Michigan's zero tolerance policies were part of a 'tough on discipline' trend that was big in the 1990s, but countless studies since then have shown that zero tolerance doesn't work and many states have amended their school discipline laws to reflect that.

When Gabby Collins started school last fall, she had a really good feeling about eighth grade. She thought this would be "my year when I changed and be all good ‘cause last year I did get in a lot of trouble, and I thought this year would be my year when I just don’t get in no trouble."

Things started off great. Gabby has a learning disability and behavior issues, all documented in her individualized education plan as required by federal law, and she often struggles in school. But Gabby’s mom, Dionne Collins, says Gabby was turning things around at the beginning of the school year. Her grades were improving and so was her behavior, thanks to a lot of hard work at home and some outside counseling.

"She was getting positive reports from teachers," says Collins. "The assistant principal even called me and told me because he was really impressed on seeing her positive leadership this year."

But that all changed in December. Gabby says she and her friends were playing around after lunch one day and one of them had an empty plastic water bottle, which they were throwing it at each other for fun. Gabby says when she tried to throw it down the hall at some boys she accidentally hit a teacher instead on the head. "So then that’s why I got expelled," she explains.

Ruth Tolkien is believed to be the only blind fencer competing in sighted competitions in the UK. Her UK ranking in 2015 is 186 in the UK. After fencing for four years at Truro Fencing Club, Ruth was not only selected to fence for Cornwall in the Ladies Foil Team at a regional level at Excalibur, but went on to win her first individual medal at the Wellington Open in May 2015.

In her own words

The PRACTICAL Tool aims to help lawyers identify and implement decision-making options for persons with disabilities that are less restrictive than guardianship. It is a joint product of four American Bar Association entities – the Commission on Law and Aging, Commission on Disability Rights, Section on Civil Rights and Social Justice, and Section on Real Property, Trust and Estate Law, with assistance from the National Resource Center for Supported Decision-Making.

“PRACTICAL” is an acronym for nine steps for lawyers to identify these options. The lawyer can use the PRACTICAL checklist of steps during the client interview and immediately after to assist in case analysis. The steps blend in naturally with the case interview process. Lawyers serving in different roles may use the steps differently.

PRACTICAL Tool
Download and begin using the Tool today!

• Fillable PDF download
• Word document download

PRACTICAL Tool and Resource Guide
Download the comprehensive publication with four-page Tool and 22-page Resource Guide.

• PDF download

Prepared by Marianne Cusato, HomeAdvisor’s Housing Expert and a Professor of the Practice at the University of Notre Dame’s School of Architecture

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Executive Summary
2. Summary of Key Findings
3. Aging in Place: Myths versus Realities
4. The Future of Aging in Place: User-Centered Design
5. Recommendation: Rebranding & Education
6. Conclusion
7. TechnologEASE
8. Survey Methods
9. About

UH is the first in the country to apply sign language to a massive online open course, fondly known as MOOC. MOOCs have increased in popularity since they were launched in 2008 as a way to broaden access to college education. There’s no payment required, no institutional enrollment and no way for the deaf to participate because technology such as closed captioning hasn’t been offered.

That is, until UH’s American Sign Language Interpreting program (ASLI) decided to experiment with the first ever MOOC taught in American Sign Language.

“The goal is to level the playing field, because if education is available and accessible, then anyone can learn and improve themselves,” said Sharon Hill, coordinator of the ASLI program, about the utility of original MOOCs. “That is great, except for individuals who are deaf.”

Hill and her colleagues in the UH ASLI program created the first course, which happens to focus on the history of deaf culture. They plan for MOOCs in traditional coursework to follow.

“Teaching a MOOC in American Sign Language allows many around the world to ‘meet’ a deaf individual and see that limitations do not exist simply because someone is deaf,” said Terrell Brittain, ASLI instructional assistant professor at UH. “It allows them to see that American Sign Language is an authentic and actual language.”

“The key reason for undertaking this MOOC is exposure,” Brittain said. “The world needs exposure to the fact that deaf culture exists and is worthy of being studied.”

They discovered that in general right- and left-handed signers respond faster when they were watching a right-handed signer.

However, left-handed signers responded more quickly to complex two-handed signs made by signers who ‘led’ with their left hand. Similarly, right-handed signers reacted more swiftly to two-handed signs from fellow right-handers.

PhD student Freya Watkins and Dr. Robin Thompson published their research in the journal Cognition (April 2017).

Dr Robin Thompson commented: “Had all signers performed better to right-handed input, it would suggest that how signers produce their own signs is not important for understanding. This is because right-handed signers are most common and signers are most used to seeing right-handed signs.

CRISPR is a supposedly precise way to edit your genes to correct defects. It also has the capacity to change the rate of evolution in a specific species, like mosquitoes. Since individual genes are viewed as isolated rocks on a cellular beach, the spreading of mutations was a surprise. It shouldn't have been, since each gene has a network of regulators that turn it on and off and change how powerful it is.  This research probably shows that the regulatory networks for different genes are interconnected, so that when you artificially change one gene, the change alters the regulatory network in other genes as well. And the flow of unanticipated consequences continues to swell......

https://goo.gl/a8eDgG

For the past few years, a new scientific tool known as CRISPR-Cas9 has been hailed as the future of medicine. The technology, which has been the center of both extreme fascination and a bitter patent dispute between two research groups, enables scientists to edit genomes. That is, they can remove harmful genes that cause diseases and replace them with normal genes that don’t—at least in theory. While exciting to many, the idea has also elicited fears that the technology could create dangerous mutations and be used in unbridled ways, for example in attempts to create superhumans and designer babies.

