COUNCIL ON LEADERSHIP IN ADVOCACY (COLA)
4/15/2024
Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (TN IDDRC, UCEDD, LEND) Researchers Awarded $2.48M in Special Education Training Grants
Two Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (TN IDDRC, UCEDD, LEND) researchers have received two training grants totaling $2.48 million in funding from the Office of Special Education Programs at the U.S. Department of Education. The new grants address the need to train culturally conscientious special education teachers of students with high intensity needs. One of the grants will support training for teachers of students with limited or no functional speech. The other grant will support training for teachers of students with visual impairments. Both grants seek to recruit candidates from historically underrepresented groups or with a unique interest in supporting students from culturally and linguistic diverse backgrounds.
4/2/2024
Missouri UCEDD Launches Third Season of Accessible: The Podcast
It's BAAAAACK! The University of Missouri-Kansas City's Institute for Human Development, the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities for the state of Missouri (UCEDD), has just launched a new season of Accessible: The Podcast. Accessible is the podcast that opens the door to disability leaders and their ideas. Featuring UMKC-IHD Director George Gotto and Senior Research Assistant Amelia Reighard. The podcast hosts leaders in the disability field with new insights and developments that you can channel into your own career and development. Or you can share these ideas to help others learn from you. Listen to the Accessible Podcast.
3/25/2024
IDDRC Research Brief: Providing Support for Families Affected by Rare Genetic Diseases
The RFK IDDRC unveils its groundbreaking "Operation IDD Gene Team" program developed by Dr. Steven Walkley. This multidisciplinary initiative supports families affected by rare genetic diseases causing intellectual & developmental disability (IDD).Operation IDD Gene Team brings together families, physicians, and scientists to foster understanding and empowerment. Through collaborative meetings, families share their experiences, physicians discuss clinical implications, and scientists provide insights into gene biology. Published in the Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, this innovative program offers hope and guidance to families while advancing research into rare genetic diseases.
3/21/2024
Oklahoma LEND Graduate's Non-Profit Nationally Recognized
Jeanette O'Hara is an OK LEND 2022 graduate and Founder/Executive Director of the nonprofit, Will's House, located just outside Tulsa in Jenks, Oklahoma. Will's House serves as a specialized respite option that supports full time caregivers of children and young adults with medical needs or intellectual/developmental disabilities. Jeanette's approach is simple yet profound: "What do you need? How can we help you?" This philosophy reflects a commitment to addressing the diverse and often overlooked gaps in services for caregivers and families.
2/12/2024
Shelly Baer Recognized as Exceptional Leader within the Community
Rochelle 'Shelly' Baer, LCSW of the University of Miami Mailman Center for Child Development, has been awarded the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine's 2023 Community Partner Award. The Department of Public Health Sciences recognizes Shelly's exceptional leadership. Numerous public health students have benefited from collaborating with her in co-facilitating SALT and SELP initiatives.
2/1/2024
Medical and Dental Curricula on IDD: Training Inclusive Providers
A Study on How Medical and Dental Schools Teach Students about IDD
Past research has shown that many medical and dental students do not learn about IDD in school. The WITH Foundation, AUCD, and UC-LEND, led by Dr. Kashia Rosenau, collaborated to learn more about how medical and dental schools are teaching students about intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The study found that most of the schools had self-advocates to help them teach their medical and dental students about caring for patients with IDD. The study also found that medical and dental students want to learn more about caring for their patients with disabilities. Overall, the study highlights the importance of teaching medical and dental students about caring for patients with IDD and including more self-advocates in this training.
1/30/2024
Michigan Developmental Disabilities Institute and Michigan Vaccination Partners accomplishments Highlighted in APHA's Thought Leadership Film Series
The American Public Health Association (APHA) selected the Michigan Developmental Disabilities Institute (MI-DDI) at Wayne State University and the Michigan Vaccination Partners project to be featured in the APHA 2023 Thought Leadership Film Series. The series profiles cutting-edge efforts to address public health issues being led by researchers, advocates and organizations across the country.
1/30/2024
New Issue Released of Review of Disability Studies: Extended Volume on Disability and China (Vol 18, No.4 & Vol 19 No. 1)
The Center on Disability Studies, College of Education, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, is pleased to announce the release of the Review of Disability Studies: An International Journal Special Issue on China and Disability. The 595-page issue (Volume 18, Issue 4 & Volume 19, Issue 1) was guest-edited by Drs. Luanjiao Hu, The Lurie Institute for Disability Policy, Brandeis University, and Fengming Cui, Harvard University.
1/26/2024
Apply Today: AUCD Leadership Academy
The deadline to apply is March 1st at 5:00 PM EST
The AUCD Leadership Academy is a week-long intensive experience, paired with a year of pre and post interactions designed to enhance the skills of current and emerging leaders from disability networks to build coalitions to improve systems of supports and services. The Leadership Academy engages participants from UCEDDs, LENDs, and the wider community of disability partners to come together to immerse themselves for a week of study, shared experiences, self-evaluation, and skill development.
1/18/2024
ICI, UM Extension Partner For 4-H Youth
The MN UCEDD has created accommodation kits containing tools to better accommodate Minnesota 4-H members with and without disabilities. The training also shared tips about more fully including youth with disabilities.
1/17/2024
Student Spotlight - Blake Jackson
Meet Blake Jackson, a resilient second-year student in the Direct Support Professional - General (DSP-G) track. As a proud member of the PATHS class 2024 in the fightin' Texas Aggie community, Blake is enrolled in the Postsecondary Access and Training in Human Services (PATHS) Program, where he finds inspiration in Andrey Hepburn's timeless words: "Nothing is impossible, the Word itself says "I'm possible'!".
1/16/2024
Five-year Grant to Support KU Project's Goal to Make Disability Data Accessible and Inclusive for Broad Audiences
Numbers alone can't tell a story. That's the foundation of a project now based at the University of Kansas that takes volumes of raw federal and state expenditure data and distills that information for everyone - including policymakers, service providers and individuals with developmental disabilities and their families - to help them make the most informed decisions.
1/16/2024
Missouri's UCEDD Develops "After Abuse: Resources for Missourians with Disabilities"
The University of Missouri-Kansas City's Institute for Human Development, the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities for the state of Missouri, in cooperation with the Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council, has published a new online resource called After Abuse: Resources for Missourians with Disabilities to help people with disabilities learn about abuse and what happens when it is reported.
12/14/2023
Center for Transition to Adult Health Care for Youth with Disabilities Launches New Website
The Center for Transition to Adult Health Care for Youth with Disabilities, a national resource center funded by ACL's Administration on Disabilities (AoD), has launched a new website to help young people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) direct their own transition to the adult health care system. The site also includes resources developed by Center partners, including Family Voices, Got Transition, SPAN Parent Advocacy Network, and two AoD-funded University Centers of Excellence in Development Disabilities (UCEDDs): the Institute for Human Development at University of Missouri-Kansas City and the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Both of these UCEDDs have done extensive work in the field of health care transitions for youth with I/DD.
12/14/2023
Inaugural Meeting of AUCD's Migration & Disability Special Interest Group
AUCD is happy to announce that during this year's AUCD Conference: "Emerging Leader Shaping The Future."The network's newest special interest group(SIG), the Migration and Disability SIG, held its inaugural meeting on the afternoon of Tuesday, November 7th. Convened and chaired by Eva Weiss of Temple University, the group aims to address a gap in knowledge and expertise at the crossroads of migration and disability.