Diseases and conditions where stem cell treatment is promising or emerging. (See Wikipedia:Stem cell#Treatments). Bone marrow transplantation is, as of 2009, the only established use of stem cells. Model: Mikael Häggström. To discuss image, please see Template talk:Häggström diagrams (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Stem cell diagram illustrates a human fetus stem cell and possible uses on the circulatory, nervous, and immune systems. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In the first such officially-sanctioned study of its kind, investigators are planning to test whether stem cells can effectively treat autism. And they've drawn some quick criticism of their work from researchers who are skeptical about the small number of young patients which will be recruited for the FDA-approved trial.
In the study, investigators at the Sutter Institute for Medical Research in Sacramento, CA, will enroll 30 children between the ages of two and 7. Half will be treated with injections of their own cord blood stem cells drawn from a single stem cell bank over 6 months, while the other half is given a placebo. Then they will switch therapies for the next 6 months.
Diagram of stem cell division and differentiation. A - stem cell; B - progenitor cell; C - differentiated cell; 1 - symmetric stem cell division; 2 - asymmetric stem cell division; 3 - progenitor division; 4 - terminal differentiation (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
"This is the start of a new age of research in stem cell therapies for chronic diseases such as autism, ..., said Michael Chez, the director of pediatric neurology with the Sutter Neuroscience Institute and principal study investigator. "I will focus on a select portion of children diagnosed with autism who have no obvious cause for the condition, such as known genetic syndromes or brain injury."
I discovered ASD via grief.It was on my 47th birthday that I actually had the misfortune to witness the death of my father via stroke. Had I entered the room just five minutes later, I would have missed hearing his last words or seeing the terror in his eyes as h
Advice from 'Exceptional Children Assistance' - via Learning Disabilities Online, the world's leading websitr on learning disabilities, lesrning disorders and diffetences
Parents and Teachers (of Students with learning disabilities) will find...
“Don’t you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.” Quote from the movie You've Got Mail.
Here are some great online resources for information and tips for Back to School
2012OSEP Project Directors' Conference . The 2012OSEP Project Directors' Conference will be held July 23–25, 2012, at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in ...
*"*Sequestration sends a signal that the United States is backtracking on its commitment to reform and its long-standing promise to promote equity through Title I and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA." *Fiscal year 2013 is a little more than two months away and sequestration kicks in three months after that on January 2nd -- so it's critically important that we – and the American people – fully understand the consequences of sequestration and take steps to avoid it now.* *The sequestration will put at risk all that we've accomplished in education and weaken ...more »
Your children were most likely diagnosed when they were young. Now, they are becoming an adult or soon will reach that age where they might need ongoing services throughout their lifespan. While some adults with autism will likely live in homes of their own with only a little support, many more will require a range of ongoing and even intensive services throughout their lifespan. The sad reality at this time is that there is a tremendous lack of adult residential supports and pro...
CEU ACCREDITATIONQUICKFACTSThe US Autism & Asperger Association 5th Annual World Conference, held October 1-3, 2010, became the most viewed Autism/Asperger conference in the world. This was the first ever Autism and Asperger conference streamed lived in its entirety.
Boards to pin on include: I am the 'I' in IEP.; 'Parents do understand...'; 'Apps for kids with Special Needs'; 'Therapies and Treatments'; 'Educating & Learning & Teaching'; 'picky-eaters'; 'Sensory relief'; 'AUTISTImotions'; and 'AUTsumers!'.
AUTISM IS A DISABILITY... and not just because it gets you a 'Disabilty' Parking Spot!http://t.co/rGDg8Eic
Here are a few views from several countries on Voting Rights & People with disabilities:
Autism & Oughtisms
Today I came across a story from Minnesota, where voting rights for the mentally disabled has become a hot topic. Currently the law there presupposes their right to vote, unless a judge determines otherwise. There is a movement – and a legal challenge – that would like to see the presumption go against those existing rights; specifically that those under guardianship should not be allowed to vote unless a judge rules otherwise.
Besides the questions this raises about discrimination and any legitimate reasons for excluding a group of people from voting, it made me wonder what the situation was here in New Zealand. Do we also take away people’s rights to vote if a judge says so, solely on the grounds of intellectual or mental disability? The answer appears to be “no:” In New Zealand, people excluded from voting (besides those who are under 18 or do not qualify as citizens in the relevant sense), are only those who are either currently in prison, or “who have been in a psychiatric hospital for more than three years after being charged with a criminal offence.” This website further explains the relevance and function of this exclusion:
Next dispute: Should all the disabled have votingrights ...
The summer of Minnesota's discontent over voting rules has spun off a related fight: whether disabledpeople who cannot handle their own affairs should ...
