From the Los Angeles Times (April 30) - Researchers have found that many people with autism share common genetic variation, a discover that may improve diagnosis and the promise of treatment for the condition.
From the City Insider in San Francisco (April 29) - The city of San Francisco is poised to pay $92,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by two men wheelchair users who got stranded outside the Powell Street Muni and BART station when a city-owned elevator was turned off.
From the Houston Chronicle in Texas (April 29) - A Houston man convicted of killing his former girlfriend and her 9-year-old daughter lost an appeal that contended he was ineligible for execution because he was intellectually disabled, moving him closer to his punishment for the slayings more than 16 years ago.From the Chicago Tribune with video (April 28) - The family of 16-year-old Oscar Guzman say he was standing outside his family’s restaurant when Chicago police began questioning him and he walked away. When the officers went after him, his family says he ran for the restaurant, yelling, “I’m a special boy!” Guzman has autism. Guzman’s family said one of the officers struck him in the head with a baton, cutting a gash that required eight stitches. Officials are investigating.
From the Portland Oregonian (April 28) - Eighteen-year-old Tiffany Hill of Eugene, Oregon, became the first deaf contestant to recite poems in sign language in the national Poetry Out Loud contest, held in Washington this week, but she didn’t make it into the final round.
From Adelaide Now in Australia (April 27) - Disabled students at an Adelaide Hills primary school are being dressed in fluoro vests and sent at breaks to a "caged" playground for their safety.The startling practice has been revealed by a concerned parent, Jade Brook, who says the same school also has failed to protect her son Michael, who has autism, from being bullied. (h/t Media dis&dat)
From the Jackson Sun in Tennessee (April 27) - The Winfrey Center in Trenton has had at least 13 substantiated complaints of abuse and neglect of its intellectually disabled residents since 2006, according to information provided to The Jackson Sun by state agencies.
