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 […]

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 […]

Resources For Multi-Sensory Environments

BY JANICE K. RYAN, OTD, OTR/L Multi-sensory activities are suggested that are easy to locate, relatively inexpensive to buy, and will allow you to better understand how to create your child’s and family’s own personally-preferred home environment. The American Association of Multi-Sensory Environment (AAMSE) approach to treating people with special needs is an evolution of earlier ideas put forth by occupational therapists, neurophysiologists, educators, and the energy techniques used by complementary and integrative medicine (CIM) […]

Joining The Fight For Human Rights

Special Olympics has found that people with intellectual disabilities are being excluded from national laws and policies in countries around the world. BY JAVIER VASQUEZ To the rest of the world, human rights are assumed and not questioned. Special Olympics fights for people with intellectual disabilities (ID) to obtain the same human rights as everyone else. Human rights are defined as universal freedoms and entitlements all human beings share, whatever their race, nationality, place of […]

Including People With Disabilities In The Communities’ Public Health Initiatives To Eliminate Health Disparities

BY LAUREN AGORATUS, M.A. “By every measure, persons with disabilities disproportionately and inequitably experience morbidity and mortality associated with unmet healthcare needs in every sphere. Minorities with disabilities are doubly burdened by their minority status.” – “Assuring Health Equity for Minority Persons with Disabilities. A Statement of Principles and Recommendations.” A recommendation report from the HHS Advisory Committee on Minority Health. July 2011. People with disabilities are a recently recognized population1 affected by health disparities. […]