|
Southeastern Postsecondary Education Alliance Holds Second Annual Capacity Building Institute
 The Center for Leadership in Disability (CLD), at the Georgia State University School of Public Health, hosted its second annual Southeastern Postsecondary Education Alliance (SEPSEA) Capacity Building Institute on April 4th & 5th, 2016. The annual event was created to collaborate around the support, creation and expansion of inclusive postsecondary education programs (IPSE) among Southeastern states. The two day agenda drew 80 students and 100 professionals and parents, representing 31 colleges and universities, from 9 Southeastern states to Georgia State University's campus. Seven University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs) were represented at the event. Read more...
IDHD Accessible Research Summary Brief Series (IL UCEDD/LEND)
 The Institute on Disability and Human Development is excited to announce our new Accessible Research Summary Brief Series! Recognizing the importance of access for a variety of audiences, including families and people with disabilities, we have produced accessible research summaries (and audio versions) of our journal publications. While we will continuously be adding briefs to the series, our series already covers over 30 different topics ranging from employment to sexuality! Read more...
7th Summer Institute Explores Intersection of Faith and Disability (Maine UCEDD)
 Approximately 160 people from seven countries and multiple faith traditions recently attended all or part of the 2016 Summer Institute on Theology and Disability in Holland, MI hosted by Hope College and Western Theological Seminary. Under the leadership of Rev. Bill Gaventa, the vision of the annual Summer Institute is to "expand the depth and breadth of theological inquiry and resources that address and include the contributions of people with disabilities and their families to theological learning and religious practice." Read more...
Comfort Room for Kids (IA UCEDD/LEND)
 The Center for Disabilities and Development, Iowa's Center for Excellence on Disabilities is excited to roll out a new and unique experience for our patients and families. The Comfort Room for Kids is scheduled to open in late spring 2016. The Comfort Room uses technology to help reduce anxiety and stress in a safe and fun environment. Read more...
Training the Next Generation of Leaders in ASD (WA LEND)
As autism spectrum disorder (ASD) becomes the fastest growing developmental disability in the United States, with a diagnosis rate of 1 in 68 individuals, there is a growing need for quality training programs to help prepare the next generation of professionals to support children and families with this heterogeneous and complex neurodevelopmental disorder.
Read more...
ICI (MA UCEDD/LEND) Director Joins Official US Delegation to China
 This official US delegation from the Department of State traveled to China to discuss and share ideas and thoughts about disability rights, employment and inclusive education for children and adults with disabilities. The director of the Institute for Community Inclusion, Dr. William Kiernan, was honored to join other prominent leaders in the disability field. Read more...
Continuing the National Conversations on MTSS/RtI (LA UCEDD)
 The Human Development Center UCEDD hosted the second annual two-day institute on RtI/MTSS with sessions focusing on behavior (PBIS), literacy, legal issues, and RtI/MTSS development, implementation, and sustainability. Renowned speakers at this institute included Randy Sprick, Nancy Marchand-Martell, Perry Zirkel, Mark Shinn, Michelle Shinn, and W. Alan Coulter. The institute drew over 275 attendees from across the country including attendees from as far as the Marianas Islands, more than twice as many attendees as last year's institute.
Read more...
ICI (MA UCEDD/LEND) Receives New Grant for Transition Leadership
 The grant will fund and prepare four cohorts of highly trained Transition Specialists with a focus on Intellectual Disability (ID) and other low incidence disabilities (LID) to address the critical shortage of transition personnel in MA. Training includes a 21-credit online personnel preparation program, including five fully online courses and a practicum. Scholars are supported with field supervisors and state and national mentors. This new grant allows ICI project staff Maria Paiewonsky, Nancy Hurley, and Molly Boyle to continue the UMass Boston Transition Leadership program, which is a Massachusetts DESE approved course of study that prepares eligible candidates for the Transition Specialist endorsement. Read more...
