National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY) operates as the nation's centralized information resource on disabilities and special education for children and youth ages birth through 21 years. It does so by collecting, organizing and disseminating current, accurate, research based information about childhood disability and special education. The Center also disseminates information about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the nation's special education law

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is a United States federal law that governs how states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education, and related services to children with disabilities...

 and the No Child Left Behind Act, the nation's general education law. NICHCY has a strong focus on research, information dissemination, and providing quality information on teaching and learning.

NICHCY responds to over 2,500 requests for information each year from families, professionals, advocates, government agencies, journalists, and others concerned with issues affecting children and youth with disabilities.

NICHCY’S Research Center connects stakeholders to the knowledge base that the field of special education has accumulated over years of investigation and practice. Approximately 5,000 unique users visit the Research Center’s web site each week to find the latest research news, briefs, and analysis on effective educational practices for children with disabilities.

NICHCY's services, publications, and Web site are available in both English and Spanish. On NICHCY's Web site, information is available on:

• Services for infants and toddlers with disabilities (Early intervention)
• The special education process and IEPs (individualized education programs)
• Fact sheets on disabilities (Attention Deficit Disorder, Autism/PDD
  Autism
  Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
  
  , Cerebral Palsy
  Cerebral palsy
  Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive, non-contagious motor conditions that cause physical disability in human development, chiefly in the various areas of body movement....
  
  , Deafness/Hearing Loss, Down Syndrome
  Down syndrome
  Down syndrome, or Down's syndrome, trisomy 21, is a chromosomal condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. It is named after John Langdon Down, the British physician who described the syndrome in 1866. The condition was clinically described earlier in the 19th...
  
  , Emotional Disturbance, Epilepsy
  Epilepsy
  Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms of abnormal, excessive or hypersynchronous neuronal activity in the brain.About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and nearly two out of every three new cases...
  
  , Learning Disabilities
  Learning disability
  Learning disability is a classification including several disorders in which a person has difficulty learning in a typical manner, usually caused by an unknown factor or factors...
  
  , Mental Retardation
  Mental retardation
  Mental retardation is a generalized disorder appearing before adulthood, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors...
  
  , Severe and/or Multiple Disabilities, Speech-Language Impairments, Spina Bifida
  Spina bifida
  Spina bifida is a developmental congenital disorder caused by the incomplete closing of the embryonic neural tube. Some vertebrae overlying the spinal cord are not fully formed and remain unfused and open. If the opening is large enough, this allows a portion of the spinal cord to protrude through...
  
  , Traumatic Brain Injury
  Traumatic brain injury
  Traumatic brain injury , also known as intracranial injury, occurs when an external force traumatically injures the brain. TBI can be classified based on severity, mechanism , or other features...
  
  , and Visual Impairments)
• Research on effective interventions for students with disabilities
• Education rights of students in special education and what the law requires
• Transition from school to adult life
  
  NICHCY's site also provides many resources, including:
  • Materials for parents of children with disabilities;
  • State resources for every state and U.S. territory;
  • Databases of national organizations and conferences focused on disabilities or education;
  
  
  NICHCY is funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), United States Department of Education
  United States Department of Education
  The United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...
  
  . All of NICHCY's publications are copyright free. NICHCY is operated by FHI360.
  

  External links

  • Official website for National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)
  • NICHCY Research Center
  The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.