Social skills don’t come naturally to Christopher Webster who has Asperger’s syndrome, but offering free hugs to strangers is helping the San Antonio man come out of his shell.

Nearly every Saturday for six years and counting, Webster, 27, has parked himself in downtown San Antonio bearing a cardboard sign that simply reads “free hugs.”

Passersby from all walks of life have taken Webster up on his offer. He estimates that he gives an average of 22 hugs each Saturday.

Aside from bringing happiness to strangers, those who know Webster say his weekly hug routine has allowed the man who also has bipolar disorder to open up. Once described as withdrawn, Webster now takes college courses.

“It was stepping out of my comfort zone,” Webster told the San Antonio Express-News. “Once I started, it became natural. Sometimes its boom, boom, boom; it’s mind-boggling.” To read more click here.

A new study indicates that medication can reverse many of the defining symptoms of fragile X syndrome in mice, a finding which could have implications for people with other developmental disabilities too.

The development reported Thursday in the journal Neuron is significant, scientists say, because the treatment brought about major changes even in adult mice with fragile X, the most common form of inherited intellectual disability.

For the study, researchers looked at a new drug intended to target a protein in the brain that’s been linked to fragile X. Mice given the medication began exhibiting fewer symptoms of the condition, researchers said. Improvements were seen in learning and memory capabilities as well as behavioral areas, with the mice becoming less sensitive to sound, for example.

“The most important implications of our study are that many aspects of (fragile X) are not caused by an irreversible disruption of brain development,” said Mark Bear of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who worked on the study.

Though there is no plan currently to try the drug used in the study with people, researchers say that the ability to see such a reversal of symptoms in mice is promising. What’s more, they say that other medications already in human clinical trials address the same protein and may be able to offer similar results.

The findings could have significance beyond fragile X as well. Many with the condition also have autism and intellectual disability, so treatments for fragile X may offer a window into the other disorders.

Even though many federal policies favor community-based employment for people with disabilities, a new report finds that most government funds go to sheltered workshops instead.

The report released Tuesday from the National Disability Rights Network looks at how money for disability employment flowing from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Rehabilitation Services Administration is utilized in the states.

Though both agencies have stated policies supporting community-based employment, the advocacy group analysis found that the system is “complex and confusing” with most money going to sheltered workshops.

In Ohio alone, the report indicates that an estimated $5 million in local and federal funds were spent in 2011 for community-based employment. During the same period, some $175 million was spent on segregated work environments.

“There is a total disconnect between what governments say they want to accomplish in terms of employment for people with disabilities and how they are actually spending taxpayer dollars,” said Curt Decker, executive director of the National Disability Rights Network, an umbrella group for the protection and advocacy organizations in each state.

Currently, more than 400,000 Americans with disabilities are employed in sheltered workshops, according to the advocacy group. Such segregated work environments typically pay workers less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

The report is the second in little more than a year from the National Disability Rights Network calling for an end to sheltered workshops. The group favors community-based employment for people with disabilities with supports, as needed.

Proponents of sheltered workshops, however, argue that they provide a much-needed system for people with severe disabilities to earn a wage and socialize with their peers.

Autism is costing society $137 billion annually, according to new estimates that suggest a three-fold increase in less than a decade.

The figure comes from preliminary findings of a new analysis of the economic impact of autism. The results of the Autism Speaks-funded study are expected to be presented Saturday at a conference in Hong Kong.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and the London School of Economics reviewed multiple studies looking at the costs of education, health care and other needs of those with autism to come up with the new estimates.

They found that lifetime care for an individual with autism who also has intellectual disability runs $2.3 million in the U.S. on average. For those on the spectrum without intellectual disability, they calculated $1.4 million in lifetime expenses.

Based on newly-released prevalence estimates suggesting that autism affects 1 in 88 U.S. children, the researchers found that the developmental disability is costing society $137 billion each year. That’s a significant increase over a 2007 study in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine which pegged autism’s yearly impact in the U.S. to be closer to $35 billion.

The majority of the costs associated with autism over the lifetime occur in the adult years, the new analysis suggests. Specifically, funding residential care for those with autism who are often unemployed or underemployed adds up.

“We are paying for the costs of inaction and the costs of ‘inappropriate action,’” said David Mandell of the University of Pennsylvania, who is behind the research. “Social exclusion of individuals with autism and intellectual disability, and exclusion of higher-functioning individuals from employment opportunities are increasing the burden not only on these individuals and their families, but on society as a whole.”

Walgreens is expanding its efforts to employ people with disabilities, with a new focus on inclusion at retail stores.

The national drugstore chain, which first embraced inclusion with a goal of having employees with disabilities make up 10 percent of its distribution center workforce, is rapidly bringing the concept to the storefront.

Through a pilot program that began in Texas, Walgreens is partnering with local service providers to identify and train those with disabilities for jobs as cashiers and other retail positions, company officials said.

The program is currently in place in Dallas, Houston, Chicago and New York as well as parts of Wisconsin and Connecticut, according to Walgreens spokeswoman Vivika Panagiotakakos who indicated that further expansion is expected.

Though the drugstore is behind the training initiative, some participants accept jobs at other retailers as well, said Panagiotakakos who characterized the initiative as “very successful.”

In addition to actively hiring more people with disabilities, Walgreens has become a model for other large companies as well. Last year, Proctor & Gamble cited Walgreens’ example when they announced that at least 30 percent of employees at a new packaging facility in Maine would be people with physical or developmental disabilities.

While welcome by many in the disability community, the corporate inclusion efforts are far from the norm. Americans with disabilities faced a 15.8 percent unemployment rate in February, according to the U.S. Department of Labor — significantly higher than the 8.3 percent jobless rate experienced by the general population.

Meanwhile, a number of employers are actively campaigning against a proposed new rule from the Labor Department calling for most government contractors to ensure that 7 percent of their employees are people with disabilities.