This knowledge path about Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) services in Medicaid has been compiled by the Maternal and Child Health Library at Georgetown University. It offers a selection of current, high-quality resources about providing and strengthening EPSDT services. The path includes guidelines for the frequency, timing, and content of health-promotion and disease-prevention services for infants, children, and adolescents. Separate sections present resources for professionals (health professionals, program administrators, policymakers, and researchers) and for families. A special topics area lists resources about oral health services as part of the EPSDT benefit. The knowledge path will be updated periodically.

We receive many questions from parents, teachers, and health care providers about special education services for children with autism. If you are a parent, you need to educate yourself about your child's disability, effective educational methods and medical treatments, and how to present your child's problems and needs to school staff so they want to help. On the Autism, PDD & Asperger Syndrome page, you will find FAQs, articles, legal resources, recommended books, free publications, and a short list of information and support groups.

Autism touches all of us. . . through our children, grandchildren or the children of our friends. It is time to take action to combat this scourge that is stealing the minds of our children. If you or someone you know has a child with autism, here are some tips from a family that has been traveling the path for the last five years.

COLORADO SPRINGS — Wilson Buswell has cerebral palsy, can't talk and answers only yes-or-no questions: a blink for yes, a stare for no. But Buswell has become a powerful communicator to a handful of students studying to become effective special-education teachers.

In many states, determining whether or not an adult with a disability qualifies for significant assistance comes down to one factor: IQ score. Trouble is that IQ and ability don’t always match up. The conundrum is particularly pronounced among individuals with autism and mental illness who often have normal intellectual intelligence, but have significant social or emotional needs that prohibit them from living independently, advocates say.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan feels that the old standard, No Child Left Behind "was, frankly, broken." He explains, "it was far too punitive -- everybody was going to be labeled a failure, eventually." He hopes, with Race For The Top, to raise the bar, to "reward excellence in growth, how much schools are improving each year," and how much graduation rates increase.

When Kristi Cardwell was found to have dyslexia back in the early 1970s, her parents told the second-grader to let her teachers know so they could make accommodations for the extra help she might need.

ScienceDaily (Apr. 17, 2010) — To help children become better readers, a Kansas State University professor thinks they may 'need to spend less time with their noses stuck in books.

These easy-to-use guides were created especially for teachers/caregivers and parents to provide hands-on ways to embed social emotional skill building activities into everyday routines. Each book nook is comprised of ideas and activities designed around popular children’s books such as Big Al, Hands are Not for Hitting, On Monday When it Rained and My Many Colored Days. Examples of suggested activities include using rhymes to talk about being friends, making emotion masks to help children identify and talk about different feelings, playing games around what to do with hands instead of hitting and fun music and movement activities to express emotions.

Alexandra Codina's Monica & David (pictured) is the documentary account of a young couple with Down syndrome--their romance, their marriage, their first year together. At first blush, it sounds like the worst kind of crass exploitation (a kind of nonfiction version of The Other Sister, perhaps). But it adopts exactly the right voice and perspective--one that carefully avoids cutesiness or sympathy, but sees these two (and the people around them) exactly as they are.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is calling on special educators to take personal responsibility for the success of their students after graduation. “Today a significant gap exists between our aspirations and reality,” Duncan said of students with disabilities. “The graduation rate, postsecondary education rate and employment rate are all increasing but they are all still, frankly, far too low.”

National Center on UDL Director David Rose explains how UDL helps meet the most pressing issues facing educators today. Drawing on brain research and the latest learning sciences, Dr. Rose describes the three UDL principles and what they mean for classroom practice.

Deaf actress Marlee Matlin is exploring an idea for a unique reality TV show: It’s called “My Deaf Family” and it’s about growing up with deaf parents. Matlin created a pilot for the series and made it available for free on YouTube. The show depicts the challenges of having parents with disabilities, but not having those disabilities yourself.

Two studies released this week affirm the benefits of cochlear implants for deaf children and confirm other research suggesting earlier implantation is more advantageous.

MICHAEL DUGGAN was overturning a table of trophies and jamming his hands into a celebratory cake at a sports banquet for disabled youths several years ago when he met Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. The two hit it off. Now, the 19-year-old Roslindale man and his family are teaming up with key players in Boston City Hall to improve the lives of people with autism, a disorder that robs people like Michael of normal linguistic and social abilities.

Accessibility is the word at the Minnesota Twins’ new ballpark, as fans relying on wheelchairs bask in their unobstructed views of the field and extra touches like nearby plugs to recharge mobility devices. Planners for the new stadium known as Target Field, say they intentionally went above and beyond the accessibility requirements mandated by law. For example, all of the entrances are wheelchair accessible even though laws only require a portion to be.

Increasingly, neuroscientists, psychologists and educators believe that bullying and other kinds of violence can indeed be reduced by encouraging empathy at an early age. Over the past decade, research in empathy — the ability to put ourselves in another person's shoes — has suggested that it is key, if not the key, to all human social interaction and morality.

ITVS Community and Autism Society of America are proud to support THE HORSE BOY with Community Cinema screening events and materials in support of its national broadcast on Independent Lens in May 2010.