An unusual method to raise pay for paraprofessionals, RFK Jr., scares the hell out of the autism community, and more developmental disability news for the week ending Jan. 31, 2025.
New York
Special ed formal disputes see notable increases The majority of the special ed legal actions in 2022-23 — 65.6% — came from New York, which historically has had high rates of due process complaints. (k12dive.com)
Disabilities Beat: CDPAP users timid about transition to PPL for personal care The podcast hears from consumers who are concerned with the speed and transparency of the transition. (WXXI.org)
Commentary: Another problem with New York’s CDPAP overhaul: the transition plan The state seems to be ignoring its own success in helping people renew Medicaid coverage after the COVID-19 pandemic, which gave New York one of the best recertification rates in the country. (Times Union)
Anderson Center for Autism worker pleas guilty in abuse case Caregiver was caught on a whistleblower video. (news10.com)
Opinion: Direct Support Professionals are the Backbone of Care for People with Disabilities (Healthcarebusinesstoday.com)
First-of-Its-Kind Children’s Specialty Hospital for Children With Complex Disabilities Open Under the Center for Discovery (governor.ny.org)
Planned transformation of former Willowbrook State School highlights commitment to inclusivity, empowerment, change (SIlive.com)
NYC teachers union pushes unusual method to win $10,000 raise for paraprofessionals: legislation (Chalkbeat.org)
The ‘fraud’ fueling NYC special education spending All but one of the 20 cases cited by the state education department raised “fraud concerns” involved students attending yeshivas. (Gothamist)
Outside of New York
Paperwork to prove disabilities such as autism a burden to some college students. Virginia lawmakers seek to ease the process. The Democrat who sponsored the bill said people applying to state colleges were having to repeatedly prove their disability in order to receive accommodations. (whro.org)
Autism
Autism community fears RFK Jr. would set back decades of progress (NBCnews.com)
Opinion — Autism families: Keep RFK Jr. away from our kids (NY Daily News)
Education
SCOTUS to hear school disability discrimination case The case will determining whether students filing disability discrimination claims must prove that officials acted with discriminatory intent through “bad faith or gross misjudgment.” (k12dive.com)
PE
Struck out This essay from a woman with autism recounts the terrors of gym class: “I knew we weren’t just playing. Our games were the symbolic staging of something bigger and incredibly important: our place in our group.” (Disabilitydebrief.org)
Language
The Cruel Kids’ Table A birds-eye view of inauguration parties for young MAGA-ites, where the word “retarded” was used gleefully and repeatedly. (New York Magazine)
Travel
This Plans To Be the First Autism Certified Airline—Here’s What That Means for Neurodivergent Travelers The airline? Dubai-based Emirates. (Afar.com)
Sundance
Is assisted dying a ‘clear and present danger’ to people with disabilities? A new documentary at the yearly film festival in Park City says his research “left him with a sense that disabled or chronically ill people who request assisted dying are often reacting to a lack of support or believe that the world does not want them.” (Theguardian.com)
Design
Inclusive design trend begins to emerge This article is a little bit heavy on the throat-clearing, but it does offer some interesting design tips. (High Point News)
