National Autism Association Announces Second Launch of “Big Red Safety Box” to Combat Deaths In Autism Community

From NAA Press Release: Boston, MA – In an ongoing effort to combat the rise in wandering-related tragedies and deaths within the autism community, the National Autism Association (NAA) announced today its second launch of “The Big Red Safety Box,” a program that provides free toolkits to caregivers with an at-risk child or adult. [Read the entire press release]

Suicide Prevention Resources Added

We have added a new page to the resources section of our website. This new page is Suicide Prevention Resources. Currently the page lists information on two programs: Lifelines and Let’s Talk. We will continue to expand this list of resources, so stay tuned.

Not My Kid: What Every Parent Should Know

The Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide (SPTS) has produced a video called “Not My Kid: What Every Parent Should Know” which can be viewed at the following link:

http://www.sptsusa.org/parents/video/spts_parent_video.html

As per their website The mission of the Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide is to reduce the number of youth suicides and attempted suicides by encouraging overall public awareness through the development and promotion of educational training programs for teens, parents and educators.

Project Hug

From Kristin Mullen of the Governor’s Advisory Council for Exceptional Citizens (GACEC):

The Governor’s Advisory Council for Exceptional Citizens (GACEC) and the Organization of Adult Alumni and Students in Service (OAASIS) are delighted to report that Project Hug is in full swing and receiving terrific support from the community! This special project focused on providing warmth, smiles and hugs to children who are homeless or in foster care in Delaware has received so many wonderful items already, and we are still two weeks away from the deadline for donations.

We are also happy to say that several area organizations have committed to supporting Project Hug’s efforts. We are grateful to Camden Wal-Mart, Fleece for Keeps, Helping Hands Quilt Guild and theMrs. Delaware United States Pageant for joining us as supporting partners.

There’s still time to spread the word and collect more hugs! Please share the attached flyer far and wide and help us spread the word. A current list of collection sites for donations is included below. (Valid as of January 30, 2012) Collection sites are being added daily, and can be found on the GACEC’s website at http://gacec.delaware.gov.

 

Project Hug Drop-off Locations*

*Deadline for collection sites to bring their collected items to the GACEC and OAASIS Offices is February 13, 2012

New Castle County

Appoquinimink Adult Continuing Educational Programs

120 Silver Lake Road, Room # 1043

Middletown, DE 19709

Donations accepted Monday through Thursday, 12:00pm – 8:00pm

James H. Groves Adult High School

Red Clay Center

Adult Education Main Office

1621 Telegraph Road

Wilmington, Delaware 19804

Donations accepted Monday thru Thursday, 8:00am – 8:00pm and Friday, 8:00am – 10:00pm

 

Literacy Volunteers Serving Adults/Northern Delaware Inc. (LVSA)

10 E. 10^th Street

Wilmington, Delaware  19899-2083

302.658.5624

Donations accepted Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM

 

Glasgow High School

1901 S. College Ave., Room 115

Newark, DE.19702

Donations accepted from 4:30 PM to 8:00 PM

Kent County

GACEC/OAASIS Offices

George V. Massey Station

516 West Loockerman Street

Dover, DE 19904

Donations accepted Monday through Friday, 9:00am – 4:00pm

Polytech Adult Education

823 Walnut Shade Road

Woodside, DE 19980

(302)-697-4545

Contact Person: Joyce Warrington

Donations accepted Monday through Thursday, 5:30pm – 9:00pm

Delaware Early Childhood Center

100 West & Mispillion Streets

Harrington, DE 19952

(302)398-8945 ext. 30

Donations accepted Monday through Friday, 10:00am – 3:00pm

 

Sussex County

Indian River Adult Education

Georgetown Middle School

301 West Market Street

Georgetown DE 19947

Please call Nancy Shields, at (302)530-9960, to arrange for item drop-offs.

Donations accepted Monday through Friday 5:30pm – 8:00pm

With any questions please feel free to contact Kristin Mullen

Phone: 302.739.4553

Fax: 302.739.6126

Email: kmullen@gacec.k12.de.us

http://gacec.delaware.gov/ProjectHug.shtml

CDC Releases New Immunization Schedule

From the CDC website: Are your child’s vaccinations up to date? The Schedules list the age or age range when each vaccine or series of shots is recommended. If your child (birth through 6 years old) or adolescent (age 7 through 18 years old) has missed any shots, consult the catch-up schedule AND check with the doctor about getting back on track.

Click to view the schedule.

Statewide Needs Assessment Survey: Autism Spectrum Disorders

The University of Delaware Center for Disabilities Studies is conducting a statewide needs assessment survey for families and individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

We hope to get parents/guardians and individuals to complete a survey telling us what they think of the health and education services they receive and to get their points of view about what impacts on their child’s life or their life. This survey, along with upcoming listening sessions, will help to improve services and programs for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders across Delaware.

Your input will be completely anonymous. The entire survey should take about 15 minutes to complete.

