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Nov 21, 2024 | 
disabilityscoop.com | Neurodiverse Artists |Shaun Heasley
As the holiday season kicks off, kids with autism and other disabilities will have a chance to visit with Santa Claus without all of the usual chaos during a series of special events across the country. So-called Santa Cares events will be held at numerous malls and other locations early next month. Santa and other staff will be trained to accommodate individuals with disabilities and their families. In addition, the lighting and music will be adjusted and there will be minimal wait times.
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Nov 21, 2024 | 
disabilityscoop.com | Neurodiverse Artists |Aviva Bechky
PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon will divide $8.9 million among the state’s special education teachers, paraeducators and other staff members as one-time bonuses meant to help address the field’s alarming recruitment and retention problems. The money follows a 2023 law that created a potential pay differential for special education workers, allowing school districts to increase their wages or give them one-time stipends. State Sen.
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Nov 20, 2024 | 
disabilityscoop.com | Neurodiverse Artists |Michelle Diament
With Republicans set to assume control in Washington, disability advocates are warning that proposals are in the works to drastically reshape Medicaid and undermine the nation’s system of home and community-based services. President-elect Donald Trump and his allies on Capitol Hill are reportedly looking to squeeze money from Medicaid and other safety-net programs as they hunt for ways to offset the cost of extending tax cuts that were passed during his first term in office.
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Nov 19, 2024 | 
disabilityscoop.com | Neurodiverse Artists |Ashley Lee
LOS ANGELES — In March 1998, Ben Decter drove from Los Angeles to Tijuana to get medicine for his 17-month-old daughter, Addie. She had “catastrophic childhood epilepsy,” the neurologist had told him, and a drug not yet available in the U.S. was their best bet to treat her nonstop seizures. That terrifying moment is currently revisited five times per week as part of a new musical — one that’s deeply personal and nearly 20 years in the making.
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Nov 18, 2024 | 
disabilityscoop.com | Neurodiverse Artists |Shaun Heasley
Nearly a decade after reimagining the way shoes are designed to improve accessibility for people with disabilities, Nike is doing the same thing for backpacks. The athletic-wear company is introducing a backpack that’s specced out to meet the needs of people with low dexterity and other disabilities. Dubbed the EasyOn Backpack, the new design features finger loops, magnets and velcro-style fasteners.
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Nov 18, 2024 | 
disabilityscoop.com | Neurodiverse Artists |David Hilzenrath |Jodie Fleischer
In March, newly installed Social Security chief Martin O’Malley criticized agency “injustices” that “shock our shared sense of equity and good conscience as Americans.”He promised to overhaul the Social Security Administration’s often heavy-handed efforts to claw back money that millions of recipients — including people who are living in poverty, are elderly, or have disabilities — were allegedly overpaid, as described by a KFF Health News and Cox Media Group investigation last year.
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Nov 18, 2024 | 
disabilityscoop.com | Neurodiverse Artists |Eric Anthony Licas
COSTA MESA, Calif. — Samuel Lara normally resists new sounds, textures and tastes. The 9-year-old, diagnosed with Down syndrome and autism, might get distressed in noisy crowds or around unfamiliar faces. So, his parents are careful about exposing him to anything that might push him out of his comfort zone. “I don’t want to hinder him or have him regress,” his mother, Melissa Laura said. “That would be my big fear, like, to push him back further.
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Nov 17, 2024 | 
disabilityscoop.com | Neurodiverse Artists |Michelle Diament
President-elect Donald Trump says he wants to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education, but experts are split on what that would mean for students with disabilities across the nation. On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to close the federal agency responsible for overseeing implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and enforcing it.
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Nov 14, 2024 | 
disabilityscoop.com | Neurodiverse Artists |Michelle Diament
The U.S. Census Bureau will not make any changes to the way it counts the number of Americans with disabilities for at least two years following concerns that planned updates could lead to a severe undercount. Robert L. Santos, the agency’s director, said there will be no changes to the disability questions used in its American Community Survey in 2025 or 2026. “Beyond that, we’ll consider the full breadth of what is the best fit for measuring this topic on the ACS.
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Nov 13, 2024 | 
disabilityscoop.com | Neurodiverse Artists |Shaun Heasley
Hundreds of TJ Maxx stores are offering apparel designed and created by people on the autism spectrum as part of a new partnership. The national retailer is carrying a six-style collection from Spectrum Designs, a nonprofit in the New York City-area that trains and employs those with autism and other disabilities to make custom apparel and promotional products.
