Heritage Behavioral Services Blog

Down Syndrome "Don't limit Me" by Megan   Down syndrome is a genetic condition that causes delays in physical and intellectual development. It occurs in one in every 691 live births. Individuals with Down syndrome have 47 chromosomes instead of the usual 46. It is the most frequently occurring chromosomal disorder. Down syndrome is not related to race, nationality, religion or socioeconomic status. The most important fact to know about individuals with Down syndrome is that they are more like others than they are different. .........more facts about Down Syndrome

New support programs and federal funds can help students with intellectual disabilities.  by Jessica Califati  Unlike students who pull all-nighters and cram before exams, Mount Aloysius College student Katie Apostolides has been working diligently in preparation for midterms since her first day of class. She starts papers and projects the day they are assigned, meets weekly Katie Apostolides: College Bound with a different peer tutor for each of her classes, and knows to take short breaks throughout her studying in an effort to stay focused and on task. These and other strategies help Apostolides learn at a collegiate level in spite of her Down syndrome, an intellectual disability. If Apostolides passes her classes this semester, she will receive her associate's degree. But Apostolides's success in college is the exception rather than the rule for students with Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities. According to preliminary results of an ongoing ...

 by MICHELLE DIAMENT Georgia Ranks 4th in DD Services An annual ranking of states offering the best services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities reveals a familiar but evolving landscape. The analysis of disability services in all 50 states and the District of Columbia being released Thursday by United Cerebral Palsy finds top performers spanning the map. In previous years, the best services were largely clustered in the Northeast and West. Arizona claimed the number one slot in the ranking for the third year in a row. Also rounding out the 10 best on this year’s list are Michigan, Hawaii, Georgia, New York, South Carolina, Maine, Massachusetts, Ohio and Missouri.

by MICHELLE DIAMENT Training police to respond to situations involving people with developmental disabilities and other behavioral disorders leads to fewer arrests and more treatment referrals, new research suggests. In a  two-part study , researchers looked at use of the crisis intervention team, or CIT, model, a 40-hour program to train police to respond to those with mental health issues. They interviewed 586 officers, Crisis Training Pays 251 of whom had received CIT training, and reviewed more than 1,000 police encounters with individuals believed to have behavioral disorders. Officers who participated in CIT training were more knowledgable about mental health issues, treatments and de-escalation skills, according to findings published in the April issue of the journal Psychiatric Services. What’s more, when looking at emergency responses, incidents involving officers with CIT training were more likely to result in transport to mental health services an...

NIH Press Release NIH-funded Study Shows Disrupted Cell Layering Process in the Developing Brain The architecture of the autistic brain is speckled with patches of abnormal neurons, according to research partially funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine on March 27, 2014, this study suggests that brain irregularities in children with  autism  can be traced back to prenatal development. “While autism is generally considered a developmental brain disorder, research has not identified a consistent or causative lesion,” said Thomas R. Insel, M.D., director of NIMH. “If this new report of disorganized architecture in the brains of some children with autism is replicated, we can presume this reflects a process occurring long before birth. This reinforces the importance of early identification and intervention.”

 by Michelle Diament The nonprofit behind Big Bird, Elmo and Abby Cadabby is launching a new effort to reduce stigma surrounding kids with autism and help those with the developmental disorder learn life skills. Sesame Street’s Abby Cadabby helped light the Empire State Building Through a new initiative dubbed “See Amazing in All Children,” Sesame Workshop said it will create digital tools to help children with autism learn to play with others and complete everyday activities like brushing teeth, getting dressed and trying new foods. In addition, the organization said it will use Sesame Street’s brand and characters to educate the public about autism and emphasize that kids on the spectrum are much like their typically developing peers. “This has become one of the most widely-discussed topics in childhood development, yet we have found that there’s a lack of understanding among the general public about children with autism,” said Jeanette Betancourt, Sesame Wo...

by Kevin Jiang An analysis of 100 million U.S. medical records reveals that autism and intellectual disability (ID) rates are correlated at the county level with incidence of genital malformations in newborn males, an indicator of possible congenital exposure to harmful environmental factors such as pesticides. Autism rates—after adjustment for gender, ethnic, socioeconomic and geopolitical Autism and ID linked to Environmental Factors factors—jump by 283 percent for every one-percent increase in frequency of malformations in a county. Intellectual disability rates increase 94 percent. Slight increases in autism and ID rates are also seen in wealthier and more urban counties. The study, published by University of Chicago scientists in the March 13 issue of  PLOS Computational Biology , confirms the dramatic effect of diagnostic standards. Incidence rates for autism and ID on a per-person basis decrease by roughly 99 percent in states with stronger regulations on diagn...