The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has issued a new Administrator Interpretation that expands the Family and Medical Leave Act’s (FMLA) current language to include adult children who are unable to care for themselves because of a mental or physical disability and whose disabilities occurred before or after the age of 18. The previous interpretation of the law was unclear as it applied to adult children with disabilities. This Interpretation also clarifies FMLA-protected leave for a parent is not dependent on the age of the adult child and the onset of their disability, and broadens the definition of “disability” to reflect the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA). Ultimately, this Interpretation means that more parents will be able to take FMLA- protected leave from their jobs to care for their adult children with disabilities.

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.

Today, the Department's Office for Civil Rights issued guidance clarifying school districts' existing legal obligations to provide equal access to extracurricular athletic activities to students with disabilities. In addition to explaining those legal obligations, the guidance urges school districts to work with community organizations to increase athletic opportunities for students with disabilities, such as opportunities outside of the existing extracurricular athletic program. Students with disabilities have the right, under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, to an equal opportunity to participate in their schools' extracurricular activities. A 2010 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that many students with disabilities are not afforded an equal opportunity to participate in athletics, and therefore may not have equitable access to the health and social benefits of athletic participation.

During the past 20 years there has been a revolution in how we identify and educate children with permanent hearing loss in the United States. Below is a list of facts about pediatric hearing loss that are often widely cited with their references.

Los Angeles, CA – January 22, 2013 – L.A.-based House Research Institute and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles announced today that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given final approval to begin a clinical trial of an Auditory Brainstem Implant (ABI) procedure for children. The trial is a surgical collaboration sponsored by the House Research Institute in partnership with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Vittorio Colletti, MD of the University of Verona Hospital, Verona, Italy.

The U.S. Education Department's Office of Civil Rights on Friday is sending school districts a 13-page guidance document that spells out the rights of students with disabilities to participate in school athletics.

First Hate Crimes Case of Its Kind in the Country Also Charges Murder Linda Weston, her daughter and three co-defendants are charged in a 193-count indictment, unsealed today, with racketeering, murder in aid of racketeering, hate crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, theft, fraud and other crimes.   The indictment alleges that Weston and her associates carried out a racketeering enterprise that targeted victims with mental disabilities as part of a scheme to steal disability payments from the victims and the Social Security system.   As part of the scheme, Weston persuaded each victim to make her the designated recipient of their Social Security disability payments in exchange for the promise of a comfortable place to live.   Once appointed as the designated recipient of disability payments, Weston, aided by the co-defendants, subjected the victims to subhuman conditions of captivity.  

Zach Sayne was 25 when he died earlier this month at the place that had been his home for 15 years — a children's nursing home in Alabama. But that was too far away, 200 miles too far, for his mother in Georgia. Nola Sayne was trying to bring him back, closer to her home. The story of why she couldn't reveals the bureaucratic traps, underfunding and lack of choices that plague state Medicaid programs.

Cristin Lind couldn’t find the words, so she drew a picture. The artistic inspiration hit about a year ago, after she’d been asked to speak to a meeting of primary care physicians, telling them what it took to manage the complex care of her special needs son. Her page was still empty, despite hours trying to collect her thoughts, so she found some colored markers and began drawing circles.

In 2009, the Developmental Disabilities Program (DDP) within Montana’s Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) began the Children’s Autism Waiver (CAW) as way to provided intensive (20 hours a week), applied behavior analysis to young children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and their families. The Medicaid waiver program is state-wide and provides services for 50 children at a time. The first cohort of children who have completed the services have just exited. As part of the exit procedure, a comprehensive evaluation was completed.

