ISSUES The new United Nations report finds that children with disabilities are the least likely

to receive health care or go to school and are among the most vulnerable to violence, abuse and neglect, especially if they are hidden away in institutions because of social stigma or parental inability to raise them. This study investigated effects of background music on writing performance of nine 6th grade students at one suburban public elementary school in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. A quantitative A-B-A design was utilized, and results from graded writing prompts with and without background music over 21 weeks were compared. Group Mean gain was higher in the music (treatment) phase than in the final phase (returning to baseline), indicating that background music improved writing ability of learning disabled students overall. Scores dropped instantly and markedly in the first weeks that music was added and removed, indicating that consistency in routine may be more essential to academic performance for learning disabled students than the presence or absence of background music. cie.asu.edu/ojs/index.php/cieatasu/article/view/568

3,521 Disabled Filipinos, Driving As of October 2002, the National Council for the Welfare of Disabled Persons (NCWDP) disclosed that some 3,521 disabled Filipinos have licenses to drive vehicles. The number of disabled driver included 2,550 partially blind, 56 with impaired hearing and speech, 777 with impaired lower limbs and 138 with impaired upper limbs.www.txtmania.com/trivia/social.php