Category: What’s Happening

Funding Available for COVID-19 Needs

Featured Topics, What's Happening 04/10/2020 admin

Special Announcement – Funding Available for COVID-19 Needs The Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities is encouraging people with disabilities, families of people with disabilities, and disability non-profit organizations to apply for new, one-time grants through its scholarship fund. The Council special funding grants are to be used for technology to support people with disabilities to grow their leadership skills and stay connected during social distancing with COVID-19. Funds must be used to meet the needs […]

New Policy at Twitter bans posts that ‘dehumanize’ people in connection with diseases

What's Happening 03/24/2020 admin

Twitter Inc said on Thursday it is banning posts that “dehumanize” people because they have a disease or disability or because of their age, a step that happens to correspond to an explosion of tweets about the spreading coronavirus. The company told Reuters that the policy change was not a reaction to the outbreak of the virus, which causes the respiratory disease COVID-19, but was part of its continual effort to update its rules against […]

NIH-funded effort may help people with intellectual disability participate in clinical studies

Intellectual Disability, What's Happening 03/17/202003/13/2020 admin

What The NIH Toolbox Cognitive Battery — an assessment of cognitive functioning for adults and children participating in neuroscience research —c an be adapted to people with intellectual disabilities by modifying some test components and making accommodations for the test-takers’ disabilities, according to researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health. The adaptations ensure that the battery can be used to assess the cognitive ability of people with intellectual disabilities who have a mental age of […]

World Down Syndrome Day: 3 Things You Can Do!

Down Syndrome, What's Happening 03/05/202008/28/2019 admin

March 21st was selected as March 21 = 3/21 = 3 copies of the 21st chromosome. (clever!) Since it’s a global celebration of Down syndrome, numerous events are happening and many organizations are beating the donation drum. Some projects to consider spending your time and energy participating in are: 1. A Day in the Life of Down syndrome “A Day in the Life with Down syndrome“ is a fantastic smorgasbord of stories from days in […]

Special Education Fed Funding Still Falling Short

Education, Featured Topics, What's Happening 01/13/202001/15/2020 admin

By Evie Blad When Congress passed a broad law on educating children with disabilities in 1975, it agreed to kick in federal dollars to help cover the excess costs of meeting students’ individual education needs. In the time since, federal funding for what’s now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act has consistently fallen short of the target included in the law, leaving state and local officials on the hook. Education groups, who call […]