If any doubt remained, a new study shows that the lack of affordable housing is a full-blown crisis, particularly for the poorest among us.

Using census and federal housing data, Urban Institute researchers found that only 28 percent of extremely low-income households nationwide were able to find affordable housing to rent in 2013.

According to a pair of small studies, a reading program that capitalizes on the strengths of students with autism both improves their comprehension and establishes new connections between areas of the brain involved in understanding language.

The two related reports appear online ahead of print in the journals Autism Research and Human Brain Mapping. Read more.

I was 25 when I flew home for my father’s last birthday. His cancer had returned and he would die three months later at the age of 57. What I remember most about that weekend was the large rectangular gift box he opened. My mother had bought him a new suitcase. Read more.

If you have questions about end of life planning, call your Service Coordinator or click here for Client Advocacy resources.

o not underestimate the power of a walk in the woods: A new study suggests that even a 90- minute stroll in a natural environment can lead to measurable changes in the brain, and may help combat depression. Previous research has shown that just a 50-minute walk in nature can improve your mood, decrease your anxiety and even improve your memory. Read more.

The diabetes medication liraglutide helped more than twice as many obese subjects in a clinical trial lose 5% of their body weight, and more than three times as many lose a tenth of their body weight, compared with subjects taking a placebo, according to new research. Read more.

First lady Michelle Obama is expected to be among the dignitaries in attendance at the opening ceremony of the Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles in July. (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/TNS)

First lady Michelle Obama is headed to Los Angeles next month to cheer on athletes with disabilities at the Special Olympics World Games, organizers say. Read more.

Terri Anderson signed up for California’s Medicaid program earlier this year, hoping she’d finally get treatment for her high blood pressure. But the insurer operating her Medicaid plan assigned the 57-year-old to a doctor across town from her Riverside, Calif., home and she couldn’t get there.

“It was just too far away,” says Anderson, adding that she cares for her 90-year-old ill father and can’t leave him alone to make an hour round-trip drive to the doctor. Now she’s crossing her fingers that a health clinic near her house will accept her new insurance. Read more.