At a Dewey Beach town commissioner meeting, state transportation officials announced that a project to make Dewey’s sidewalks more accessible will begin later this month. The changes include installing rapidly flashing lights at crosswalks with no stoplight and adding traffic-calming “bump-outs,” which extend from sidewalks partway into the shoulder of the road.
The Commission on Dental Accreditation approved new standards requiring all U.S. dental schools to train students in treating patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The change comes after a National Council on Disability report demonstrated this population was at greater risk of poor oral health and faces multiple barriers to accessing care, including dental worker training.
Autism rates among racial minorities in the U.S. have spiked in recent years, according to a new study published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Although some increases are due to more awareness and better detection among minority groups, other environmental factors are likely at play, the authors conclude – though they cannot currently identify which factors.
After the widespread success of state insurance mandates for autism treatment, a grassroots effort has been underway to do the same for other developmental disabilities. However, some advocates have cautioned that the process of enacting such legislation may inadvertently give insurance companies opportunities to undermine existing autism coverage.
At a panel organized by Sen. Chris Coons and UD’s Partnership for Healthy Communities, speakers from law enforcement, public health and social services discussed ways to mitigate the opioid crisis, which in 2018 resulted in almost 400 deaths in Delaware. Several panelists pointed to state initiatives, including a collaboration between police and substance abuse treatment professionals, as examples of effective strategies.
