Birth Injury and Cerebral Palsy Attorneys Home

Does Your Child Have An Intellectual Disability? Survey Finds That Just One in Three Disabled Adults Are Employed

Posted on March 19, 2014 by

According to DisabilityScoop.com, adults with intellectual disabilities are finding trouble entering the workforce, with about 66 percent being unemployed. The website reported that a Gallup survey indicated that of those workers who are intellectually disabled, “slightly more than half are employed in competitive environments alongside those without disabilities, while 38 percent work in sheltered workshops and 9 percent are self-employed.” The findings came from a national poll of more than 1,000 parents or guardians of adults with intellectual disabilities conducted by Gallup and the Center for Social Development and Education at the University of Massachusetts Boston. “A meaningful job is important to most of us, and people with intellectual disabilities are no different,” Gary Siperstein, director of the Center for Social Development and Education at the University of Massachusetts Boston and the lead researcher of the study told DisabilityScoop.com. “Government has invested millions of dollars in better outcomes for adults…
Read More »

Autism Diagnoses May Decrease Under Changes to Criteria

Posted on March 12, 2014 by

According to DisabilityScoop.com, the number of people diagnosed with autism could decrease by nearly one-third under new criteria for diagnosing the developmental disorder. The website reported that a new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, known as the DSM-5, introduced extensive changes to the criteria for an autism diagnosis. The website reported that the changes include the deletion of “Asperger’s syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder and pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified, instead establishing an umbrella classification of ‘autism spectrum disorder’ with clinicians indicating a level of severity.” A new study by the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders has some experts worried that people who previously qualified for a diagnosis on the autism spectrum will be left out, due to the changes. According to DisabilityScoop, researchers with the journal found that 31 percent of those who met the diagnostic criteria for autism under the old DSM…
Read More »

Maryland Lawmakers Contemplating Birth Injury Fund

Posted on March 5, 2014 by

According to the Baltimore Sun, lawmakers in Maryland are pushing for a bill that would create a fund to help pay for treatment for babies who suffer from neurological injuries during birth. The legislation would let hospitals, doctors with obstetrics and gynecological practices, as well as malpractice insurers, pay annual fees to the birth injury fund, which families could used to pay medical bills, recoup lost earnings potential and cover other costs, according to the Sun. Johns Hopkins Hospital and the University of Maryland Medical System feel that the fund is needed because of several recent multimillion-dollar judgments in the state. The healthcare providers said that if lawsuits continue to mount, it could lead to some practices closing and reduced access to medical care. “What we would like is a fair shake in cost containment,” Andrew Satin, director of gynecology and obstetrics at Johns Hopkins Medicine, told the Sun. “I…
Read More »