As more states legalize marijuana and social media touts its use for morning sickness, the nation’s pediatricians caution the drug may not be harmless. With marijuana use more commonly reported by women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, a new American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) report calls for more research on possible developmental effects on children. Highlighting emerging evidence that marijuana likely is not harmless as widely assumed, the AAP recommends women avoid the drug while […]
People with intellectual disabilities (ID)—difficulty with thinking, learning, remembering, and reasoning—experience poorer access to quality health care and have poorer health outcomes than people without ID. Learn how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working with Special Olympics to improve the health of people with ID. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), enacted in 1990, has made a positive difference in the lives of countless people with disabilities in the U.S. The […]
by Maxine Rosaler When my son was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome over two decades ago, autism did not hold much interest for the medical establishment. It wasn’t “sexy,” one mother told me. That was why there was so little research being conducted about it, she explained. There was no consensus on how to treat this strange disorder. In the absence of a consensus, a host of strange therapies flourished. It was clear to most parents that […]
Background Many individuals with disabilities face disparities in access to services, information, and education around sex and reproductive health. One reason behind this disparity is the prevailing belief that individuals with disabilities —especially those with intellectual or cognitive disabilities—are “childlike” or “asexual” and do not have sex or a sexuality and thus do not need reproductive health services, education, or information.3-6 However, this notion is false as studies have found that individuals with disabilities are […]
Marina Sarris Interactive Autism Network Ruth Dunigan is proud. Her son, David, is excelling at a full-time job and managing his money well enough to buy his first vehicle, a silver Jeep Liberty. Those may seem like average things for a 25-year-old, but David is not average. David is among a tidal wave of people with autism who have made the transition from school to adulthood recently.1,2 His generation has had to navigate school and […]
