Teachers Need to Know About More Than Just Autism: Saw a post on Disability Scoop today about legislation to "establish a five-year federal grant program to allow school districts to team with universities and nonprofits to train general education teachers and other school staff to best support students with autism." And that's a great idea, as far as it goes. Absolutely, general-education teachers and school staff at large would benefit from a greater understanding of autism. And of ADHD. And of learning disabilities. And of food allergies, goodness knows. And of fetal alcohol effects, to mention one that's particularly important to me. And of hearing impairment, judging by how many stories I've heard of teachers refusing to wear mikes. And of any and all disabilities of children in their classrooms and lunchrooms, on their playgrounds and buses. Congrats to the autism lobby for focusing so much attention on that diagnosis, but the problem of teacher and staff ignorance is way, way bigger than autism. Never let schools feel that once they've got that, they can stop. (And parents, if you're the one who has to do the educating, without the aide of teams from universities and nonprofits, I have some suggestions on my About.com site, and places where you can share yours.)