Thursday, July 15, 2010

Young adults with Asperger's syndrome struggle to find jobs | The Columbus Dispatch

Young adults with Asperger's syndrome struggle to find jobs

Employment help often lacking for applicants facing difficulties with interviews, workplace interactions

Monday, July 12, 2010 02:50 AM

BY RITA PRICE

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

COURTNEY HERGESHEIMER | DISPATCH

Chelsea Ridenour, 23, an honors college grad, reads before a Franklin University accounting class. She has struggled to find and keep a job.

COURTNEY HERGESHEIMER | DISPATCH

Chelsea Ridenour had to leave one promising job because she was required to work on the help desk. As her father, Rick, said, she is "phone-phobic."

Her resume attracted plenty of attention.

Hospitals, technology companies and a major research organization indicated that Chelsea Ridenour - computer and math whiz, summa cum laude graduate of Capital University - looked good on paper. Some called for interviews.

And then, suddenly, it didn't seem to matter that she is intelligent and dependable and tenacious. Ridenour can communicate with a computer in six languages, but she can't chat her way through a face-to-face meeting with a stranger.

"People try to be nice. They're not deliberately not nice," the Hilliard resident said. "They just don't understand."

Ridenour is among a rising population of young adults whose coming-of-age stories are at best complicated and oftentimes heartbreaking. They are grown-ups with Asperger's syndrome and other autism disorders, conditions that society seems to handle best when boys and girls are young and in school.

But Ridenour is 23. What she needs is a job.

"My pitch always has been, 'There's a buyer for every house. Why don't we find the buyers for these kids who want to work?'" said Tom Fish of the Ohio State University Nisonger Center, a support and research institute for people with developmental disabilities.

"The challenge with people on the (autism) spectrum, of course, is social interaction," he said. "People look at these kids and say, 'Be more social.' Well, they can't."

Many young people with Asperger's syndrome, or "high-functioning" forms of autism, emerge from years of struggle, bullying and isolation in high school only to find that the adult world can be even more difficult. According to the Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence, national studies have found that only 6 percent to 14 percent of adults with autism are competitively employed.

Yet many possess normal - and in a lot of cases, superior - intellectual abilities.

The surge in autism diagnoses - the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts the incidence at one in 110

Education Week American Education News Site of Record

Report Says Stimulus Spending Staved Off Layoffs

Even with the influx of federal dollars, districts' budgets were smaller last year than they were the school year before. (July 15, 2010)

NCLB Seen Impeding Indigenous-Language Preservation

At a national summit, advocates press for more flexibility for programs and schools that immerse students in Native American tongues. (July 14, 2010)

POLITICS K-12 BLOG

Duncan: New ESEA Proposal Includes Parent Involvement

(July 14, 2010)

Virtual Ed. Companies Seek the Mainstream

(July 14, 2010) | Comments (3)

Texas Governor Proposes Business Tax Break to Help Dropouts

(July 14, 2010) | Comments (6)

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Safety and Violence

Michael Engebretson, 16, left, and his sister Elizabeth, 13, right, are seen during a STARS International meeting in Elgin, Ill on July 2. Michael, a victim of bullying at Larkin High School in Elgin, is a graduate of STARS, a private, nonprofit scuba diving program for at-risk kids.

—Andrew A. Nelles/The Courier-News/AP

Illinois Schools Find Ways to Curb Bullying

A new Illinois law prohibits bullying in public schools and says districts should educate students, parents, and staff on what behaviors constitute bullying. (July 14, 2010)

INSIDE SCHOOL RESEARCH BLOG

With Cash Incentive, Seniors' NAEP Scores Rise

(July 13, 2010)

Quick Takes: U. of California Enrollment Shifts - Inside Higher Ed

Scrutiny Over Board Seat of Michigan President The University of Michigan's medical school recently toughened its conflict of interest rules by barring pharmaceutical industry funding to support continuing medical education. That leaves some wondering why the university's president, Mary Sue ...

U. of California Enrollment Shifts Across the University of California system, freshmen from outside of California (including those from outside the United States) will increase to 8 percent this year, up from 6 percent, the *Los Angeles Times* reported. The increases are intended to ...

Race and Savannah State's Football Team Savannah State University is now facing two lawsuits alleging racial discrimination involving the football team at the historically black university, *The Atlanta Journal-Constitution* reported. In the latest suit, four white students say that they ...

