Category: Intellectual Disability

States Aim To Halt Sexual Abuse Of People With Intellectual Disabilities

eParent Connect, Featured Topics, Intellectual Disability 06/27/201806/26/2018 admin

Heard on All Things Considered Earlier this year, NPR reported that people with intellectual disabilities are victims of some of the highest rates of sexual assault. NPR found previously undisclosed government numbers showing that they’re assaulted at seven times the rate of people without disabilities. Now states, communities and advocates, citing NPR’s reporting, are making reforms aimed at improving those statistics. In Pennsylvania, legislation passed the state House of Representatives earlier this month that would […]

Employable Me has struck a chord but will it change employers’ attitudes to disability?

Intellectual Disability, What's Happening 06/26/201806/26/2018 admin

BY: Katie Sutherland Doctor of Creative Arts Candidate, Western Sydney University “I’m glad you can make use of my weapons grade autism”, laughs Jonathon in the ABC TV series Employable Me. He has landed a competitive paid internship, channelling his passion for accountancy. As well as a love of numbers, he has a wicked sense of humour and a way with words. And his sentiment is in line with the theme of the series, which […]

New Brain Development Disorder Identified

Featured Topics, Healthcare, Intellectual Disability 06/13/2018 admin

Summary: Researchers have identified a new neurodevelopmental disorder. The study reveals the inherited disorder can produce learning difficulties and increase seizure risks. The researchers have implicated a recessive mutation in CAMK2A in this new disorder. Source: eLife. Researchers have identified a new inherited neurodevelopmental disease that causes slow growth, seizures and learning difficulties in humans. Writing in the journal eLife, the team reveals that this disease is caused by a recessive mutation in CAMK2A – […]

Study Finds Facial Analysis Software Able to Identify Patients with Williams-Beuren Syndrome

Featured Topics, Healthcare, Intellectual Disability, Rare Genetic Disorders 06/01/201805/27/2018 admin

A new study has shown that researchers have successfully used facial analysis technology and clinical information to successfully identify patients with Williams-Beuren syndrome, a rare condition that causes cardiovascular problems and intellectual disability. Though Williams-Beuren syndrome is a genetic condition, most case are not inherited. It affects about 1 in 7,500 to 10,000 people. People with the condition have distinctive facial features including puffiness around the eyes, a short nose with a broad tip, full […]

Children with special needs can be an asset to society – our cafe proves it

ADHA, Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Dyslexia, eParent Connect, Epilepsy, Featured Topics, Intellectual Disability, Learning Disabilities 05/23/201805/21/2018 admin

BY Lucy Beattie When I was approached about working in a special needs school my first thoughts were, I’m not sure I could do that, I’m not sure I want to work with unresponsive children, in an environment full of medical needs and where children dribble as they eat, in a school at the top of the hill that most local residents don’t even realise is there. Having now worked in Three Ways school for […]