From Time magazine:

An explosion of research into Fragile X syndrome is yielding information that may help scientists understand and treat autism, and possibly some other conditions as well.

“Fragile X is leading the autism field in terms of new treatments,” says pediatrician Randi Hagerman, medical director of the MIND Institute at the University of California, Davis. “We know the gene, we know a lot about the biology, and we know how to fix it. That’s pretty exciting!”

The disorder is caused by a gene on the X chromosome. It affects roughly 1 in 2,500 boys, leading to autism spectrum disorders in about half of them.

From the New Orleans Times-Picayune:

Gov. Bobby Jindal has signed legislation requiring health insurance companies to cover treatment for autism in children younger than age 17.

The bill does not apply to policies covering businesses with 50 or fewer employees, or to new policies or existing ones renewed this year. Backers say the bill would help pay for “applied behavior analysis.”

In an extended interview on the CBS Evening News, New York Gov. David Paterson tells Katie Couric he’s been blind practically since birth, with no vision in his left eye and extremely limited vision in his right. His mother didn’t want him to learn Braille, insisting that he attend public school and get no special treatment.

As a result, Paterson must ‘read’ by listening to aides’ recorded messages on his phone, and relies heavily on memorization while making speeches.

On disability: “Being the first disabled governor who is able to display the disability and not have political ramifications that are negative is a real milestone.”

On employment: “I’m blind, but only 29 percent of blind people are employed in our society. Of the deaf people in our society, only 10 percent have jobs. And yet, in both cases, our educational performance exceeds the national average in our society.”

The Washington Post visits with photographer Kevin Connolly (left) who is exhibiting at the Kennedy Center. The 22-year-old Montana native traveled around the world and took pictures of people staring at him. He was born with no legs (Connolly thinks doctors have no idea why) and gets around on a skateboard.

Connolly’s disability inspires his work, but friends warn that people shouldn’t make too much of a fuss about it.

“When I want to agitate him, I tell him he’s my hero and he hates that,” says James Joyce, Connolly’s film professor at Montana State University. “He absolutely hates that. What he wants is for you to respect him for his work and not for ‘overcoming his challenges’ (and I put that in air quotes).”

Earlier posts here and here.

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

An agreement between Georgia and the federal government announced this week will help move Georgians with intellectual disabilities and mental illness out of psychiatric hospitals and into community settings such as group homes.

The pact with the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is the latest in a series of actions designed to force the state to move people out of institutionalized care and into the community.

If the agreement announced Tuesday is successfully implemented, Georgia, at the very least, would be compelled to significantly boost its spending on community services for individuals with mental or developmental disabilities. Those services in Georgia have consistently been criticized by mental health advocates as severely inadequate.

From the Dallas Morning News, with video:

Some 1,000 people took to the streets of downtown Dallas to celebrate the competence and independence of people who are blind or have visual impairments.

The march, along a route of more than a mile, was sponsored by the National Federation of the Blind.

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) and other officials spoke about the lack of jobs and appropriate education for people who are blind. It is estimated that 70 percent of blind people do not have jobs; only about ten percent of blind children learn Braille in school, down from about 50 per cent in the 1960s.

From the video coverage:

The purpose [of the march] is so that the public will see us and understand that we are competent, independent people, that we are not ashamed to be blind, and we are marching toward a future where the blind are considered equal participants in American Society.
–Chris Danielsen, NFB spokesman

See also: First U.S. coin with readable Braille unveiled

From Associated Press/ABC News:

Jeffrey Lovitky’s successful lawsuit against the U.S. Treasury Department was fueled by his memory of the woman he loved.

He describes Sandra Welner (left) as a determined and brilliant woman who overcame significant obstacles and continued to work as a gynecologist after she lost her vision. Dr. Welner ran a clinic for women with disabilities at Washington Hospital Center and was a faculty member of Georgetown and Maryland University medical centers. She died in 2001.

Lovitky filed the lawsuit on behalf of the American Council of the Blind, arguing that the Treasury Department is violating the law by failing to design and issue currency that is readily distinguishable to people who are blind or have visual impairments.

A recent favorable ruling on the case by a federal appeals court could force the U.S. to redesign its money.

Earlier post here.