From the Seattle Times, the first of a two-part series on the changing needs of adults with developmental disabilities. For years, their parents have cared for them, saving the government untold millions of dollars. But what will happen when their caregivers can’t do it any longer? And who will pay?

James Jensen, 47, is part of the first generation of people with developmental disabilities likely to outlive their parents in great numbers. His parents are in their early 80s, and are showing signs of slowing down. James, who has Down syndrome, has always lived with them. His mother, Delores, says he is a blessing.

When James was small, families routinely sent their children with Down syndrome to institutions — as Delores Jensen was urged to do with her son. Nowadays institutionalization is rare, but the state has not planned or funded services to take care of people like James after their families are unable to do so.

Delores’ plan, a friend concludes, is to live forever.

Related stories from the Seattle Times:

• Change in social attitudes helps lengthen lives
• Providing for future poses extra challenges
• Services in short supply
• People with Down syndrome are living longer
• Where to get help

But that’s not to say it’s easy

The [Toronto] Globe and Mail offers an extended feature on travel for people with disabilities, including tips and websites with information for prospective travelers.

Quebec’s Kéroul, a non-profit organization dedicated to accessible tourism, says people with disabilities are just as likely to travel as the rest of the population, with more than half of the 4.2 million in Canada taking at least one overnight trip a year.

“It’s a normal thing to do for everybody. People with disabilities are the same as everybody else in the sense that it is important for them to experience what this life and this world have to offer, and travel is a big part of that,” says Ray Cohen, publisher and editor-in-chief of Abilities Magazine.

But although the “world is in transition,” he says, the visually impaired or physically disabled are still encountering problems everywhere from buses to train station washrooms to airplanes. “These are issues that people with disabilities cannot take for granted because it means the difference of being able to go someplace or not.”

Manufacturers see lucrative market in senior-friendly designs

From the Wall Street Journal:

Manufacturers see sound business reasons for redesigning products to serve baby boomers, with major appliances and plumbing fixtures being retooled to accommodate arthritic hands and forgetful minds. The movement seems to make good business sense, as this generation is “aging in place,” fixing up existing homes rather than moving to assisted living communities.

But marketing these senior-friendly features before they’re needed requires a delicate touch. “The older consumers don’t want to be treated like they’re ready for retirement,” says Mark Delaney, director of the home-industry sector at NPD Group, a market research firm.

There are 78 million U.S. baby boomers, and roughly one-third will be 62 years old or older by 2013, says AARP.

Included is a list of aging-friendly products that could also be helpful for people with other types of disabilities.

From the Cincinnati Enquirer:

Ohio high school students with disabilities like Drew Lane (left) are benefiting from a volunteer hospital internship program that teaches them trades and job skills. Lane has Asperger’s syndrome.

Organizers say the goal is competitive employment after graduation. “When these students were in high school they were often the last person on the totem pole in their class. But here in this program they get to experience success and learn skills and you can just see their chests puff up with pride,” said project coordinator Tony Huff.

Second in the nation at a major public university

From the Des Moines Register:

Spurred by the experiences of their son Ronald, who has autism, Jim Autry and Sally Pederson worked to create a program for students with disabilities at the University of Iowa. When it opens this fall, the program will be just the second of its kind at a major public university in the United States. The other is the Pathway Program, which started last fall at UCLA. [Full disclosure: my husband and I are among Pathway's founders, and I'm a member of its Educational Advisory Committee.]

Students with multiple disabilities will be integrated into the student body, live in residence halls, take classes, do laundry, manage their money.

The Iowa program will be called REACH — Realizing Educational and Career Hopes. Its inaugural class will have 25 students. “This is the new frontier for special education,” REACH director Dennis C. Harper says.

(more…)

Matches students with, without disabilities

‘With buddies, they’re 1 of the gang’

From the Chicago Tribune:

The “peer buddy” movement is transforming special education across Illinois and the nation. Students with intellectual disabilities are matched with “regular” teens to bridge the social gulf that has persisted through decades of attempts to merge children with disabilities into the academic mainstream. The focus is on teaching social skills and empathy, but students also find valuable friendships forming, too.

‘Universal design’ boosts inclusion and achievement with use of computers, software

The Boston Globe documents a movement in education that integrates computer technology and software into mainstream curriculum, allowing students with disabilities to work alongside their peers in general education classes. The practice, called universal design …

… allows children with special needs to feel included in a school’s social life, provides for a more equitable education, and better prepares them for life outside school, supporters say.

“You’ve made it almost seamlessly accessible,” said Jennifer Edge-Savage, director of implementation services for Kurzweil Educational Systems, a Bedford company that develops reading technology for those with learning difficulties or visual impairments. “When you’re surrounded by technology in a classroom, that one student with a laptop doesn’t look so out of place anymore.”

… Technology has been used for special education for decades, but the advent of the federal No Child Left Behind Act and the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act have spurred more intense efforts to mesh technology with mainstream curriculum. The education act requires educators to consider technology for students with special needs so they can be accommodated in the general classroom.