More Developmental Disability News for Week Ending June 7, 2024

Uber lets caregivers monitor rides, ballot measures will be easier to read, and more developmental disability news for the week ending June 7, 2024

Spotlight

There are two stories I want to highlight this week.

Uber Launching Service To Help Caregivers

The offering, known as Uber Caregiver, will allow Uber users to designate a caregiver to arrange, pay for and monitor rides for them. Caregivers will also be able to set up deliveries for individuals with disabilities or others they assist. As part of the service, a three-way chat will allow caregivers and those they provide care for to communicate with Uber drivers. And, caregivers will be able to see real-time updates as rides or deliveries are in progress. (Disability Scoop)

Disability Advocates Are Winning the Right to Plain Language Voting

This is very encouraging news. Ballot measures are said to require a graduate-school reading level to understand, an obvious challenge for, well, many people, including people with intellectual disabilities. This article takes a look at the strides being made to use what’s called plain language, which is designed to be easier to understand on a first reading. New York passed legislation to put ballot measures in plain language in 2023. They now can’t exceed an eighth-grade reading level. (Mother Jones)

New York

Disability Rights New York wins records’ battle vs. NY Ed Department The records were requested from Shrub Oak International in Westchester County. (Times Union)

Judge temporarily blocks migrant children from JCCA’s Mount Pleasant facility The residential treatment center for emotionally troubled children ages 7-16 with educational, behavioral and emotional challenges can’t stay out of the news. (lohud.com)

New York Spends $225 Million on Its Own “Cop City” This worries me for lots of reasons, including this one: People with disabilities are more likely to experience victimization, be arrested, be charged with a crime, and serve longer prison sentences once convicted, than those without disabilities, per The Arc. (The Intercept)

Outside of New York

4 N.J. school districts cutting more than 60 teachers, staff positions The districts are Hazlet Township, Matawan-Aberdeen Regional, Red Bank Regional and Upper Township. This is just a head’s up so that residents can check out what cuts, if any, will be made to special ed. (nj.com)

Minnesota tightens special educator requirements While the law may potentially hurt school districts’ ability to address special educator shortages and diversify the teaching profession, there’s a chance the state prevented the loss of federal funding due to a “threat” from the U.S. Dept. of Ed. (k12dive.com)

Gavin Newsom delayed California disability worker raises. Lawmakers fighting to keep them More bad budget-related disability news out of California. (Sacramento Bee)

This Boston-area dad is asking the Supreme Court for the right to make videos of school meetings about disabilities services. It’s unlikely the court will choose to review an earlier decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals, but this is an important story. (USA Today)

ADHD

ADHD diagnoses are rising. 1 in 9 U.S. kids have gotten one, new study finds I missed this interesting news last week. About 1 in 9 children in the U.S., between the ages of 3 and 17, have been diagnosed with ADHD according to the CDC. (npr.com)

Education

Autism, dyslexia, ADHD: How colleges are helping ‘neurodivergent’ students succeed (Hechinger Report)

SC college programs provide a path to independent living for students with disabilities South Carolina has hundreds of students enrolled in one of its six college programs for mild to moderate developmentally disabled students. (scdailygazette.com)

RESOURCE ALERT!: Interested in college options for students with intellectual disabilities? Check out the Think College website. (And check The Boost’s Community Events section for related webinars.)

Ed Department Sees Jump In Disability Discrimination Complaints In School (Disability Scoop)

Research

Scientists find a likely cause of many unexplained cases of intellectual disability: A genetic disorder New research points to mutations in a single gene as a contributing factor. (NBC News)

Home Care

Wall Street Is Making House Calls Big Pharma and private equity are taking over the booming in-home care industry while pushing back against needed reforms. (The Lever)