Medical Motherhood’s news round up
Snippets of news and opinion from outlets around the world. Click the links for the full story.
• From The Oregonian: “On school picture day, an Oregon community’s nightmare began”
The unspeakable horror began with the sound of shotgun blasts striking a pickup truck, shattering the quiet calm outside Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend early Thursday afternoon.
It ended only after a teacher inside a special needs classroom tried to wrestle the firearm away from a 16-year-old assailant as he slaughtered those in the room, and when a school parent who had pursued the teen fatally shot him.
The rampage unfolded in a matter of minutes, but left three children — ages 5, 8 and 11 — and a different teacher dead. It also added Oregon to a grim and growing list of states rocked by a fatal mass shooting at an elementary school.
A 7-year-old student and a third teacher were also wounded.
Police said Friday they were scouring for clues to understand what motivated the suspect, who himself was previously a special needs student at Silver Rail.[…]
• From Idaho Statesman: “‘It’s all on you.’ Idaho families with disabled kids endure hardships without key program”
It’s been over a year since Idaho ended a program that allowed parents and spouses to be paid for care they provided to their family members with disabilities. The Department of Health and Welfare terminated the Family Personal Care Services program in July 2025 after the agency said it found fraud and abuse, and didn’t have the staff or financial resources to administer it.
Last session, lawmakers introduced a bill to bring the program back with guardrails, but it never received a hearing.
Families told the Idaho Statesman that in the year since the program ended, they have struggled to pay for housing and bills, have had to take on night jobs and side gigs to make ends meet and have seen negative impacts on their children. Some said they feel like they are costing the state even more money now, after signing up for government assistance programs or relying more heavily on care that is billed at a higher rate, such as in-home nursing. The added stress has made it even harder to care for their medically complex kids. […]
• From ABC News: “Late 'Breaking Bad' star RJ Mitte remembered for cerebral palsy advocacy”
RJ Mitte is being remembered for his advocacy work for the disability community.
The actor, known for his roles as Walter White, Jr./Flynn in “Breaking Bad” and Campbell Bingman in “Switched at Birth,” died Monday at the age of 34, a representative for Mitte confirmed to ABC News.
Mitte’s “Breaking Bad” co-star Bryan Cranston said Mitte died by suicide.
Mitte was born with cerebral palsy, also abbreviated as CP, a type of motor disability that is estimated to impact about 2.4 per 1,000 children in the U.S., per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.[…]
• From WRAL: “Her son has serious disabilities. She believes she's the best person to teach him”
[…]It takes skill and patience to teach Will, who has autism and a neurological disorder that makes it difficult to speak. The Walters say they no longer trust their rural school system to educate him without restraining him or hurting him. Katherine Walter teaches him herself.
America’s public education system offers some of the world’s best services and protections for students with disabilities, guaranteed by federal law. But more parents like the Walters are abandoning their rights to those services. They say public schools are failing their kids and they’re better off trying to educate them at home.[…]
• From IdahoNews: “Adaptive ballet program expands opportunities for children with disabilities in Meridian”
For many children, joining a dance class is a routine extracurricular activity. But for families of children with disabilities, finding programs designed to meet their needs can be more challenging.
That’s what inspired Savannah Lehman to create LEAP Adaptive Ballet, a program that offers ballet classes for children with physical, developmental and sensory disabilities.
[…]"Dance is for everybody, if you have a body, you can dance," Lehman said. "I don't want them to miss out on anything, I want them to experience the full dance world."[…]
• From CBS News: “Sacramento man uses music and movement to help children with disabilities shine”
California spends billions of dollars each year on developmental services, including support for people with autism. But for many families, finding the right resources and programs can still be a challenge.
In Sacramento, one man is working to make a difference by creating a space where children can learn, perform and express themselves — all at no cost. And he does it in a bright red hot jalapeño suit.
[…]The idea began about a decade ago at Capitol Elementary, shortly after [Jahri] Turner graduated from Sacramento State and began working with at-risk youth. He noticed students retained more of what they learned when lessons were paired with music and movement.
[…Nia, the mother of three autistic children] said there are few resources available for children with disabilities, making Jahri’s World’s free performances particularly valuable.
“There’s hardly anything out here right now for the disabled, and for him to do it free of charge, [it] speaks volumes…” she said.[…]
• From Children & Young People Now: “Disabled children’s families face childcare cost and provision barriers”
[…]A YouGov poll of 1,001 parents and carers across the UK found 21% wanted more paid childcare. Among families wanting more childcare, 38% said it was too expensive, while 29% reported a lack of suitable provision.
Half of full-time carers said they would work more if suitable childcare hours became available. Across all parents raising disabled children, the figure was 26%.
The report also found 55% of respondents whose childcare did not meet any of their child’s needs reported negative impacts on their own wellbeing. Some 37% reported negative impacts on their child’s wellbeing. […]
• From Times Union (New York): “Parents in search of help for disabled children are leaving public schools”
[…] the number of disabled homeschoolers is on the rise statewide, following a trend that began nationally in 2019. Locally, the surge is happening in nine districts. A handful of big cities, suburban districts and rural schools have seen growth in the number of disabled children moving into homeschooling far outpace the growth of general education students who leave the same school district for homeschooling.[…]
• From KQED: “Enrollment, Discipline, Disabilities: 5 Things Civil Rights Data Says About Public Schools”
[…]The population of students with disabilities is on the rise, and boys make up a much bigger share than girls — nearly two-thirds — of these students. While the previous CRDC showed 17% of students had disabilities, the newest data show they made up 19% of all students enrolled in public schools. And they were suspended out of school at disproportionately high rates.
Losen says the lost days of school for these students don’t just mean they’re missing learning, it also means they may be losing out on key services they get during school, such as mental health counseling or physical therapy.
Disabled students are also among the least likely groups to be enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) classes in high school. Losen says that’s a longstanding pattern, in part, because of assumptions that they can’t achieve at high levels. AP classes might not be the right fit for some students with intellectual disabilities, he says, but many students have disabilities that have little to do with their academic potential.
And Gopalan says these classes don’t just represent how much rigor students are exposed to. “These are all gateways to college, other opportunities beyond high school. And we see gaps in opportunity and access for students with disabilities.”[…]
• From Bar and Bench (India): “Supreme Court seeks State-wise data on regulation, standards of rehab centres for disabled children”
The Supreme Court on Thursday sought state-wise details on how rehabilitation centres for children with disabilities are regulated and monitored across India. The court asked the Centre to gather information from all states and Union territories on the standards in place, the authorities set up under the law, and the oversight mechanisms governing such facilities.
[…]The matter came up amid concerns over gaps in compliance with laws meant to regulate rehabilitation and mental health establishments for persons with disabilities.[…]
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