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October 2010, Vol 10. No.10

AAIDD F.Y.I.
October 2010, Vol.10, No.10

Visit www.aaidd.org/FYI/ to access current and past issues of this monthly newsletter. Subscribe at http://www.responsetrack.net/aaidd/sign_up

Dear AAIDD Friends and Colleagues:

• U.S. Congress passes legislation that eliminates term “mental retardation” in several laws.
• Access the presentations and recording from the AAIDD webinar on “Individualized Supports Planning in Special Education: Applications to Students with Intellectual Disability” held on September 27, 2010.
• New research highlights possible link between gastric bypass surgery in adolescent girls and an increased risk for neural tube defects in future children.
• Autism in the news: Why Autism Spectrum Disorder affects more males than females and new study on an early marker for autism
• Babies born post term have an increased risk of cerebral palsy, new research shows.

U.S. CONGRESS PASSES LEGISLATION THAT ELIMINATES TERM “MENTAL RETARDATION” IN SEVERAL LAWS
The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill that eliminates the use of the words “retarded” and “retardation” in health, education, and labor laws. The legislation known as Rosa’s Law now goes to President Barack Obama.  “I’m pleased that the House has approved Rosa’s Law, and hope the President will sign it quickly,” said Senator Mike Enzi, original co-sponsor of the bill with Senator Barbara Mikulski. “For far too long we have used hurtful words like ‘mental retardation’ or ‘MR’ in our federal statutes to refer to those living with intellectual disabilities...Rosa’s Law will make a greatly-needed change that should have been made well before today – and it will encourage us to treat people the way they would like to be treated.” Read the entire news release from the offices of Senators Mikulsi and Enzi.

Read a statement on the passing of the bill by Dr. Margaret Nygren, Executive Director of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) in this article on cnn.com.  

AAIDD also renamed its definition manual Intellectual Disability in the recently-published eleventh edition of the book. Read more at www.aaidd.org/intellectualdisabilitybook.

ACCESS THE PRESENTATIONS AND RECORDING FROM THE AAIDD WEBINAR ON “INDIVIDUALIZED SUPPORTS PLANNING IN SPECIAL EDUCATION: APPLICATIONS TO STUDENTS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY” HELD ON SEPTEMBER 27, 2010
On September 27, the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) held a webinar, titled “Individualized Supports Planning in Special Education: Applications to Students with Intellectual Disability” with panelists, Dr. Martha Snell, Professor of Special Education at the University of Virginia; Karrie Shogren, Assistant Professor of Special Education at the University of Illinois; and Paula Fallon, Special Education teacher at the Albemarle County Post High Program. Download slides from the webinar.

Listen to a recording of the webinar.  The content of the webinar is based on best practices in intellectual disability as presented in the 11th edition of the AAIDD definition manual, Intellectual Disability: Definition, Classification, and Systems of Supports.

NEW RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS POSSIBLE LINK BETWEEN GASTRIC BYPASS SURGERY IN ADOLESCENT GIRLS AND AN INCREASED RISK FOR NEURAL TUBE DEFECTS IN FUTURE CHILDREN
A case study presented on October 3rd at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and in San Francisco, California, highlights the possible link between gastric bypass surgery in adolescent girls and an increased risk for neural tube defects. Neural tube defects can lead to varying degrees of disability such as paralysis and intellectual disability due to damage to the nervous system in offspring. Neural tube defects in the brain and spinal cord can be due to nutritional deficiencies. The case study presented, "Neural Tube Defects: An Unforseen Consequence of Gastric Bypass Surgery in Young Female Patients?" reviewed the case of a young patient who had undergone gastric bypass surgery prior to becoming pregnant. A literature review found six additional documented cases of children born with neural tube defects thought to be due to maternal nutritional deficiencies, particularly malabsorption (when the body cannot absorb nutrients), following bypass surgery.

Read a news release from AAP on the discovery.

AUTISM THE NEWS: WHY AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER AFFECTS MORE MALES THAN FEMALES AND NEW STUDY ON AN EARLY MARKER FOR AUTISM
New research from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, Canada, provides further clues as to why Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects four times more males than females. The scientists discovered that males who carry specific alterations of DNA on the sole X-chromosome they carry are at high risk of developing ASD. The research is published in the September 15 issue of Science Translational Medicine. Read an abstract on “Disruption at the PTCHD1 Locus on Xp22.11 in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Intellectual Disability” by Abdul Noor et al.  Read a news release on the discovery. 

The Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, announced new study results showing an early marker for later communication and social delays in infants at a higher-risk for autism may be infrequent gazing at other people when unprompted. Read a news release.

BABIES BORN POST TERM HAVE AN INCREASED RISK OF CEREBRAL PALSY, NEW RESEARCH SHOWS
While preterm birth is a known risk factor for cerebral palsy, an examination of data for infants born at term or later finds that compared with delivery at 40 weeks, birth at 37 or 38 weeks or at 42 weeks or later was associated with an increased risk of cerebral palsy, according to a study in the September 1 issue of JAMA. Cerebral palsy, a form of brain injury, could result in some form of an intellectual disability.

Read an abstract of “Cerebral Palsy Among Term and Postterm Births” by Dag Moster et al.  Read a news release from JAMA.

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