State Board of Education plans to declare emergency in 1,000 schools | California Watch

State Board of Education plans to declare emergency in 1,000 schools

July 15, 2010 | Louis Freedberg

President Ted Mitchell makes some remarks Wednesday at the State Board of Education meeting.

http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/ag/ag/sbelivestream.aspPresident Ted Mitchell leads the State Board of Education meeting Wednesday.

The California State Board of Education is expected to declare an emergency today in 1,000 public schools the state has designated as among the "lowest performing" in the state.

The emergency declaration, which is Item 32on the board's agenda today in Sacramento,suggests that students in those schools are at risk of "serious harm," and that their health, safety and "general welfare" may be threatened by remaining in those schools.

The emergency declaration is necessary because the board, whose members are all appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, wants to accelerate implementation oflegislation (SBX5 4) approved earlier this year.

The law, titled the Open Enrollment Act, will allow students in the 1,000 schools to transfer to any other higher-performing school, even to schools in other districts, something that has not been readily available to many students in California until now.

The California State PTA will challenge the board's finding of an emergency at the meeting today. "We are very concerned about the workability of the findings, the alarmist nature of the findings, without giving parents time to understand what it means, what their options are, and find an alternative for their child," said Patty Scripter, an education advocate for the state PTA.

Once the board votes, its resolution declaring an emergency goes to the Office of Administrative Law for review, a process which includes a five day public comment period (from July 15 to July 20) before the emergency goes into effect.

The law sets out a timeline allowing parents to apply to transfer their children to schools in other districts by Jan. 1 preceding the school year they wish to transfer. But the state

Smelly chemical identified in contaminated Kellogg's cereal

by Susanne Rust

Susanne Rust

The chemical that caused a massive recall of Kellogg’s cereals in June has been identified: It’s a petroleum byproduct known as methylnaphthalene.
On June 25, Kellogg Co. recalled 28 million boxes of Corn Pops, Honey Smacks, Froot Loops and Apple Jacks. The move was in response to several customer complaints indicating the cereals were smelly and causing nausea and diarrhea in some people.
The cereal company issued a statement warning people to avoid eating the cereals because they didn’t “meet

State restores Medi-Cal optometry benefits

by Joanna Lin

Joanna Lin

A year after dropping several Medi-Cal benefits, the state Department of Health Care Services has reinstated one – optometry services – upon realizing that eliminating it violated federal law.
By law, the state cannot eliminate optometry services if physicians can still provide them and if they were

Video maps five decades of nuclear explosions

by Agustin Armendariz

Agustin Armendariz

An interactive by Japanese artist Isao Hashimoto shows the location of 2,053 nuclear explosions from the birth of the bomb in 1945 through 1998. The map first zooms in on the Trinity site in the New Mexico desert where the first successful atomic detonation ushered in the nuclear age. Then it pans over to Japan, showing the location of

Counties try - and fail - to keep pension payouts secret

by Lance Williams

Lance Williams

To conceal the fearsome prospective impact of California’s pension bomb from the taxpayers, bureaucrats sometimes play hide the ball.
When they do, it’s up to open-government advocates to drag them into court and make them do the right thing.
That was the dynamic recently in Sacramento Superior Court, where the California First Amendment Coalition

UC regents endorse test of online instruction

The University of California Board of Regents reacted enthusiastically Wednesday to developing a fully online undergraduate degree program at the top-tier research institution they oversee, and endorsed a pilot program to test it.
"We have the opportunity to show everyone else how to do it," said Regent Sherry Lansing. "This should be one of our highest priorities. We cannot wait."
Despite earlier warnings from professors and instructors that taking UC online would destroy the university's good name and quality, several regents said they were convinced of just the opposite: that UC has the brainpower - and the motives - to develop the nation's first highly selective, Web-based degree program for undergraduates.
They largely agreed with the plan's leader, UC Berkeley Law School Dean Christopher Edley, that an online degree program could save UC money while expanding access to far-flung, tuition-paying students "from Kentucky to Kuala Lumpur."
"We are in a position to lead," said Regents Chairman Russell Gould, who created the UC Commission on the Future, which developed the online concept as one of many ways UC might thrive in an era of shrinking financial support from the state.
Edley sits on Gould's commission and expects to raise $6 million in private donations so faculty can begin designing dozens of rigorous online classes this fall. First up would be

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/15/BAC61EEDI4.DTL&type=education#ixzz0tkjxI7OQ

Summer students learn to Aim High

With state budget cuts turning summer school into the educational equivalent of the eight-track tape...