In addition, I would also like to invite you to join one of our Listening Sessions around the state.  In January and February of 2012, we will be coming to your area to listen to your stories. We will provide dinner and a stipend to our participants.

If you are interested in participating in a listening session in Newark, Middletown, Dover or Georgetown or if you have any questions about the survey, please feel free to contact Annalisa Ekbladh at 302-831-0626 or by email atannalisa@udel.edu.   Thank you for your help in this study.

 

The anonymous link for families of school age children with autism (ages 3 to 21) is:

English:  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/autism_youth

Spanish: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/autismo_joven

The anonymous link for families of adult children with autism is:

English: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/autism_adult

Spanish: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/autismo_adulto

 

The anonymous link for adults with autism (who wish to fill out the survey themselves) is:

English only: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/autism_adult-individual

Easter Seals Announces The Community Outreach Program

Easter Seals of Delaware and Maryland’s Eastern Shore has recently announced the expansion of The Community Outreach Program. The program has new services for people with disabilities, their families and caregivers. Click here for more information.

Nationwide Emergency Alert Test- Nov. 9

From the Center for Disabilities Studies at the University of Delaware: 

On November 9th FEMA, DHS and FCC will conduct the first national test of the Nationwide Emergency Alert System test. This test will kick off at 2:00 p.m. (EST). The test will be nationwide, running concurrently across all time zones.

 This system test is the first of its kind. It is designed to broadcast a nationwide message to the American public. Nothing like it has been conducted in the history of the country. There have been tests in the past but none to all parts of the Nation at the same time. The test will run concurrently on all radio and TV bands and the message will run for three minutes. Most messages in the past were anywhere from 30 seconds to 1 minute.

There is great concern in local police and emergency management circles about undue public anxiety over this test. The test message on TV might not indicate that it is just a test. Fear is that the lack of an explanation message might create panic.  Please share this information with your family and friends so they are aware of the test.

Below are two websites, that will provide more information…  

http://www.fema.gov/emergency/ipaws/eas_info.shtm

https://nationaldialogue-emergencyalertsystem.ideascale.com/

Social Security Expands Compassionate Allowances Conditions

From www.socialsecurity.gov : 

Social Security Expands Compassionate Allowances Conditions

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Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, today announced 13 new Compassionate Allowances conditions involving the immune system and neurological disorders.  The Compassionate Allowances program fast-tracks disability decisions to ensure that Americans with the most serious disabilities receive their benefit decisions within days instead of months or years.  Commissioner Astrue made the announcement during his remarks at the U.S. Conference on Rare Diseases and Orphan Products in Washington, D.C.

“Social Security handles more than three million disability applications each year and we need to keep innovating and making our work more efficient,” Commissioner Astrue said.  “With our Compassionate Allowances program, we quickly approved disability benefits for more than 60,000 people with severe disabilities in the past fiscal year. We have made significant improvements, but we can always do more.”

The Compassionate Allowances initiative identifies claims where the nature of the applicant’s disease or condition clearly meets the statutory standard for disability. With the help of sophisticated new information technology, the agency can quickly identify potential Compassionate Allowances and then quickly make decisions.

Social Security launched the Compassionate Allowances program in 2008 with a list of 50 diseases and conditions.  The announcement of 13 new conditions, effective in December, will increase the total number of Compassionate Allowances conditions to 113.  The conditions include certain cancers, adult brain disorders, a number of rare genetic disorders of children, early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and other disorders.

The agency announced a small grant program for graduate students that will help Social Security improve its list and has recently awarded an approximately $1.5 million grant over a five-year period to Policy Research, Incorporated (PRI) through the Disability Determination Process Small Grant Program.  This new program aims to improve the disability process through innovative research by graduate students who will receive small stipends for their work.  In addition, the agency recently streamlined its online disability application for people who have a condition on the Compassionate Allowances list.

For more information on the Compassionate Allowances initiative, please visitwww.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances.

New Compassionate Allowances Conditions

Malignant Multiple Sclerosis
Paraneoplastic Pemphigus
Multicentric Castleman Disease
Pulmonary Kaposi Sarcoma
Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma
Primary Effusion Lymphoma
Angelman Syndrome
Lewy Body Dementia
Lowe Syndrome
Corticobasal Degeneration
Multiple System Atrophy
Progressive Supranuclear Palsy
The ALS/Parkinsonism Dementia Complex

Support ADHD Awareness Week

From SAMHSA: October 16–22, 2011

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a serious public health issue. Nearly every mainstream medical, psychological, and educational organization in the United States has concluded that it is a real, brain-based medical disorder and that children and adults with ADHD benefit from appropriate treatment.

Support ADHD Awareness Week by learning—and sharing—the facts:

• ADHD is real.
• ADHD is a common, nondiscriminatory disorder.
• Diagnosing ADHD is a complex process.
• Other mental health conditions often occur along with ADHD.
• ADHD is not benign.
• ADHD is nobody’s fault.
• ADHD treatment is multifaceted.

Learn More About ADHD and Help Increase Awareness