From the [Edinburgh] Scotsman:

Every pregnant woman in Scotland is to be offered an early and highly accurate test to see if their baby has Down’s Syndrome.

The combined ultrasound and blood test will be done up to two months earlier than at present and is 90 per cent accurate compared with 65 per cent for the current procedure.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said the nuchal translucency (NT) test will be introduced throughout the country within three years, as part of a £11.5m program to improve screening in pregnancy. The NT test has been offered to women in England for years, but has not been routinely offered in Scotland because of a lack of trained staff.

Scottish health advocates welcomed the move but warned against pressuring women to have abortions. Pandora Summerfield, of the charity Down’s Syndrome Scotland, called for accurate information to be given along with test results.

“The world has moved on significantly and this diagnosis is not the bleak scenario that it used to be. We do not believe that a diagnosis of Down’s Syndrome should be an automatic reason for a termination.”

Earlier story: Pregnant women are forced to go private for Down’s syndrome test. [Edinburgh] Scotsman

Blogging on the New York Times site, television personality Dick Cavett describes his recent trip home to Nebraska to talk about his experiences with depression. To his surprise, he got a lot of laughs.

I was able to say to them, I know that everyone here knows that feeling when people say to you, “Hey, shape up! Stop thinking only about your troubles. What’s to be depressed about? Go swimming or play tennis and you’ll feel a lot better. Pull up your socks!” And how you, hearing this, would like nothing more than to remove one of those socks and choke them to death with it. (Laughter mixed with some minor cheering.)

… (Such inane advice of the “socks up” variety, by the way, can only be excused by the fact that if you’ve never had it you can never begin to imagine the depth of the ailment’s black despair. Another tip: Do not ask the victim what he has “to be depressed about.” The malady doesn’t care if you’re broke and alone or successful and surrounded by a loving family. It does its democratic dirty work to your brain chemistry regardless of your “position.”)

(New York Times photo)

From the New York Times:

Unlike federal and state law, which explicitly prohibit asking about or demanding proof of a disability, a vague New York City law allows businesses to challenge people who use service animals. For those whose disabilities are not plainly evident, this disparity can lead to discrimination and embarrassment, advocates say.

They report incidents in which others challenge their right to use a service animal and demand proof of their disability.

“We’re the last minority that it’s permissible to treat this way,” said Cissy Stamm, who is partly deaf. “You never know when someone’s going to look at you, and make a decision that you’re a criminal and you don’t belong where you are, or they have to double-check to see if you’re a real person with rights.”

(New York Times photo)

From the Washington Post:

Dozens of developmentally disabled persons in the District’s care are being moved to new homes after three major care providers decided to stop residential services in the city because they said they were not being paid enough.

Almost 5 percent of the adults in the city’s care — 61 of 1,207 people — have been moved or will be moved by mid-July.

… Care of the developmentally disabled has been a long-running problem for the District, which was sued 30 years ago by advocates for residents in group homes. In March 2007, U.S. District Judge Ellen S. Huvelle ruled that the city had failed those residents and called their care “inadequate.”

In May, a federal court monitor reported that “serious deficits” remained in care for the developmentally disabled.

From the Washington Post:

Washington’s Gallaudet University was torn apart by an angry wave of student protest over its selection of a president two years ago, threatening its accreditation. It’s just been notified that its accreditation will be reaffirmed.

The stamp of approval from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education caps months of work and transformation: new leadership, a new curriculum, a new emphasis on sign language, a new push to prove results with solid data and a new tranquility …

… [The school] never lost accreditation, which higher education officials say is effectively a death knell for a university, but the past months of probation and then a warning from the commission have hobbled its ability to recruit students and keep up enrollment.

From ABC News:

Parents of children with Down syndrome are enthusiastic about a line of dolls that are intended to look like their kids. Downi Creations, an American company, manufactures the toys to help children with Down syndrome gain validation and acceptance. The dolls are also sold to colleges and universities as teaching tools.

Dr. Susan Anderson, director of the Down Syndrome Program at the University of Virginia Children’s Hospital, was one of the first people to buy one. She says she uses it to teach pediatric residents about Down syndrome.

“I think this is an acknowledgement that this is an important group of children that we have in our community,” she says.

Down Syndrome Friends, a line of similar dolls from Europe, recently has been the target of offensive online comments and has posted a disclaimer on its website.

See also:
Maker says they bring out beauty, but to mom they’re ‘weird’, Chicago Sun-Times

Related post here.

(ABC News photo)

From The New York Times:

D. J. Gregory has walked every hole of every PGA Tour event so far this year and plans to keep walking until Nov. 9, the final day of the Children’s Miracle Network Classic.

Gregory has cerebral palsy and walks with a cane, his upper body swaying to accommodate a stiff-legged gait. He proposed the idea of “The Longest Walk in Golf” to the PGA Tour to raise awareness and money for United Cerebral Palsy.

The planned walk will cover 44 tournaments, 3,168 holes, and some 880 miles of hills. When Gregory was a child, his parents were told that he would never walk.  His PGA-sponsored blog is here.

“I never had the idea that I would do this to be an inspiration,” Gregory said. “It’s a personal challenge, and I love doing it because I love golf. The thing I would say to people is, go for your dream. Don’t listen if somebody tells you that you can’t do it.”

(New York Times photo)

See also:

Man crosses Michigan on stilts (Detroit Free Press)

Gaining life skills, one putt at a time (Baltimore Sun)