Text4baby is a free mobile information service designed to promote maternal and child health. An educational program of the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition (HMHB), text4baby provides pregnant women and new moms with information they need to take care of their health and give their babies the best possible start in life. Women who sign up for the service by texting BABY (or BEBE for Spanish) to 511411 will receive free SMS text messages each week, timed to their due date or baby’s date of birth.

According to many, the United States is experiencing its worst recession since the Great Depression. Nationwide, cuts to mental illness treatment services are the most extensive they have been in the last 30 years. Montana is also beginning to experience budget deficits. While politicians and public officials publicly assure us there has not been budget cuts to mental health services, mental illness providers tell their clients cuts to mental illness treatment are imminent. I have received calls from individuals suffering from severe mental illness who are extremely anxious about their future.

Kids who get bullied and snubbed by peers may be more likely to have problems in other parts of their lives, past studies have shown. And now researchers have found at least three factors in a child's behavior that can lead to social rejection.

Crossing the Technology Bridge -- Where Do We Go as a Field to Help All Learners Succeed?An Interview with Ruth Ziolkowski, President and Chief Operating Officer, Don Johnston, Incorporated

This month the Family Center is pleased to feature the insights of Ruth Ziolkowski, President and CEO of the Don Johnston Company, a leading assistive technology firm that recently celebrated its 30th year in business. Don Johnston, and the company that bears his name, are known for literacy software programs, tools, devices and professional development services aimed at supporting students with cognitive, physical and learning challenges. We asked Ms. Ziolkowski to comment on various aspects of the AT field, including where it is headed in K-12 education.

Many pediatricians score high on screening their patients for developmental delays, but barely make a passing grade in referring children with suspected delays for further testing or treatment, according to a study from Johns Hopkins Children's Center and other institutions to appear in the February issue of Pediatrics. Because screening is only effective if followed by referral and treatment, pediatricians need two separate formalized systems in their practices — one for screening and one for referral — the investigators write in their report available online Jan. 25.

The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) is a Federal advisory committee that coordinates all efforts within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) concerning autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Through its inclusion of both Federal and public members, the IACC helps to ensure that a wide range of ideas and perspectives are represented and discussed in a public forum.

New 2010 IACC Strategic Plan Emphasizes Research Infrastructure, Non-Verbal People with ASD and the Full Spectrum from Young Children to Adults

The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) has posted the revised “Strategic Plan“. This is the document which is supposed to guide US Government funded autism research. The Strategic Plan is written from a parent’s perspective. It is divided into 7 questions to be answered. Below I list the parts I think are the “meat” of the Plan—the proposed projects with estimated budgets.

See the third-grade boy having fun, playing with his classmates at recess? Sometimes his pals give his wheelchair a push, other times he wheels himself. Their teacher, Mr. McHale, arrives to escort his students back to class, and he calls out to the boy, “Hey, Hollywood, let’s round ‘em up and move ‘em out!” Hollywood grins, and his eyes light up behind his sunglasses.

SALT LAKE CITY — The polio virus, and its reign of terror in the American psyche, is faded history now. After a vaccine was introduced in the mid-1950s, millions of people sighed, turned the page and moved on. Many polio victims, often struck in childhood, tried to leave the story behind and forget, too.

When Temple Grandin was diagnosed with autism at age three, a doctor recommended she be placed in an institution. Instead, Grandin grew up to be a world-renowned expert on the handling of livestock and arguably the most famous person with autism in the world.

A medical journal formally retracted a 12-year-old study Tuesday that first sparked fears of a link between autism and vaccines. The move by The Lancet comes after a British medical panel determined last week that the study’s lead author, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, acted “dishonestly and irresponsibly” in conducting his research.

Funding for special education, autism research and other programs aimed at Americans with disabilities is nestled within the $3.8 trillion budget proposed Monday by President Barack Obama.

NASA eClips™ are short, relevant educational video segments. These videos inspire and engage students, helping them see real world connections. New video segments are produced weekly exploring current applications of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, topics. The programs are produced for targeted audiences: K-5, 6-8, 9-12 and the general public.

There’s no sob story in a new national push to promote hiring of people with disabilities. In fact, the advertising campaign launching this week hardly even mentions the word “disability.” Instead, the focus is on the many quirks found in the workplace — everything from the co-worker who talks too loud to the one who can’t put together a decent outfit. The idea is that disability presents just one more element to workplace diversity and that hiring people with disabilities can be cool.

NEW YORK, NY (January 28, 2010) – Autism Speaks, the nation's largest autism science and advocacy organization, today announced the establishment of the Autism Speaks Baker Summer Camp Scholarship Program, which will provide eligible camps with funding to offer scholarships to campers with autism. The program, funded by Norma and Malcolm Baker, began in Southern California and will now expand to the national level. Camps providing a qualified summer camp program to individuals with autism are encouraged to apply for a Camp Scholarship Fund through the Autism Speaks Baker Summer Camp Scholarship Program. Applications will be accepted from now through March 1, 2010. Eligible camps will identify qualified campers who can demonstrate financial need and offer up to $5,000 in scholarship funds.

ENTRY POINT! is a program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) offering outstanding internship opportunities for students with apparent and non-apparent disabilities in science, engineering, mathematics, computer science, and some fields of business. To meet the challenge of the competitive global economy in the new millennium, private industry and government research agencies must expand the pool of technical talent.