Times Square Video Contest Info

from NDSS:

Contest Information Celebrate the 17th anniversary of the Buddy Walk® by entering the Times Square Video Contest. The video, which showcases individuals with Down syndrome from all over the world, will air in the heart of Times Square on September 24, 2011 at 10:15 am ET.  The New York City Buddy Walk will immediately follow the video at the Great Hill in Central Park. Each year, NDSS receives thousands of photo submissions for the Times Square Video Contest. The winning photographs represent the diversity of the Down syndrome community.  ONE photo per individual can be submitted to the contest. If you send more than one photo, NDSS will only use the first submission.  All individuals in the photo sent to NDSS must sign off on a consent form to be considered for the video. If more than one person is in the photo, please indicate which individual has Down syndrome.  Click here to submit a photo and consent form online for the 2011 Times Square Video Contest. If you prefer to send a photo and consent form by mail, please use following address: NDSS Attn: Call For Photos 666 Broadway, 8th Floor New York, NY 10012 To download a copy of the consent form, please click here. The deadline for submitting a photo is July 15, 2011 at 11:59pm ET. Final photo selection will take place on July 27, 2011 by an independent third party and winners will be contacted by a representative from NDSS via email or telephone starting the week of August 1, 2011. NDSS will notify you ONLY if we accept your photograph for the video, and we are unable to return any photos. Affiliates and others interested in spreading the word can click here to download the 2011 Times Square Video flyer, which has all of the information necessary to encourage members and friends to participate! Be inspired! Click here to view the 2010 Times Square Video.

from the NDSS:

NDSS is pleased to spotlight their newest National Buddy Walk Partner, Down Syndrome Footprint. Established in 2009 by new parents Mike and Katia Hauser, Down Syndrome Footprint started from a vision seeking a unique and universal image that would both represent Down syndrome, and develop awareness, empowerment and employment for individuals with Down syndrome. Down Syndrome Footprint is proud of the fact that each of its products is either made or packaged by an individual with Down syndrome.

  

To help support each approved Buddy Walk, Down Syndrome Footprint is offering each Walk a basket of Down Syndrome Footprint merchandise. In addition, Down Syndrome Footprint has come up with three different ways that you can raise funds for your Buddy Walk or your organization using their merchandise risk-free.

The Down Syndrome Footprint Foundation is committed to creating greater awareness, empowerment, and employment opportunities for all individuals with Down syndrome.

This triangle of advocacy is designed to improve the success for individuals with Down syndrome, their family members, and the community as a whole.

Down Syndrome, Sleep Problems Linked

from azpm.org:

Research under way at the University of Arizona is revealing a connection between quality of sleep and the learning and memory functions in children with Down Syndrome.

"It's well known that children with Down Syndrome are vulnerable to developing sleep apnea which results in pauses in breathing," UA psychology student Jennifer Breslin says. Breslin has been conducting a study looking at children with Down Syndrome and the occurrence of sleep apnea.

"if we can demonstrate that kids with poor sleep have poor cognitive outcomes, we can make a case for intervention and ultimately improving their behavior and learning ability," she says. "If we could give these kids a better quality of life, that would be awesome."

Cognitive Development and Down Syndrome: Age-Related Change

from aaiddjournals.org:

Cognitive Development and Down Syndrome: Age-Related Change on the Stanford-Binet Test (Fourth Edition)

A study in the May issue of the American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities by researchers affiliated with the University of Queensland (Australia) examined Stanford-Binet test performance by a large group of individuals with Down syndrome.  Authors report that the performance of the study sample on Stanford-Binet subtests measuring crystallized abilities (the ability to use skills, knowledge, and experience)  tended to plateau early in adulthood, whereas the test of fluid ability (the capacity to think logically and solve problems in novel situations, independent of acquired knowledge) continued to increase beyond the age of 30.  Authors note that the trend they observed is in opposition to the general population in which fluid abilities typically peak in early adulthood while crystallized abilities continue to increase. (full text available at no cost with member subscription to AJIDD)

Growth models for subtests of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, 4th edition (R. L. Thorndike, E. P. Hagen, & J. M. Sattler, 1986a, 1986b) were developed for individuals with Down syndrome. Models were based on the assessments of 208 individuals who participated in longitudinal and cross-sectional research between 1987 and 2004. Variation in performance among individuals was large and significant across all subtests except Memory for Sentences. Scores on the Memory for Sentences subtest remained low between ages 4 to 30 years. Greatest variation was found on the Pattern Analysis subtest, where scores continued to rise into adulthood. Turning points for scores on the Vocabulary and Comprehension subtests appeared premature relative to normative patterns of development. The authors discuss development at the subdomain level and analyze both individual and group trajectories.

disability employment statistics update

from disabilityscoop.com:

Work was particularly hard to come by for Americans with disabilities last year, according to a newly released report showing that in 2010 less than 1 in 5 with disabilities held jobs.

The report from the U.S. Department of Labor finds individuals with disabilities in all age groups were less likely to be employed than their typically developing peers.

Moreover, when those with disabilities did find jobs, they were more often part-time positions or opportunities for self-employment and less likely to be management or professional jobs.

The statistics offer a long-range view on employment data that’s released monthly by the Labor Department.

Though the picture painted by the report is a sobering one, the hiring experiences of people with disabilities appear to be steady. Even as unemployment soared to 9.4 percent for the general population, the jobless rate for those with disabilities remained largely unchanged from 2009 to 2010 at 14.8 percent.

Meanwhile, about 80 percent of those with disabilities were not considered to be in the labor force, meaning that they were not employed and were not looking for work. Just 30 percent of people in the general population fell into this same category.

One area that did appear to improve job prospects for workers with disabilities was increased education, the report found. However, even those with advanced degrees lagged behind similarly educated individuals without disabilities when it came to hiring.