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Dear AAMR Friends and Colleagues:IN THIS ISSUE: President Bush establishes the Interagency Coordinating Council forEmergency Preparedness and Individuals with Disabilities. Authors of thenew Supports Intensity Scale to speak at two national conferences inAugust. New survey findings raise questions about community integration ofpersons with developmental disabilities. The American Journal on MentalRetardation is ranked top journal in special education andrehabilitation. Scientific discovery is significant for rare disorder that causes mentalretardation. Largest study ever launched to find genes associated with autism. TheWorld Bank disability and development website is now live. PRESIDENTBUSH ESTABLISHES INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COUNCIL FOR EMERGENCYPREPAREDNESS AND INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES On July 23, PresidentBush, joined by the National Organization on Disability (NOD) signed anExecutive Order on Individuals with Disabilities in EmergencyPreparedness. The Executive Order calls for the creation of anInteragency Council dedicated to ensuring the safety and security ofindividuals with disabilities in emergency situations. Read theExecutive Order and the functions of the new Council athttp://www.nod.org/content.cfm?id=1546 To read the recently published NOD Guide on Special Needs of People withDisabilities for Emergency Managers, Planners & Responders, visithttp://www.nod.org/content.cfm?id=1267 To learn more about the first ever conference on emergency preparednessneeds of people with disabilities to be held in Virginia from September22-24, visit http://www.nataliepshear.com/events/nod/index.cfm If youare interested in placing an ad here, contact Prabhala atannap@... or 1-800-424-3688, Ext. 212. AUTHORS OF THE NEW SUPPORTSINTENSITY SCALE TO SPEAK AT TWO NATIONAL CONFERENCES IN AUGUST Dr. , lead author of the Supports Intensity Scale (SIS) published bythe American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR), will present aprofessional development workshop on the Scale at the NationalConference of the QMRPs (www.qmrp.org) in Chicago, IL on August 12. Dr.Marc Tassé, co-author of the SIS will be a featured speaker at the"Reinventing Quality" conference (www.qualitymall.org) to be held fromAugust 8-10 in Philadelphia, PA. The Supports Intensity Scale is a newplanning tool that helps disability professionals identify needs, goals,and aspirations of persons with intellectual disabilities and developsupport strategies to fulfill them. NEW SURVEY FINDINGS RAISE QUESTIONS ABOUT COMMUNITY INTEGRATION OFPERSONS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES A national survey conducted by the Institute for Community Inclusion inBoston, Massachusetts finds that despite the push toward integratedemployment for people with developmental disabilities, in many statesnon-work day programs continue to be a substantial component of servicesprovided. Over one-third of individuals served annually were in non-workprograms and the majority of individuals in non-work services were infacility-based settings. The survey questions whether non-work programsadvance goals such as independence, integration, and self-determination.Read the National Survey of Community Rehabilitation Providers athttp://www.communityinclusion.org/publications/pub.php?page=rp39 THEAMERICAN JOURNAL ON MENTAL RETARDATION IS RANKED TOP JOURNAL IN SPECIALEDUCATION AND REHABILITATION According to 2003 impact factor rankings, an annual study that ranksjournals by usage statistics, the American Journal on Mental Retardation(AJMR) published by the American Association on Mental Retardation(AAMR) ranked #1 in both special education and rehabilitationcategories. AJMR was evaluated from a pool of 72 other journals in bothcategories combined. The journal Mental Retardation (MR), also publishedby AAMR, ranked #5 in special education and #8 in rehabilitation. Therankings appear in Journal Citation Reports, published by Thomson ISI.To learn more about AJMR and MR, visit http://aamr.allenpress.com/aamronline/?request=index-html SCIENTIFICDISCOVERY MAY BE SIGNIFICANT FOR RARE DISORDER THAT CAUSES MENTALRETARDATION The action of a protein called CBP is essential for the stabilization oflong-term memory, a discovery that may help children withRubinstein-Taybi syndrome, a rare but debilitating developmentaldisorder that causes mental retardation and other anatomicalabnormalities, say scientists at The Scripps Research Institute and theUniversity of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine. Read moreat http://www.scripps.edu/news/press/062304.html LARGEST STUDY EVERLAUNCHED TO FIND GENES ASSOCIATED WITH AUTISM USING DNA TECHNOLOGY The National Alliance for Autism Research has launched the Autism GenomeProject, the largest study ever conducted to find the genes associatedwith inherited risk for autism. Over the next six months, the world'sleading genetics researchers will pool their resources and use a newtechnology called the DNA microarray, to scan the human genome in thesearch for the genetic causes of autism. Read more at http://www.naar.org/news/render_pr.asp?intNewsItemID=176 Inother autism news, researchers at the UC MIND Institute have foundthat the areas of the brain responsible for emotion and memory areabnormally large in boys with autism. Visithttp://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/mindinstitute/html/news/current/07-14-04-1.htmlto read more. THE WORLD BANK DISABILITY AND DEVELOPMENT WEBSITE IS NOW LIVE As afollow up to its first-ever conference on Disability and Developmentheld in Washington, DC in 2002, The World Bank Group announced thelaunch of a new website dedicated to raising awareness on disability anddevelopment issues. The website, located at www.worldbank.org/disabilityfeatures several topics, statistics, and publications of interest to thedisability community worldwide. AAMR F.Y.I. is compiled by Prabhala, Editor. Please submit comments, suggestions, tips, and news toannap@... Access past issues of AAMR F.Y.I. at www.aamr.org/FYI/