Autism advocate Elaine Gabovitch, MPA, will co-teach Act Early teams from Massachusetts as well as six visiting states about how to consider cultural differences when screening young children for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during a two-day Peer-to-Peer Exchange event through a collaboration between the Massachusetts Act Early Program and the national Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP) to be hosted at the Boston Children’s Museum this month.
News
Fellows at UMass Medical School’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center will present posters on their work helping local organizations provide better services to people with developmental disabilities June 5 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. June 5 at the Shriver Center LEND Program, 465 Medford St., Suite 500, Charlestown.
An expert in instructional design at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center is working to improve education in public schools by helping make it possible for all students to learn at their own pace.
The Autism Insurance Resource Center at UMass Medical School’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center honored three individuals for their leadership, dedication and commitment to helping those in the autism community. The awards were announced at the Autism Insurance Resource Center’s Annual Insurance Update and Celebration of Champions May 5 at UMass Medical School.
An IT expert at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center has taken his work on improving Web access for people with cognitive disabilities to the global stage. John Rochford has joined the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Cognitive and Learning Disabilities Task Force.
“Am I Covered,” a tool to help families determine whether their health insurance policy covers services under the Massachusetts Autism Insurance Law, has been launched by UMass Medical School’s Autism Insurance Resource Center.
Siblings of children with mental health needs who participate in the UMass Medical School Sibling Support Program show a decrease in their sense of isolation and shame, one of the initiative’s parent mentors, Leah Baigell, said at the Cambridge Health Alliance Art of Healing Fundraiser April 29.
Dentists in general practice are taking on more patients with special needs, but those with intellectual or developmental disabilities may still have difficulty finding dentists to treat them. Two Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center projects aim to change that by training dentists how to care for this population and researching the most effective treatment techniques, according to an article in the Telegram & Gazette April 29.
By Ellen Moran
Massachusetts is one of five states using Medicaid claims data to study how people with intellectual disabilities are using health care services. The study led by UMass Medical School aims to improve the health and well-being of this population and understand their health care patterns.
The Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center has received a grant from the Association of University Centers on Disabilities to examine data from MassHealth, Massachusetts’ Medicaid program, to determine the types of health care used by people with intellectual disabilities. The grant is in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities.
By Ellen Moran
When a town orders an evacuation in a severe storm, people with disabilities may need the type of help no one has foreseen, such as accessible transportation to a shelter. To make sure people receive the help they need, UMass Medical School’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center will launch an online course to teach emergency planners across the country the best strategies for emergency planning for and with individuals with disabilities.