Voting Rights For People With Disabilities Questioned - Disability Scoop
www.disabilityscoop.com
With the presidential campaign season heading into high gear, concerns are being raised about whether all people with disabilities should have the right to vote.
"I want to vote," said Dave McMahan, a 61-year-old military veteran with mental illness who lives in a Minneapolis group home and has his affairs controlled by a legal guardian. "I've been through sweat and blood to vote. I don't want my rights taken away, because I fought for my rights here in the United States and expect to keep them that way."
At stake are the voting rights of an estimated 22,000 people whose affairs are controlled in varying degrees under guardianships. Under current law, they retain the right to vote unless a judge takes it away. That presumption, and its apparent conflict with the state Constitution, has been questioned in the lawsuit and in debate at the Legislature earlier this year.
Lawyer Robert McLeod, a guardianship expert who helped write the current law, argued against Kiffmeyer's bill and against the court petition.
"We're talking about taking a fundamental liberty and stripping it from 22,000 people," he said.
While abuse may occur, he said, that does not justify penalizing the disabled people who may be victimized.
Brian Erickson, a 40-year-old Army veteran, is another of Grisham's guardianship clients who has a mental illness. ..., who lives his life by the orderly schedule worked out by his guardians and Veterans Affairs.
He didn't want to give up his right to vote. "As a vulnerable adult, the only way we can speak is by voting. I don't want them making laws that take that right taken away from me," he said.
Boards to pin on include: I am the 'I' in IEP.; 'Parents do understand...'; 'Apps for kids with Special Needs'; 'Therapies and Treatments'; 'Educating & Learning & Teaching'; 'picky-eaters'; 'Sensory relief'; 'AUTISTImotions'; and 'AUTsumers!'.
AUTISM IS A DISABILITY... and not just because it gets you a 'Disabilty' Parking Spot!http://t.co/rGDg8Eic
Q & A with Office of Special Education Programs Director Melody Musgrove
Re: Least Restrictive Environment applying to Transition and the Workplace
Question: Is the individualized education program (IEP) Team required to include work placement in a transition-age student's IEP?
Question: Is the IEP Team required to provide parents with "notice of placement" when determining a student;s work placement?
Question: Can segregated work be considered an appropriate outcome, particularly with appropriate assessment in a LRE before such a placement occurs?
Question: Is the LEA required to provide suppplemental aids and services to allow the student to participate in the least restrictive work placement possible?
How must LRE for work placements be monitored?
Are State required to consider a student's work placement when they report the number of students participating in regular education?
This Q & A was prompted in response to a letter 'Disability Rights Wisconsin' sent to OSEP Director Musgrove on December 22, 2011. They had a conversation about it on December 2, 2011, in which 'Disability Rights Wisconsin' requested an opinion from OSEP on the applicability of the least restrictive environment (LRE) requirements under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to transition work placement. Director Musgrove addressed her response letter to Jeffrey Spitzer-Resnick, Beth Swedeen, and Lisa Pugh. The letterhead states: United States Department of Education Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, along with the official seal of the United States of America Department of Education.
DisabilityRightsWisconsin. 131 W. Wilson St. Suite 700 ... This is in response to your letter to me, dated December ... /s/ MelodyMusgrove. MelodyMusgrove, Ed.D. Director
Jeffrey Spitzer-Resnick, Beth Swedeen, Lisa Pugh. Disability Rights Wisconsin. 131 W. Wilson St. Suite 700. Madison, Wisconsin 53703. Dear Mr. Spitzer-Resnick, Ms ...
DRW and the Board for People with Developmental Disabilities (BPDD) wrote a letter to the federal Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) seeking better guidance about the least restrictive environment (LRE) impact on community based transition services. OSEP responded with a favorable letter on June 22, 2012. Click here for the letter. [ http://www.disabilityrightswi.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/OSEP-transition-letter.0622121.pdf ]
DRW and BPDD believe:
The letter provides more guidance to states on how to apply Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) requirements under Part B of IDEA to transition work placements. There has been confusion among states, school districts, IEP teams (including parents and youth) about how transition services can facilitate integrated employment. USDOE clearly states that transitions services are a coordinated set of activities for a child with a disability that are designed as part of a results-oriented process. This process is meant to help the child move to post-school activities, which include integrated employment (including supported employment).
Transition services (including work placements) should be based on a child’s strengths and interests.
USDOE clearly state that a work placement, if it is included as part of a youth’s transition services, must be included in the child’s IEP and then is subject to the provisions of a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) and Least Restrictive Environment (LRE).
