Heritage Behavioral Services Blog

By   MICHELLE DIAMENT March 11, 2014 Text Size   A    A In nearly half of cases, the younger brothers and sisters of kids with autism also show signs of atypical development, researchers say. Atypical Autism features common in autistic siblings Some 17 percent of younger siblings develop autism and another 28 percent show other types of delays in development or behavior, according to  findings  published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. For the study, researchers looked at 294 siblings of children with autism and 116 siblings of typically developing kids. All of the brothers and sisters were assessed at 6, 12, 18, 24 and 36 months to measure their development. Delays in the younger siblings could be spotted in children as young as 12 months, the study found. Among the siblings who experienced delays but did not have autism, they most commonly exhibited social or communication difficulties like extreme shyness or delayed poi

Cerebral Palsy CHICAGO - Osceola Community Hospital in Sibley, Iowa will pay $75,000 and furnish other relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The agency had alleged that Bright Beginnings of Osceola County, a day care center operated by the hospital, unlawfully failed to hire a volunteer employee into a paid position for which she was qualified because of her cerebral palsy.  The woman who brought the charge of Cerebral Palsy discrimination against the hospital already volunteered in the day care center and held a job driving a school bus.  Still, the EEOC's investigation revealed, the county refused to hire her into a paying job in the center out of an unfounded fear that her disability meant that she could not safely care for the children. Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  The EEOC filed suit ( EEOC v. Osceola Commu