Photos

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Public sector workers paying more of their health care costs - Medical News - sacbee.com

Public sector workers paying more of their health care costs

By Bobby Caina Calvan
bcalvan@sacbee.com

Published: Thursday, Jul. 15, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 1A

Workers in private industry have felt the sting of rising health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs for decades. Now, as government budgets bleed, public employees are starting to share the pain.

In the past year, Sacramento's largest school districts have trimmed health care coverage. Local and state government officials also are looking for ways to save.

And while public employee unions have made preserving health benefits a priority, they have been pressed to give ground or face more layoffs.

"We can't afford to continue to pay double-digit inflation on health care costs," said Steven Ladd, superintendent of the Elk Grove Unified School District. "We must manage this because it's a huge portion of our expenditures."

Last year, the district spent $57 million on health coverage for its employees – more than twice the $28 million it cost five years ago.

To help save jobs, Elk Grove Unified's key unions this year agreed to double employee co-pays for prescriptions and doctors visits. The concessions will save the district millions of dollars and help its classrooms "get through these very dark fiscal times," Ladd said.

At the Sacramento City Unified School District, teachers last month agreed to a pay cut and trims in health benefits. The union initially refused to negotiate, but the district threatened to lay off 238 teachers, counselors and other employees.

Under the new agreement, SCUSD teachers enrolled in a Kaiser Permanente health plan will see

Module 8 Reflection | Reflections on Teaching

Module 8 Reflection

by alicemercer

Student Data Systems are the new black…

Everyone is looking at the numbers, but what do they mean? There is a huge push for data with reforms being proposed by the current administration in RttT. States are scrambling to keep up. It’s caused my own state to “pervert” the intent of the last round of EETT with ARRA. There are a number of programs to try to help states improve their data warehouse systems (ISO from IES: State Applications for Data-System Grants – Inside School Research).

Students Discuss How to Create College-bound Cultures – ED.gov Blog

Students Discuss How to Create College-bound Cultures

Alberto Retana, ED director of community outreach, attended two forums to hear ideas on how we can best meet the President's goal of having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020

Information about higher education needs to be more candid, accessible and fun to build a college-bound culture.
That’s what teenagers told Alberto Retana, ED director of community outreach, at two forums in Chicago on July 8 and 9.
“We meet with all kinds of groups—educators, parents, government officials—to hear their ideas on how we can best meet the President’s goal of having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020,” said Retana. “Too often, we don’t listen to the people who may have the most valuable input of all—the youth themselves.”
To get that input, the Department partnered with two community-based organizations in Chicago to develop the forums—Voices of Youth in Chicago Education (VOYCE) and the Federation for Community Schools. They attracted more than 100 high school and college students who represented diverse cultures and backgrounds. While most participants either plan to go to college or are already enrolled, many will be the first in their families to earn college degrees and live in neighborhoods where it is not commonly expected.
Students described experiences that helped shape their college-going decisions. They shared ideas about how to overcome the barriers that deter other teens from pursuing higher education.

One participant described how his mother’s decision to go back to school influenced him. He encouraged parents to understand that “when you’re inspired to do better for yourself, your kids get inspired and do better, too.”
Another said that college preparatory programs should “be interesting and provide information that we really need.” That would make higher education appealing and relevant to more students.
A student suggested that high schools with limited or no college and career centers form partnerships with other schools or organizations that have resources to help youth plan their futures.
Retana will lead similar sessions in other cities throughout the United States over the next few months in a National Youth Listening Tour. The tour is designed to promote the President’s goal that America once again will have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020. Students’ ideas from these sessions will be incorporated into a final report to be presented to ED leaders. The Department is also developing a Facebook page to continue dialogue with youth leaders who participate in the forums.

This entry was written by pkickbush, posted on July 15, 2010 at 5:43 am, filed under News. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with theRSS feed for this post. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.

Schools Matter: Problem is not TV but access to books

Problem is not TV but access to books

by skrashen

Problem is not TV but access to reading material
Sent to the Kansas City Star, July 14

In his speech to the NAACP, Education Secretary Duncan challenged parents to "turn off TVs and video games and make children read" (Education is 'civil-rights issue of our generation,' Cabinet official tells NAACP, July 14)
TV is not the problem. Studies consistently find little relationship between TV watching and how well children do on a variety of school-related tests, unless TV watching is excessive (more than four hours a day).

There is no question that wide reading is the key to academic success. The research tells us that those who do more recreational reading do better on tests of reading, vocabulary, writing and grammar, and also know more in general. But is impossible for parents to "make children read" if they have little or no access to books. Studies also show that children of poverty have very little access to interesting reading material: They have few books in

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Thursday, July 15, 2010