Center for Disabilities Studies

Disability policy advocates expressed frustration that the U.S. Senate rejected a coronavirus relief bill that incorporated funding for disability community needs, such as extra Medicaid money for home- and community-based care providers. Already pared down from the $3 trillion bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, the recently failed legislation may be the last attempt at providing another round of fiscal stimulus before the 2020 presidential election.

Some special education students at Milford Central Academy, a middle school, will receive daily visits from teachers for one-on-one instruction in addition to their independent remote work. Teachers will work in pairs, meet with students outside, wear masks and observe social distancing guidelines.

The University of Delaware reported that 96 students and four employees have tested positive for coronavirus since Aug. 31. The tally includes students who live on- and off-campus. The surge in new cases since students returned to campus has increased Newark’s rate of positive tests per day from fewer than one to more than six.

Jaipreet Virdi, an assistant professor of history at UD, published two books on the history of disability in 2020. “Disability and the Victorians: Attitudes, Interventions, Legacies” examines the lasting impact of perceptions, treatments and writings on disability from the Victorian era. “Hearing Happiness: Deafness Cures in History” traces deafness and attempted cures in American material culture since the 1860s. Virdi, who lost her hearing at age four, interweaves her own story, which she says helped to fuel her interest in disability studies.

Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren announced that the leadership of the Rochester Police Department, including the chief and deputy chief, resigned over the handling of the Daniel Prude case. Protestors have called for the officers’ resignations – as well as that of Mayor Warren – because of the police treatment that led to Prude’s death during an apparent mental health episode. Rochester civil leaders have committed to hiring more mental health professionals and shifting funding for mental health care away from the police department.