USDOE clearly states that when work placements are part of transition services, they must meet the LRE test, which includes the IEPs team’s determination that the youth is only receiving services in a segregated setting (segregated work placement) if the use of supplementary aids and services could not support the youth in a less restrictive setting. We believe those supplementary aids and services should include things like job coaches and assistive technology.
USDOE clearly states that, just as the LRE test applies in the classroom, supplementary aids and services based on peer reviewed research – must be provided to the youth to help him or her make progress in the work placement setting. An IEP team must consider those aids and services the can help the student participate with non-disabled peers.
USDOE clearly states that SEAs (DPI) has the responsibility to monitor whether LRE is being met for youth in work placements. Therefore a district would be expected to show a variety of work placements based on the strengths and interests of the youth in their district.
Posted in DRW Announcements, Public Policy on Thursday, June 28th, 2012
DRW Managing Attorney Jeff Spitzer-Resnick is quoted in an Education Week blog post on this topic: Click here to read the blog post. [Spitzer-Resnick said these conversations must happen more often, because often for students with disabilities, especially severe disabilities, the job they get after high school is the job they have for the rest of their lives.
Otherwise, while a lot has been done to improve the education of students with disabilities, serve them more inclusively at school, and demand more of them academically, that effort may be going to waste.
"It is clearly the IDEA's goal that children get an education so they can lead a productive adult life," he said. "If we are doing a good job in the earlier years... and we end like this, what a waste of resources."
'Least-Restrictive Environment' Must Be Considered at Workplace, Too
By Nirvi Shah on July 2, 2012 9:20 AM http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/speced/2012/07/least-restrictive_environment_.html?cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS2 ]
In 'The Capitol Insider Blog', The Arc - 'For people with intellectual and developmental disabilities' posted on by The Arc : In a June 22, 2012 letter sent to Disability Rights Wisconsin,... Dr. Musgrove clarified that if a work setting is an appropriate transition service for a student, it must be included in the child’s individualized education program (IEP). She also stated that the LRE provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) pertain to the employment portion of the student’s program and services in a segregated setting (work placement) if the use of supplementary aids and services (job coach, assistive technology) could not support the student in a less restrictive setting. The guidance indicated that schools should count students’ time spent in integrated employment settings as time spent inside the regular classroom.
Disability Scoop, 'The Premier Source on Developmental Disabilities News', reported:
Feds: Least Restrictive Environment Applies To Transition Too
By law, students with disabilities are supposed to be included in general education to the greatest extent possible. Now, federal officials say the same tenet of inclusion should apply to transition as well.
Informal guidance issued recently from the U.S. Department of Education indicates that the requirement in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, that students be placed in the “least restrictive environment” extends beyond the confines of the classroom.
Specifically, the concept should apply to work placements if such experiences are part of a student’s individualized education program, or IEP, officials at the Education Department said.
“Placement decisions, including those related to transition services (including work placements), must be based on these (least restrictive environment) principles and made by the IEP team,” wrote Melody Musgrove, director of the Office of Special Education Programs at the Department of Education. “The IDEA does not prohibit segregated employment, but the (least restrictive environment) provisions would apply equally to the employment portion of the student’s program and placement.”
Boards to pin on include: I am the 'I' in IEP.; 'Parents do understand...'; 'Apps for kids with Special Needs'; 'Therapies and Treatments'; 'Educating & Learning & Teaching'; 'picky-eaters'; 'Sensory relief'; 'AUTISTImotions'; and 'AUTsumers!'.
AUTISM IS A DISABILITY... and not just because it gets you a 'Disabilty' Parking Spot!http://t.co/rGDg8Eic
Disability Rights Wisconsin (DRW) is the state's protection and advocacy agency for people with all types of serious disabilities. It provides a wide variety of ...
Disability Rights Wisconsin has learned that the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) received a July 20 letter from the Center for Medicaid and Medicaid ...
A statewide resource for individuals, families, service professionals and others concerned with disability issues. Works to ensure the rights of all state citizens ...
Read this informational paper from the Survival Coalition of Wisconsin Disability Organizations to understand what the Affordable Care Act means for people with disabilities, how it can promote employment of people with disabilities and next steps for implementation in the state. Click here to read the informational paper.
The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) is dedicated to improving results for infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities ages birth through 21.
2012 OSEP Project Directors' Conference . The 2012 OSEP Project Directors' Conference will be held July 23–25, 2012, at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in ...
OSEP assists states with implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). As part of its mission, OSEP is charged with developing ...
Next dispute: Should all the disabled have voting rights ...
In 'The Capitol Insider Blog', The Arc - 'For people with intellectual and developmental disabilities' posted
Disability Scoop, 'The Premier Source on Developmental Disabilities News', reported:
