From the Kansas City Star, Philadelphia Daily News, and elsewhere:

In response to a complaint from a reader, nationally syndicated advice columnist ‘Dear Abby’ (Jeanne Phillips) backs off her earlier description of autism as a “mental health disorder .. some people consider … to be shameful.”

While autism is often considered a mental health disorder, Phillips now writes, it is actually biological in nature.

Experts clearly agree that autism is a neurologically based condition … However, this does not mean that autism is a “mental illness.” Autism is most accurately described as a “neurodevelopmental disorder.”

From the reader’s letter:

Autism is a neurological disorder, NOT a mental health disorder. Families who have a child with autism have many challenges ahead of them as they try to bring normalcy to their child’s life and to their family … These families need support, not misprints.

(Graphic from Universal Press Syndicate)

Alzheimer’s strains home and family (Baltimore Sun) Kathleen Kovacsi was only 57, but she had advanced Alzheimer’s disease and died after wandering away from home. Her story illustrates the challenges facing families that try to take care of their loved ones without outside help — estimated at more than 50 percent of affected families. “We don’t give families caring for Alzheimer’s patients enough support,” said one expert.

Early-diagnosis blood tests for Alzheimer’s disease in development (Los Angeles Times) A blood test providing an early diagnosis for Alzheimer’s disease may be available before there is a treatment for the condition. Researchers say the test could help people prepare for a future with dementia.

Drugs to reverse Alzheimer’s disease prove elusive (Los Angeles Times) Two highly anticipated medications aimed at halting Alzheimer’s disease prove disappointing after failed clinical trials. Scientists say Alzheimer’s research is at a crossroads.

Study suggests new tack in caring for Alzheimer’s patients (Chicago Tribune) Researchers say patients with Alzheimer’s disease maintain their sense of an adult identity and dislike being treated like children.

ADA celebrated at Florida Capitol (Fort Meyers, FL, News-Press)

From the Wall Street Journal (registration required), Reuters:

The Wall Street Journal reports that Italian prosecutors are preparing to file charges against four Google executives over a video that showed a teen with disabilities being taunted by peers.

The 191-second video, which was shown on the Internet provider’s Italian-language site, was shot in a classroom in Turin and showed four youths making fun of the teenager and hitting him in the head with a pack of tissues, according to legal documents.

The newspaper reports that prosecutors will press charges of defamation and violation of privacy against the executives for allegedly failing to adequately control the content of the site.

Stefano Hesse, head of corporate communications for Google in southern Europe, told the newspaper there is no basis for legal action aginst the four men because they had no involvement in the video incident. He said Google removed the video within hours of being notified of its existence in September 2006.

From the Detroit Free Press, Time Magazine, ABC News:

More than half a million U.S. truck and bus drivers, or more than 4 percent of commercial license holders, have qualified for full disability benefits because of medical conditions, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office.

Drivers’ disabilities include vision, hearing and seizure problems, the GAO said. Some are so severe that the license holders generally would be denied certification to drive trucks and buses.

The report said that tractor-trailer and bus drivers have suffered seizures, heart attacks or unconscious spells that led to deadly crashes. The problems persist despite years of government warnings and hundreds of deaths and injuries blamed on commercial truck and bus drivers who blacked out, collapsed or suffered major health problems behind the wheels of vehicles that can weigh 40 tons or more.

… The agency responsible for cracking down on unfit truckers, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, acknowledges it hasn’t completed any of eight recommendations that U.S. safety regulators have proposed since 2001.

From the Boston Globe:

Outraged Boston fire officials ordered Albert Arroyo to return to work Monday, just days after they watched a video of the firefighter in a bodybuilding competition despite his claim that he had suffered a career-ending back injury and was on paid leave.

“If he can lift barbells, he can lift a clipboard,” Boston Fire Commissioner Roderick J. Fraser Jr. said yesterday.

If Arroyo does not return to work, he could be subject to termination.

Boston is already facing a federal grand jury investigation of questionable injury claims by Boston firefighters. According to reports in the Boston Globe, 74 percent of retirements of Boston firefighters between 2005 and 2007 were granted because of disability caused by accidents. Comparable cities reported disability retirement rates of less than 30 percent.