Come for the Coffee, Stay for the Company

Amy Wright started a coffee shop to employ people with intellectual and developmental disabilities – and joined a human rights movement. By Jessica Farthing Who She Is Like every parent, Amy Wright dreamed about her children’s futures – the sports they’d play,  the colleges they’d attend, the careers they’d have. Then Beau, her third child, was born with Down syndrome, a congenital chromosomal condition that results in cognitive delays and an increased risk of certain medical […]

During the IEP Meeting The Ten Common Mistakes Parents Make

by Matt Foley, M.Ed., L.P.C. & DeAnn Hyatt-Foley, M.Ed. When our son was diagnosed with PDD-NOS in 1990, we found ourselves ill-equipped for our new role as advocates for our son. Our first Individual Education Program (IEP) meeting was over-whelming. We found it very difficult to follow what the educators were talking about. We certainly did not know what our role was in the process. We had the expectation that the trained educators of our […]

Individuals with Disabilities Disaster & Emergency Preparedness

Get Informed Know what disasters could affect your area, which could call for an evacuation and when to shelter in place. Keep a NOAA Weather Radio tuned to your local emergency station and monitor TV, radio, and follow mobile alert and mobile warnings about severe weather in your area. Download the FEMA app, receive weather alerts from the National Weather Service for up to five different locations anywhere in the United States. Make a Plan […]

Assistive Technology Help

YOU might say it all started with spell-check. In the 1980s, with the introduction of word processing programs like WordPerfect, it became apparent that computerized proofreaders could come to the rescue of struggling spellers and bad typists. Thirty years later, an ever-growing array of assistive technology is available to help students read, write term papers and take tests. From pens that can remember to text that can talk, such technologies are now being held up […]

What is the Newborn Screening Clearinghouse?

Baby’s First Test houses the nation’s newborn screening clearinghouse. The clearinghouse provides current educational and family support and services information, materials, and resources about newborn screening at the local, state, and national levels and serves as the Clearinghouse for newborn screening information. The clearinghouse is supported and funded as a result of the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act passed in 2008. Continued support for the clearinghouse is possible under the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Reauthorization […]