7/28/10: Aging, Environmental Health, and IDD Teleconference Series. This fall, the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) with Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) and our distinguished panels of guest speakers bring you a groundbreaking series of teleconference calls on aging, environmental health, and disability. Scheduled webinars include these:
 
1) "Environmental Threats to Healthy Aging" with Ted Schettler and Maria Valenti
Tuesday October 12th, 2:00-3:00 p.m. Eastern time
 
2) "Built Environment" with Kathy Sykes, Rodney Harrell and Regina Gray
Tuesday October 19th, 2:00-3:00 p.m. Eastern time
 
3) "Psychosocial Environment" with Danny George and Peter Whitehouse
Tuesday October 26th, 2:00-3:00 p.m. Eastern time
 
4) "Chemical Environment" with Maye Thompson and Marybeth Palmigiano
Tuesday November 2nd, 2:00-3:00 p.m. Eastern time
 
5) "Food Environment" with Michelle Gottlieb and Emma Sirois
Tuesday November 9th, 2:00-3:00 p.m. Eastern time
 
For more information, please visit AAIDD's Teleconference webpage.

7/15/10: LDDI Receives Autism Sociey Award
LDDI was one of six recipients of this year's Autism Society of America "Autism Champion" award. The champions were honored on July 9th at the Autism Society's 41st National Conference in Dallas. The LDDI award was described at the ceremony: 

"The Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative (LDDI) has been instrumental in creating awareness of the critical role of environmental factors in neurodevelopment and in galvanizing advocates to demand change in the way toxins are regulated. Elise Miller, MEd, director of the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, served as founding coordinator of LDDI, which is comprised of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Learning Disabilities Association of America, National Association for the Dually Diagnosed and Autism Society. The efforts of LDDI members have helped achieve what a few years ago people thought impossible: the introduction of national chemical policy reform legislation in May 2010 in order to better protect public health and reduce environmental contributors to chronic diseases and disabilities, including autism. In our community, where for decades families have seen first-hand the impact of the environment on the health and well-being of their loved ones with autism, LDDI's inspiring efforts to educate a far wider range of constituencies about environmental health science and leverage chemical policy reform gives us hope that we can attain a healthier future for all our children, families and communities."

Dr. Ted Schettler, science director of the Collaborative on Health and the Environment and science advisor to LDDI, accepted the award. 

7/15/10: ASA National Conference a Huge Success
On July 8, 2010, the Learning and Developmental Disability Initiative, with the support of the John Merck Fund, cosponsored the 2nd annual Science That Makes a Difference Annual Symposium at the Autism Society of America national conference. This year's symposium, titled "Exposures and Child Development: The Latest on Environmental Health Sciences, Developmental Disabilities, and Public Health Policy", examined the growing evidence between environmental toxicants and disability.

This all-day symposium, led by key researchers in the field, examined a variety of topics from an environmental health overview by Ted Schettler, MD, MPH, to the specific relationships between environmental health and autism led by Martha Herbert, MD, PhD. Surichi Chandra, MD, led the afternoon with a discussion of the impact of environmental toxins on psychological and neurological health followed by case study of Texas from Ray Palmer, PhD, looking specifically at that state's environmental pollutants and prevalence of disability. Joseph Guth, PhD, JD, offered the latest information on existing policy and possible legislative remedies. Finally, Jeff Sells, JD, and Vernell Jessie concluded the session on a personal note by sharing their perspectives as participants in the Mind, Disrupted biomonitoring report. It was a full day of good information, great questions, and increased momentum for future discussions.

6/30/10: Journal article published
The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) Environmental Health Initiative has published another article in the journal Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities dealing with the impact of environmental contaminants commonly found in elementary and secondary schools. The impact of those contaminants on the special education population is the specific focus of the article: "Children's environmenal health: The school environment." Order the article from the journal website. 

6/21/10: Scientific and policy statements published
An article based on LDDI's science consensus statement on exposures and disabilities and the policy recommendations based on that statement has been published in the Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability. Written by LDDI members and leaders Steven G. Gilbert, Elise Miller, Joyce Martin and Laura Abulafia, the article provides a brief overview of the scientific and policy statements, with an updated conclusion and recommendations. Go to the article.