Most of us take everyday adult life for granted; we have a place to live, access to transportation and the opportunity to live independently. The same can most likely be said for those of us with adult children. The basics are covered. But what happens if you’re one of the millions of adults living with a developmental disability in this country? What if you’re the parent and caregiver to an adult child with a disability? How is your life different? Are the basics covered?

When people with disabilities turn 21, they and their families are no longer eligible for the services and supports provided by law through the school system. To determine how this affects them, Easter Seals — the nonprofit, community-based health agency dedicated to helping children and adults with disabilities attain greater independence — commissioned Harris Interactive to perform an online poll of adults with disabilities and their parents [1]. The primary goals of the study were to call attention to the challenges these people face, help service providers better respond to their needs, and heighten awareness of the needs of adults living with disabilities and their families.

The 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was announced earlier this week. The prize was awarded to three U.S. scientists for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase.

Two women, Elizabeth H. Blackburn, age 61, at the University of California in San Francisco, and Carol W. Greider, age 48, at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore along with one man, Jack W. Szostak, age 57, at Harvard Medical School, will share the $1.4 million prize.