Disability Resource Library for Medical Students

Disabilities are often chronic and life-threatening, but many people are able to live happy lives despite their conditions. The link list below highlights 40 valuable resources from educational institutions across the country with regards to disabilities and disability care.

• Accessibility for the Disabled – This guide includes rules for building construction to follow current codes or disability accessibility.
• The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 – This guide from ADA.gov has resources for laws that have developed since the Americas with Disabilities Act of 2010. Check the links on the left side for state-specific rules.

• Alcohol Abuse – SUNY Potsdam offers a great resource about alcohol addiction, which includes information about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Cirrhosis. It also has drunk driving statistics and resources for getting help with alcoholism.
• Facts about Alcohol and Drug Abuse – The Florida Institute of Technology provides research about why people fall into drug and alcohol abuse, as well as the long term effects of addiction on the body. Although the information is targeted toward university students, it has valuable information about addiction as a whole.
• Helping a Friend with Addiction – This resource is from the University of Rochester Medical Center. It provides suggestions for people who are around drug and alcohol addicts in need of help.
• Understanding Drug Abuse and Addiction – The National Institute on Drug Abuse offers this comprehensive overview of the cause and concerns of drug and alcohol addiction.

• Alzheimer’s Disease Center at NYU – New York University Langone Medical Center has an entire research department devoted to Alzheimer’s disease. This site includes links to publications about important discoveries made within the center.
• UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Center – The University of California Davis has a team of students, professors, doctors, and scientists working in their Alzheimer’s Disease Center. Their website highlights the center’s latest findings and provides information about current research projects.
• Alzheimer’s Disease – The University of Maryland Medical Center offers a simple resource for the definition, risk factors, and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

• Genetic Heritability and Shared Environmental Factors Among Twin Pairs With Autism – This is an interesting study from Stanford University about twins with autism.
• Government Documents and Resources about Autism on the Internet – As the name implies, this link offers links to resources online about autism. It comes from the University of Michigan, and it features both federal and local resources.

• Do I Really Need Help? – This resource from Ohio State University provides insight into a variety of behavioral disorders, including anxiety, ADHD, and schizophrenia.
• Emotional/Behavioral Disorders – Galludet University offers this overview of the definition and identification characteristics of emotional and behavioral disorders.
• Special Projects in Behavioral Disorders – This website is run through the University of North Texas. It has special resources for undergraduate and graduate students with interests in behavioral disorders.

• Cerebral Palsy – This article from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains anything you’d need to know about cerebral palsy, including causes, treatments, statistics, and more.
• Cerebral Palsy – This is a file from James Madison University has detailed information about the development and prevention of cerebral palsy.

Diabetes

• Your Guide to Diabetes: Type 1 and Type 2 – The National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse offers this definition of the different types of diabetes, as well as information about caring for cases of diabetes.
• The Past 200 Years in Diabetes – This is a publication from the New England Journal of Medicine, courtesy of the Department of Medicine at the University of Chicago. It shows a timeline of diabetic discoveries in the medical field.
• Diabetes – Errors of Metabolism – This is a resource from Elmhurst College that offers a scientific overview of diabetes.

• Employment Laws: Disability and Discrimination – This resource is from the United States Department of Labor. It showcases the

Disability Rights

• A Guide to Disability Rights Laws – This resource from the American Disability Act offers an overview of the current disability acts and laws in the U.S.
• Cornell Employment and Disability Institute – This is an organization through Cornell University that works towards advancing knowledge, policies, and practices for opportunities for the disable.

• Living with Disability Meetup Groups – This site allows you to “meet up” with other people in your area who have similar disabilities. Meetup also has a variety of other groups worth exploring, such as study groups, singles groups, and more.
• Disability Support Groups – This is a comprehensive list of online disability support groups.

• Down Syndrome (Trisomy 21) – This is a definition of down syndrome from the University of Michigan. Pay close attention to the book list at the bottom of the page if you want to learn more.
• Stanford Down Syndrome Research Center – The Down Syndrome Research Center at Stanford School of Medicine has launched many research programs over the years for the study of down syndrome. This website offers information about their latest projects and updates.
• Autosomal Abnormalities – This publication from Palomar Community College features information about autosomal development and how it leads to chromosomal abnormalities, like down syndrome.

• Hearing Impairment: Definitions, Assessment and Management – This article is from the International Encyclopedia of Rehabilitation at the University of Buffalo. It explains the causes and treatment options for hearing loss.
• Deafness and Hearing Loss Research – This resource from the Scripps Research Institute has the most up-to-date information about research for hearing impairment.

• Literacy and Learning Disabilities Special Collection – This resource is from the University of Tennessee Knoxville has a variety of articles about learning disabilities. It has specific information about how adults can succeed despite their disabilities.
• Learning Disabilities – The University of Washington offers this resource to understand the differences between different types of learning disabilities.

• Project CARAT – This is an interesting project from the University of Kentucky that involves recycling medical equipment near the school’s campus. It is for those who do not have proper insurance to pay for their medical equipment.
• Overview of Device Regulation – This link goes to the device regulations on medical equipment companies through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

• Dystrophinopathies – Washington University in St. Louis offers this online textbook of muscular dystrophy conditions. Use the link list in the left side to learn about specific syndromes.
• Center for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy – This resource center has a wide range of information about muscular dystrophy research and technology.

• Fishing for Remedies in Cognitive Decline – Oregon Health and Science University provides information about remedies for common neurological disorders, like Alzheimer’s.
• Neurotransmissions – This article provides an overview of life as a neurology student.

• UAB School of Education – The University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Education provides resources for research and training in special education. Students at UAB may go here to learn more about their degree programs.
• Special Education – This is the special education section of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website. We like this resource in particular because it shows recent news about special education on the front page.

• Caring for Children with Special Needs: Visual Impairments – This is a resource from the National Network for Child Care. It is published on the North Carolina State University website because of the information it offers education and ophthalmology students.

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Emerita Tula, CMA

I have over 10 years experience as a certified medical assistant. My experience includes settings such as family practice, internal medicine, mental health, urgent care, and drug testing centers. As your resident medical assistant expert, I hope to help you on your journey to becoming a successful medical professional.

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