NBRC is in the set-up and testing phase of the Everbridge Mass Notification System. Designed to provide means for mass communications to NBRC’s entire service provider community in the event of a natural disaster or other regional emergency situation, NBRC will be testing Everbridge in January. Click here to learn more about Everbridge.

In this Friday, Oct. 30, 2015 photo, 13-year-old chef Chase Bailey poses for photos in the kitchen in Irvine, Calif. Diagnosed with autism at 2, Bailey’s mother feared her son would never have a normal childhood. Indeed, he hasn’t: The 13-year-old has his own cooking show featuring celebrity chefs and a legion of followers. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) The Associated Press. Read more.

Parents of those with developmental disabilities are no more likely to divorce than other moms and dads, new research suggests, but different factors are at play.

For most couples, divorce odds increase as they have more children. Among parents of kids with special needs, however, this phenomenon is absent, according to findings published this month in the American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Read more.

A study of more than 5,000 kids with autism suggests that those on the spectrum are more likely than other children to be overweight even at very young ages. (Thinkstock)

A new study is warning that children with autism face a heightened risk for obesity and they start packing on the pounds at much younger ages than their typically-developing peers. Read more.

A 13-year-old boy with autism says he performed the Heimlich maneuver on a classmate at his New York City school after learning the technique from “SpongeBob SquarePants.” Brandon Williams was eating lunch at Barnes Intermediate School on Oct. 28 when he noticed that classmate Jessica Pellegrino was choking on a piece of apple. Read more.

The National Union of Healthcare Workers, which represents 1,400 psychologists, therapists and social workers at Kaiser Permanente facilities in Northern California, is asking them to strike starting Nov. 16.

The Emeryville-based union, led by longtime Kaiser foe Sal Rosselli, cited inadequate staffing and alleged “retaliation against whistle blowers” as reasons for the proposed strike. Read more.

California risks losing billions in health care dollars if the state and federal governments can’t agree this week on a plan to fund reforms of the Medicaid program, hospital officials and experts said.

Public hospitals throughout the state are counting on the $7.25 billion in state and federal funds to treat large numbers of low-income and uninsured patients. Read more.