PLUK News feed

First-graders learn firsthand about disabilities – and respect.

Link: Early Lessons
When Maggie Doben's first-graders find a wheelchair in the middle of their room, she meets their curiosity with questions of her own: Who might need to use this? Would they be able to get around the classroom? How do you think it works?
During an eight-week session, her students at the Cambridge Friends School have the chance to befriend at least half a dozen people with a wide range of physical disabilities.

Clues about autism, Williams syndrome and the social brain come from tracking eye movements

Link: Eyes
Humans are social animals. In recent years, psychologists and cognitive neuroscientists have revealed the distinct parts of our brain that allow us to interact, collaborate and communicate with each other. One important way of studying the “social brain” is to look at what happens in the brain during neuro-developmental disorders associated with atypical social abilities.

Autism Awareness Helps Some Adults Take Comfort in Late Diagnoses

Link: Autism

Adults who have never been diagnosed with autism-spectrum disorders are gaining new understanding of their personality quirks as awareness of the disorder grows, writes News & Observer columnist Barry Saunders. "When I first started here, it was hard to even get the word autism into the newspaper. Now, there's something on it almost every day," said David Laxton, communications director of the Autism Society of North Carolina.

SeattlePi.com: Hip T-shirts let you wear disease on a sleeve and raise awareness

Link: Seattle PI

Lee Fine found a way to make his disease into a fashion statement.

Nine years ago, Fine learned he had type 1 diabetes, his first brush with anything more serious than a cold, and the former high school swimming star was stunned by his own ignorance. He didn't know what diabetes was, let alone how to treat his type.

Autism Interview: Learn from the true experts - those on the spectrum

Link: Qazi Fazli Azeem

Qazi Fazli Azeem
Despite many sensory challenges and obstacles, Azeem is a true success. Poor eye contact and an inability to do math have not stopped him from becoming Pakistan's highest certified teacher in Multimedia/Graphic Design. He is renowned for spreading Autism Awareness in Pakistan. He has a natural talent for Numerology and is so proficient that he has been requested to do readings for celebrities and even government officials from over eleven countries.

PBS Series Explores Health Disparities, Effect of Socioeconomic Status on Health

Link: UnnaturalCauses.org

the series "explores the causes and seeks solutions to America's health crisis by crisscrossing the country, exploring how the social conditions in which Americans are born, live and work profoundly affect health and longevity". The series also highlights the results of studies that examined how socioeconomic status and other factors can affect health.

The series will feature such issues as:

* Hispanic immigrants' health status;
* How racial discrimination can lead to chronic stress that affects blacks;
* How job insecurity has affected residents of western Michigan;
* Type 2 diabetes prevalence among two American Indian communities in Arizona;
* How college-educated black women are more likely to give birth prematurely than white women who do not finish high school; and
* A gap in life expectancy between wealthy and working-class neighborhoods in Louisville, Ky.

Christine Herbes-Sommers, one of the filmmakers, said the series aims to demonstrate that "what is written into our bodies is a lifetime of experiences and social conditions. It's not about genes." She added that a theme of the series is that not everyone has access to resources that would help them sustain or improve their health.

She said, "It's easy to say, 'That person doesn't have to eat that way,' or 'They should exercise more.' But if you live in a dangerous neighborhood, or in the suburbs where there are no sidewalks, your choices are constrained".

MSNBC: With help from friend, woman overcomes bullying

Link: MSNBC

abrielle Ford was 20 years old and hiding in her room, driven there by the abuse of vicious bullying she had suffered in school because of a degenerative neuromuscular disease. She asked her mother if she could have a dog, because she desperately needed a friend.

Ford not only got a faithful companion, she also got an entirely new and wonderful life.

Because of Izzy, the coonhound she got, Ford has become a highly sought-after speaker who travels the country in her wheelchair, talking to school assemblies and classes about ways to stop bullying.

KUARPublicBroadcasting.net: New take on Fairy Tales

Link: Public Arts

As Little Hood arrives at her grandmother's cottage one morning, she's horrified to find the big, bad wolf and a mean crow trying to con the old woman and eat her. But Little Hood knows just what to do.

She unleashes her secret weapon: her Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), which allows her to focus on many things at once to protect her grandma and herself from the terrible twosome.

This revamped version of "Little Red Riding Hood" debuts in a private performance today of "Fidgety Fairy Tales," a musical aiming to break down negative stereotypes associated with mental health disorders. Public performances begin Tuesday.

NPR: Pediatrician: What Parents Should Know About Autism

Link: National Public Radio

Recent news that a couple was compensated by the government for their daughter's autism-like symptoms after a series of routine vaccinations raises concern among parents about the developmental disorder. Pediatrician Dr. Marilyn Corder, talks about the couple's case, and what parents need to know.

wcfcourier.com: West High School student earns award for his DVD campaign

Link: wcfcourier.com

WATERLOO --- When Tyler Greene decided to create and distribute a DVD for his Eagle Scout project on ability awareness, he took on an ambitious project.

His accomplishments in the two years since sum up his message: What a person can do is more important than what a person can't.

Greene, a senior at West High School, suffers from cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. He created "I'm Tyler (don't be surprised)" with the help of others and met his initial goal of distributing the DVD to administrators of all 365 public school districts in Iowa. Distribution did not stop at the borders, though.