NEW ORLEANS — Women breathing wildfire smoke late in pregnancy had a higher risk of having a child later diagnosed with autism, even when the smoke exposure lasted only a few days, according to a study by Tulane University researchers. The study, published in Environmental Science & Technology recently, followed over 204,000 mother-child pairs in Southern…

Marvel will publish special issues of several comics including “Amazing Spider-Man,” left, and “Uncanny X-Men” for Disability Pride Month. (Marvel) In a series of special issues that are about to drop, Marvel Comics is putting the focus on a half dozen heroes with various disabilities. Backup stories in four issues — “Amazing Spider-Man #32,” “Uncanny…

The U.S. Department of Education’s decision to transfer its special education and civil rights offices is likely to cause confusion and disarray, advocates warn, as a key Senate panel considers a vote to block the move. The Education Department said last week that many responsibilities of its Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, or…

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. — Two neighborhoods in Oakland County are being built to give adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities a chance to own their own home. Besides the opportunity to live independently with some outside support, homeownership will ease their worried parents’ concerns. These neuroinclusive communities are rare; fewer than 100 exist across the…

A sweeping change is underway across the Social Security system that will affect how millions of Americans receive their monthly benefits, as federal officials move to complete a transition away from paper checks. The Social Security Administration announced that it is finalizing a systemwide shift to electronic payments, following a federal mandate requiring most benefits…

MINNEAPOLIS — Gillette Children’s in St. Paul is trying to boost public confidence in medical research by doing something long considered taboo in U.S. healthcare: paying patients and their families to get involved. The hospital for children and adults with disabilities is one of the first in the U.S. to hire “lived experience” partners who…

Children with disabilities as young as 2 are being suspended and expelled from school often for behaviors that are related to their diagnoses, according to a new report detailing their experiences. In one case, a parent was called to pick up her daughter with autism less than two hours into her first day of pre-k.…

The U.S. Department of Justice says states have no legal obligation to serve people with developmental disabilities in the community, a reversal that advocates say could have profound consequences. The agency’s Office of Legal Counsel issued a 39-page memo late last week stating that neither the Americans with Disabilities Act nor Section 504 of the…

A sweeping new review of prenatal antidepressant use underscores a finding that has surfaced repeatedly throughout the last decade: While parental depression is strongly linked to child neurodevelopmental disorders, taking antidepressants during pregnancy does not appear to significantly increase a child’s risk of autism. In an analysis of 37 separate studies covering more than 25…

BATON ROUGE, La. — Madeline Johnson risked everything last year when she quit her stable job as a speech therapist at a local hospital to focus on her sensory-based haircare business, Miss Madeline’s LLC, which caters to children and adults with sensory needs. Since then, she has come up with an innovative idea — an…