Disability Issues

Called "the most important new antidiscrimination law in two decades," the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) began to take effect on November 21, 2009.

After a successful effort by the 14-year-old brother of a girl with intellectual disabilities to remove the word "retarded" from Maryland law, US Senator Barbara Mikulski has proposed a bill that would do the same thing in all federal programs.

An amendment to health care reform legislation would offer people with special needs greater access to in-home attendant services.

A Senate bill, passed in November, would establish a system for training and supporting caregivers of injured veterans.

Academy of Special Needs Planners co-founder Diedre Wachbrit's article "9 Costly Mistakes to Avoid in Planning for Your Special Needs Child" appears in the March 30, 2007, edition of the US Autism & Asperger Association's Weekly News.

A final achievement in a short but remarkable life was a contribution to improving housing conditions for those with special needs.

The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 finally went into effect this year, and it promises to dramatically alter the way people with mental illness receive and pay for treatment.

While voting was much easier for people with disabilities in the 2008 election compared to 2000, many polling places still have impediments to voting that need to be removed, according to a new study by the Government Accountability Office.

President Obama recently nominated Ari Neeman, a 22-year-old man with autism and the founder of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network to serve on the National Council on Disability. However, the Senate has placed a hold on Mr. Ne'eman's nomination due...