venues are offering sensory-friendly options for families who would otherwise not be able to enjoy activities such as going to the movies, seeing a live performance or participating in indoor recreational activities.

Scientist, writer, editor. Founder of http://www.doublexscience.org/. Work has appeared at Slate, Scientific American, Grist, and The New York Times, among others. I focus on how science filters to consumers and how consumers make decisions about science. Frequent honorable mentions: autism, parenting, and the news media.