New Webinar Series Launched to Explore Disability & Employment (NH UCEDD)
 The Employment Policy and Measurement Rehabilitation and Research Training Center (EPM-RRTC) would like to announce the launch of the nTIDE Lunch & Learn Webinar Series. Taking place the first Friday of every month, these webinars come on the same day that the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its monthly Jobs Report. Read more...
Alaska Safety Planning & Empowerment Network (ASPEN): Bringing Together Domestic/Sexual Violence and Disability Service Agencies (AK UCEDD/LEND)
 Research staff from the Center for Human Development (Alaska UCEDD) have an ongoing role in community needs assessment with the Alaska Safety Planning and Empowerment Network (ASPEN). ASPEN brings together domestic violence/sexual assault (DV/SA), and disability service agencies from around the state, in primarily rural areas. Team members bring agencies together to: examine agency policies; seek service user feedback through focus groups; increase accessibility for survivors with disabilities in the DV/SA system; and increase trauma responsiveness in disability service systems. Read more...
UCLA PEERS Clinic at the International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR) Conference 2016 (CA UCEDD)
 On May 11-14, Dr. Elizabeth Laugeson and members of her research team presented recent study findings on the PEERS® intervention at the International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR) in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Laugeson is the Director of Training at the Tarjan Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities at UCLA, and is the Founder and Director of the UCLA PEERS® Clinic, an outpatient program providing an evidence-based, parent assisted social skills intervention for adolescents and young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Read more...
Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (TN UCEDD/LEND/IDDRC) Joins Nation's Largest Autism Study
 The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (TN UCEDD/LEND/IDDRC) is one of a select group of sites selected to launch SPARK, an online research initiative designed to become the largest autism study ever undertaken in the United States. Sponsored by the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI), SPARK will collect information and DNA for genetic analysis from 50,000 individuals with autism - and their families - to advance the understanding of the causes of this condition and to hasten the discovery of supports and treatments. The Center joins 21 leading national research institutions chosen by SFARI to assist with recruitment. The SPARK effort is being led locally by Zachary Warren, Ph.D., associate professor of Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Special Education and executive director of the Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders (TRIAD). Read more...
Vanderbilt University Dependents with Intellectual Challenges to Receive Tuition Benefit (TN UCEDD/LEND/IDDRC)
 A Vanderbilt University sociology professor was looking for education options that her daughter, who has autism, could attend after high school, but suitable programs carried prohibitive price tags. Why, she wondered, couldn't she take advantage of Vanderbilt's popular benefit that helps pay college costs for the children of faculty and staff? The professor raised the question with Vanderbilt administrators. Another professor and a staff member, both mothers of children with intellectual disabilities, joined her effort. The answer is a positive one. This fall, Vanderbilt University is expanding its dependent tuition assistance policy to include students with intellectual disabilities and will cover qualified comprehensive transition programs (CTPs), such as Vanderbilt's own Next Steps program. Read more...
UCONN UCEDD Hosts Self-Determination Event for Connecticut Practitioners
 UCONN UCEDD hosted an all-day training event on Self-Determination and its importance in the education of students with disabilities." Invited presenters were Drs. Michael Weymeyer and Karrie Shogren from the University of Kansas. Over 100 individuals representing school districts across the state of Connecticut, along with advocates, family members, graduate students, and state agencies staff attended the training. Read more...
Munroe-Meyer Institute Teams with State for Autism Coverage Medicaid Guidelines (NE UCEDD/LEND)
 Following a 2015 Nebraska Supreme Court ruling that mandated Medicare coverage for children with autism in the state, Nebraska officials seeking information on the types of services that could and should be provided met with a team of professionals from the University of Nebraska Medical Center's Munroe-Meyer Institute. "We have been identified as a primary stakeholder for providing these services throughout the state," said Terri Mathews, Ph.D., an associate professor of psychology at MMI who runs social skills programs for children with autism and is the director of Autism Care for Toddlers Clinic. "We provide a lot of teaching and research in this area, and we're probably the most frequent referral source for providers who see children with possible autism spectrum disorders." Read more...
