parenting

Apple’s new emoji include disability-related symbols. I’m not thrilled.

Posted on October 31, 2019
Apple emojis
(Stock)

On Monday, as part of its IOS 13.2 release, Apple released 398 new emoji, including a sloth, a flamingo, buttered waffles — and several disability-related symbols, including images of people with different skin tones in wheelchairs, a prosthetic leg, a blind person with a probing cane, a service dog and a hearing aid.

Disability advocates are cheering. I’m not thrilled.

As both the mother of a child with a disability and a journalist who covers disability-related issues, I have trained myself to look past labels to consider individuals. Just as the blue-and-white international “handicapped” symbol falls far short of including all people with disabilities, so does this handful of emoji.

Read Amy Silverman’s full piece for The Washington Post, Apple’s new emoji include disability-related symbols. I’m not thrilled.

Navigating education options when your kid has a disability

Posted on August 10, 2019
Photo of the headline of the NYT Parenting article by Amy Silverman
A screenshot of Amy Silverman’s essay in NYT Parenting on choosing a school best suited for her daughter.

The New York Times Parenting section recently featured an essay by NCDJ Board member and journalist Amy Silverman, who elucidates the challenges parents face when it comes to choosing the right school for kids with disabilities. Silverman discusses what it was like to transition her daughter Sophie, who has Down syndrome, into a local elementary school and describes navigating red tape and school administrators to ensure Sophie would receive support services suited to her needs.

The article also mentions that it is important for parents of children with disabilities to understand the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and provides a link to an overview of the federal law.

You can read Silverman’s essay in the New York Times online by clicking here.

PHOENIX Magazine article by NCDJ board member Amy Silverman details lack of in-home care options

Posted on July 2, 2019

“Raising Phoenix: Home-Care Woes”

Screen Shot of Phoenix Mag article by Amy Silverman
June 2019 issue of Phoenix Magazine featuring an article by NCDJ board member Amy Silverman. Silverman points out that there are limited in-home care options for people with disabilities in Arizona. [Image: a screen shot of Amy Silverman’s article “Raising Phoenix: Home-Care Woes,” featuring an illustration by Cedric Cummings]
In an article in the June 2019 issue of Phoenix Magazine, NCDJ board member Amy Silverman draws attention to the fact that there aren’t enough resources and support services available in Arizona for families who care at home for loved ones with disabilities. “According to the Arizona Council on Developmental Disabilities, there are 130,000 or so people in that category in Arizona, and almost 90 percent live at home,” Silverman says.

In addition to highlighting the need for better home-care services in the state, the Phoenix Magazine article also highlights Arizona’s failure to investigate the state’s Division of Developmental Disabilities, despite there being scores of formal complaints and well-documented concerns regarding the poor quality of the DDD’s in-home nursing services.

Click here to read Amy Silverman’s Phoenix Magazine article online.

College admissions scandal hurts students with disabilities

Posted on March 14, 2019
A stock photo of SAT test scores. A score of 1600 is circled in red colored pencil.
A stock photo of SAT test scores. A score of 1600 is circled in red colored pencil.

Celebrities and wealthy parents involved in the college admissions bribery scheme which recently made headlines took advantage of testing accommodations meant for students with disabilities, federal authorities say. According to court documents, the parents were instructed to lie in order to secure extra time and a private room for their kids to take the SAT or ACT. The parents were told to falsely claim that their children had learning disabilities–and to obtain the necessary medical documentation for proof.

For students with learning disabilities, there is often a discrepancy between academic performance and their intelligence. Advocates for students with learning disabilities believe the scandal could make it harder for students with actual learning disabilities to get the test-taking accommodations they need.

You can read the NPR story about the scandal here.

Medicaid providing subsidies for health services in public schools

Posted on March 8, 2018

Many American public schools rely on Medicaid to subsidize the cost of school psychiatrists and therapeutic services, but some critics suggest the funding is misused and expanding too quickly. Anna Gorman and Carmen Heredia Rodriguez wrote a special report for CNN and Kaiser Health News outlining the numerous ways Medicaid is utilized by schools to provide health services to low-income students, but also to cover general budget shortfalls. As the story reports, pubic policy think tanks, such as the Heritage Foundation, oppose Medicaid expansion and advocate for closer oversight.

‘Doomed by Delay’: NCDJ co-winner Callahan has new story on Krabbe disease

Posted on January 10, 2018

If a hospital fails to identify symptoms of a debilitating disease in infants it could spell disaster for patients as they grow up. In her story “Doomed by Delay,” Chicago Tribune investigative journalist Patricia Callahan describes the struggles of parents of children with Krabbe disease who weren’t properly diagnosed until it was too late to salvage their motor functions. Callahan is the 1st place co-winner, along with Michael J. Berens, of the NCDJ’s 2017 Katherine Schneider Award for Disability Journalism.

In a related report, Chicago Tribune photographer Brian Cassella interviews the mother and caretaker of a 6-year-old living with Krabbe disease.

Mother with Disability Hopes to Regain Custody

Posted on June 17, 2017

18-year old Tyneisha Wilder spoke to Pittsburgh’s Public Source about her desire to care for her child, who was taken from her by the county Children, Youth and Families office shortly after birth. Wilder has been diagnosed with an intellectual and developmental disability. To remain together, she must find a family to adopt both her and her son within 3-months. Read more.

A Mom in Brooklyn Fights After Her Son With a Disability Misses Graduation

Posted on October 20, 2015

The mother of an 18-year-old man with a learning disability is lobbying New York education officials to make changes to its policies, so her son can receive his high school diploma. Her fight is just one of many, illustrating how parents of those with disabilities often have to advocate their children “get the services they require.” Read more