The American Psychological Association (APA) is changing the definition of Autism Spectrum Disorders, a change which will occur in May of 2013. You can view the draft criteria here and a short explanation here. There are several changes which concern parents, education professionals and people with autism spectrum disorders. Very briefly, these changes are: 1. The new APA criterion for autism spectrum disorders is different from the current APA, IDEA and Montana educational criteria for autism spectrum disorders. 2. Asperger's Disorder and Pervasive Developmental Disorder will no longer exist as separate APA diagnostic categories, but will be subsumed in the revised APA criteria for "Autism Spectrum Disorder." What will these changes mean for students with autism spectrum disorders in Montana's public schools? 1. Montana is unlikely to change the current criteria for identification of a student as having autism until the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) is reauthorized. 2. The IDEA was last reauthorized in 2004 and the revised regulations were published in 2006. There is no anticipated date for when the next reauthorization will occur. 3. When the IDEA or Montana educational criteria for educational disabilities change, there is no requirement that students who are currently identified as eligible for special education and related services be reevaluated to determine eligibility under the new criteria. These students have previously been determined as eligible using the criteria which were in effect at the time of their identification. 4. Children and youth who are evaluated and diagnosed by non-school agencies as meeting the current or revised APA definition of Autism Spectrum Disorder are still required to have a separate educational evaluation by the school district. 5. If necessary, the OPI Division of Special Education will provide guidance and technical assistance in interpreting any differences between the new APA criteria for autism spectrum disorders and the current Montana educational criteria for autism. If you have questions, please contact Doug Doty, Statewide Coordinator of the OPI Montana Autism Education Project at ddoty@mt.govor 459-5303

With rare exception, instructional aides, paraprofessionals, or educational assistants — whatever we want to call them — are typically not placed in a specific place because they have had specific training. That is, people are placed in rooms by rank or seniority, often with little training, and sometimes against their desires. But within the constraints of a formal school environment, what choice do they have?

Unfortunately, boys and girls with autism often face barriers to participating fully in youth community organizations. And so with help from respected experts in the field of autism and special education, experienced parents and caregivers, we have created Leading the Way: Autism-Friendly Youth Organizations, a guide for organizations to ensure that youth with autism have the same formative experiences through community programs that are available to their typical peers.

BILLINGS - As of December 13th, a new unit has been added to the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch. A unit designed specifically for the treatment and care of autistic children.

Toilet training is teaching an entire new skill. Teaching new skills to children with autism spectrum disorders works best when the steps to the task are organized into simple pieces. Teaching must also be consistent at all times and become predictable to the child in terms of rewards and consequences. In order for toilet training to be successful, the child must move from depending on reminders (timed trips to the bathroom) to recognizing the signs of a full bladder and taking the necessary actions him/herself.

PLUK has been offering free tutoring for 10 years. While the Billings-based organization helps families of children with disabilities and special health care needs, the tutoring program is open to any child needing help along with some adults working for their general education development diploma, Thurston said.

The new, still-divided Congress that took office this month faces a lengthy list of education policy legislation that is either overdue for renewal or will be soon, in a political landscape that remains consumed with fiscal issues. But it's tough to say whether there will be much action on all that outdated legislation—including the No Child Left Behind Act, which has awaited reauthorization since 2007. The cast of characters in Washington is virtually unchanged since before the 2012 elections—which left President Barack Obama in the White House, Democrats in control of the Senate, and Republicans in control of the House of Representatives.

Do you know someone who isn’t sure whether or not to pursue a medical diagnosis for a developmentally delayed son or daughter? According to the Centers for Disease Control, most children with autism are diagnosed after age 4.  Certain other developmental and learning disabilities are usually not diagnosed until a child enters elementary school.  These facts are puzzling, since it is well-established that early intervention leads to better outcomes for children with special needs. But there are many reasons why parents and physicians choose to delay diagnosis, even when a young child is delayed and has difficulty adapting to everyday life:

(CNN) -- I knew there had to be a reason my family and I went through tough days together. I didn't understand why then, but the past couple of weeks have put so much into perspective. The lonely days of pacing around my kitchen seemed like some of the longest days of my life. If anyone had told me then that I would be wearing a crown, an evening gown, heels and a swimsuit in front of a live audience with bright lights and television cameras hovering around, I'd have been the first one to dismiss it. I realize now that even my toughest days pale in comparison to the toughest days of others living with an autism spectrum disorder. I've been given this opportunity to use my voice for those who don't have one or have yet to find theirs.