In some U.S. communities autism prevalence is more than three times the national average, a new study suggests.

While the developmental disability is estimated to affect less than 2% of children nationwide, rates in parts of New Jersey are nearly 7% or higher, according to findings published recently in the journal Autism Research.

Researchers took an in-depth look at the number of children with autism in four New Jersey counties that include 76 school districts. They combed special education records and those from hospital-based developmental centers to identify all children born in 2008 who had autism indicators at age 8. Then clinicians reviewed the records to confirm whether a child qualified for a diagnosis on the spectrum. The methodology used is consistent with what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employs to come up with national prevalence estimates.

New federal guidance is spelling out what qualifies as competitive integrated employment for people with disabilities.

The U.S. Department of Education issued an updated frequently asked questions document late last month that serves as guidance for the vocational rehabilitation program. The new information replaces guidance from 2017, the agency said.

Federal law requires that individuals with disabilities receiving services through vocational rehabilitation must be provided the opportunity to obtain competitive integrated employment.

For a job to qualify under that standard, the guidance indicates that an employee with a

One of our supporters recently brought to our attention a video clip from The Daily Show with Trevor Noah that discusses Sheltered Workshops. It's not what we would usually expect from a comedy program, but we are encouraged that this subject has been brought to the attention of a wider audience than it usually receives.

Wanda Felty lives in Norman with her husband and one of her daughters. She is the mother to three adult daughters and grandmother to seven grandchildren. Her middle daughter is 33 years old and was born with significant developmental disabilities along with complex medical conditions. Wanda works at the Center for Learning and Leadership, which is Oklahoma’s University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. She is also a Family Faculty for the Oklahoma LEND (Leadership Education in Neuro-developmental Disabilities) Program. Wanda and her husband Rick launched one of the first campaigns to bring awareness to the offensive use of the r-word, www.therword.org. Wanda became the coordinator of the DDS Waiting List meeting in 2006 when the original parent creator asked her to take it over after the loss of her daughter. Wanda humbly accepted and hasn’t looked back once.

The DDS (Developmental Disability Services) Waiting List Meeting is a meeting created by families for families. It allows families to learn from each other, hear from leadership in our state, and share their family’s situation. It also is a place for state legislators to hear from families who have a loved one with developmental disabilities who need and want long-term supports for their loved one. Wanda remembers her daughter being on the Waiting List and thinking no one knows or even cares.

Like any mother of a growing boy, Maria Covarrubias spent a lot of time in the kitchen. 

Her son, Raul Olguin, loved to eat.  

“With me, he always wanted to eat,” she said in Spanish. “With me, always.” 

Raul had the intellect of a toddler. He was severely autistic and needed constant supervision. He lived with his mother for most of his life – except for his final 71 days, when he was placed with a caregiver in a Garland home. 

By the time the 24-year-old died in April 2019, an autopsy showed he weighed 85 pounds. The pathologist found that he was malnourished and that lack of food contributed to his death.  

A two-year WFAA investigation into Raul’s case found his caregiver – licensed by the state – had a federal criminal conviction and should never have been looking after him or any other disabled people. The caregiver managed to make it through a loophole in Texas’ criminal background check process. Yet, another loophole allowed her to continue taking care of vulnerable individuals while under investigation for neglect, WFAA found.