Genetic Manipulation for Individuals with Disabilities: Does CRISPR-Cas9 Provide a Magic Bullet?

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & DENTISTRY BY H. BARRY WALDMAN DDS, MPH, PHD, STEVEN P. PERLMAN DDS, MSCD, DHL (HON), RICK RADER, MD, FAAIDD, DHL (HON) AND MATTHEW COOKE, DDS, MD, MPH “In 1972, WABC-TV in New York sent rookie reporter Geraldo Rivera to Staten Island to infiltrate the Willowbrook State School. Robert Kennedy had visited the mental institution in 1966 and declared: ‘Willowbrook State School was not fit even for animals to live […]

Telehealth and Children with Disabilities

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & DENTISTRY BY H. BARRY WALDMAN DDS, MPH, PHD, LISA BARD LEVINE, MD, MBA, ANDREW G. SCHWARTZ, DDS, FACD, RICK RADER, MD, FAAIDD, DHL (HON) AND STEVEN P. PERLMAN DDS, MSCD, DHL (HON) “Persons with severe functional disabilities are the highest users of health care services. Care for the needs of this population represents a significant percentage of our national health care costs. A growing body of research has demonstrated […]

On Early Warning Systems

ANCORA IMPARO BY RICK RADER, MD ■ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF It falls upon parents, clinicians, teachers, job coaches, direct support professionals, friends, siblings and case managers to understand what constitutes an early warning system for the individuals they care about, treat and support. Several days ago, over a million residents in Hawaii were horrified to receive a cell phone warning that North Korea had launched a nuclear missile so the residents needed to seek immediate shelter. What […]

It Just Seems Normal

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & DENTISTRY BY H. BARRY WALDMAN DDS, MPH, PHD, STEVEN P. PERLMAN DDS, MSCD, DHL (HON) AND MATTHEW COOKE, DDS, MD, MPH AND CHARLES D. LARSEN, DMD, MS The 1990 Americans with Disabilities (ADA) legislation set the civil rights ground rules that prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general […]

Jim Brett Honored By The AADMD

James T. Brett, known to many as Jim Brett, received the Katie Beckett Advocacy Award from the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry (ADDMD) at the organization’s 2017 annual conference. The award is named after Katie Beckett who, from age three, had been hospitalized (for viral encephalitis) despite the protestations of her parents. President Ronald Reagan invoked her case as an example of irrational federal regulations in 1981. Eventually, a ruling that allowed children […]