According to a new report, such fears may be well founded. The study, published in Nature Methods , found that using CRISPR-Cas9 to edit a genome can result in hundreds of unintended mutations being introduced. For the report, researchers sequenced the genomes of mice that had already undergone CRISPR-Cas9 procedures. They then scrutinized the edited genomes for any changes in the mouse genes—and they found plenty. The technology had accomplished the original intended task of correcting a gene that causes blindness, but it had also resulted in 1,500 other small changes and 100 large changes. Not one of those changes had been predicted by the researchers.

Lynley Adams, who recently wrote for us about becoming disabled later in life, has discovered just how much it costs to be disabled. From mobility aids to new clothes that are comfortable while sitting in a wheelchair, it all stacks up. It’s fair to say, she was staggered by it.

When I became disabled nearly three years ago, the very last thing I thought about was the cost. I had suffered a catastrophic spontaneous fracture to my sacral bone (the bone at the base of my spine). This in itself was terrifying and life-changed. But added to that, I was left with nerve damage, which means my left hip/leg is in constant severe pain.

In many ways, the meaning of the word ‘cost’ to me is the ‘cost’ of losing my independence, my ability to walk, my hard-earned career and the ‘cost’ to my partner and family of my intense, chronic pain needing continuous care. But there is also a financial cost to being disabled that I never even thought about before, but that very quickly became apparent.

First of all was the loss of my income. I was the Head of Department for a six-member team in a large secondary school. My income was hard earned, but very welcome. I was very lucky.

But once I became ill, there was a slow decrease in my salary. Suddenly I was dependent on state benefits. That mean pulling in every purse string possible; every treat, every takeaway, every trip to the cinema. Everything that wasn’t absolutely essential had to go. That all coincided with being told that the damage was permanent. So as the realisation about my disability increased, my income declined.

Then came the need to get a wheelchair to get around. I wasn’t eligible for a wheelchair on the NHS because I needed to have had a spinal cord injury to qualify, so I had to buy my own. I’m not able to use a manual wheelchair as bending over to touch the wheels causes me excruciating pain, so I needed to buy an electric scooter or a wheelchair.

As I am sure many people know, these don’t come cheap, and they definitely don’t come free! I managed to find one that was relatively comfortable and had enough battery life to actually have a day out without being stranded in the car park of B&Q (trust me, I’ve been there, it’s no fun at all!).

Cost: £1,500

In order to get out for the day, my new wheelchair needs to fit into our car. The boot of our old hatchback was a relatively spacious beast. It managed to take most of the wheelchair, except for the seat, which had to go onto the back seat.

But eventually, that became a bit of a pain, so we turned to Motability. The team there sorted us out with a much more appropriately-sized car, which included the best present EVER – a hoist for the chair!

This means that it can now be neatly and oh so cleverly lifted into the boot in one piece. We were thrilled – it was all our Christmases come at once! But, as usual, there was a cost. The upfront payment was fair for what we were getting, but it still was cold, hard cash that we had to scrape together.

Cost: £1,600

We also need to make alterations to our home. Thankfully, the council came out to assess our needs and gave us two elevated toilet seats, four sofa raisers and a handrail, all for free.

But, we still need handrails at the front door, alterations to the bathroom so I can actually bathe (which was impossible at the moment) and a ramp at the back entrance so I can get down the steps into my garden.

With so many changes, and the fact that I cannot climb the stairs in our house, we’re now thinking about moving to a bungalow, so the cost of that is yet to be factored in. Watch this space…

Projected cost: A LOT!

Hidden costs of being disabled

One of the ‘hidden’ costs I recently discovered is clothes. My old clothes no longer sit right when I’m sat in my wheelchair. My suits, which I lived in because of work, are too structured and uncomfortable to sit in all day, so I have shelved the majority of them.

But it doesn’t end there. Jeans with thick waistbands, long jackets and deep v-neck tops are all a no-no. Waistbands dig in, you’re basically sat on a jacket and v-necks look totally different when sat down. Trust me, it’s not ideal when you’re in a supermarket queue and the man standing next to you has a literal bird’s eye view of your cleavage!

Even buying new shoes is now tricky. All my old shoes had a heel (I’m only 5 foot 3 and a half inches) and they’re not massively comfy when your feet are on the foot plates. So I’ve had to buy all new shoes. It may sound frivolous, but hell, I’m a woman, that’s allowed!

Cost: £200 (approx)

Another ‘hidden’ cost is the extra gas/electric you need when you’re at home every day. The central heating, lights and TV are on for longer – it all adds up.

Cost: £25 a month (approx)

Then there’s transport. If my partner isn’t available to ferry me around I have to pay taxi fare.

Cost: £150/200 a month (approx)