Whose Life is it Anyways? Person-Centered Practices Family Training: A New Collaborative Project (TX UCEDD)
 "Whose Life is it Anyways?" Person-Centered Practices Family Training: A New Collaborative Project In collaboration with the Center on Disability and Development (CDD), the University of Texas Center on Disability Studies (TCDS), the Texas Division of Blind Services (DBS), the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI), Educational Service Center Region 6 (Huntsville) and Region 12 (Waco), and Fungineering, over 25 parents and 19 young advocates with visual impairments participated in the "Whose Life is it Anyways?" Person-Centered Practices Family Training. Read more...
The Center on Disability and Development at Texas A&M University Announces the 2016 PATHS Graduates (TX UCEDD)
 The Postsecondary Access and Training in Human Services (PATHS) program at Texas A&M University is honored to announce the 2016 graduates. This year, 21 young men and women successfully graduated from the PATHS certificate program. Family and friends attended the fifth graduating PATHS class. The PATHS certificate program was developed in 2010 by Dr. Cheryl Grenwelge, Director of Transition Service Programs, Associate Professor, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension while working with the Center on Disability and Development (CDD) at Texas A&M University. Read more...
2016 Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps JD Program (MD UCEDD/LEND)
 Brian Paxton, a rising third-year law student at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, was accepted into the 2016 Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps JD Program, to work 300 hours with Project HEAL (Health, Education, Advocacy, and Law) at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, MD. Project HEAL is a community-based program of the Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities and Maryland's only comprehensive medical-legal partnership. As an undergraduate, Brian attended the University of Maryland, College Park and received a bachelor of arts in journalism. Prior to law school, Brian worked with The Autism Project, Inc. in Owings Mills, as a group instructor and therapeutic administrator. He has over a decade of experience in the field of special education as well as several personal connections to children with disabilities. Read more...
First Annual USC UCEDD Community Education Conference
 The USC UCEDD hosted it's first annual community education conference at The California Endowment in Downtown Los Angeles. This one-of-a-kind conference offered 18 sessions focusing on the needs of transitional age youth (ages 14-25) with co-occurring developmental disabilities and mental health issues. Over 180 participants from across the state of California attended the event. Read more...
 top of page
|
Following a national search, Derek Nord has been appointed the new director of the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community at Indiana University. Nord is currently associate director of the Research and Training Center on Community Living, a part of the University of Minnesota's Institute on Community Integration. Nord brings with him more than 15 years of experience working to improve services and support for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including leading or co-leading numerous national and statewide research, training and technical assistance projects related to community living and participation. 
The Change Maker Awards celebrate people and organizations that are creating real, meaningful change for children struggling with mental health and learning disorders. From the community leader putting in long hours for immigrant youth to the passionate nonprofit providing vital resources for families, this year’s honorees inspire us with their passion for changing the way we understand and treat our children.
Trustees, graduates honor IUSM's top teachers Each year the Indiana University Board of Trustees recognizes faculty excellence in teaching through a program known as the Trustee Teaching Awards. Excellence in teaching is the primary factor for selection. The awards are announced annually during IUSM (IU School of Medicine) commencement. This year, Paula Sullivan, PhD, a faculty member in Psychology with the Riley Child Development Center received the award.
The films "Of the Community" and "ICI: 30 Years of Innovation, Collaboration, and Influence," released by the Institute on Community Integration (ICI), were recognized at the 22nd Annual Communicator Awards in New York City on April 26. "Of the Community" was among the recipients of the 2016 Award of Excellence (Gold Award) in the Video/Film - Social Issues category, and also received the Award of Distinction (Silver Award) in the Film/Video - Documentary category. "ICI: 30 Years of Innovation, Collaboration, and Influence" was among the recipients of the Award of Distinction (Silver Award) in the Film/Video - Education Institutions category.
Shivani Misra, Sonoran UCEDD trainee, was one of seven graduating seniors that were honored for their outstanding achievements during the University of Arizona's 152nd Commencement ceremony. The seniors were nominated by faculty and peers for awards, which collectively honor individuals with marked integrity and notable achievements, and who also made positive contributions to their families and communities while studying at the UA. 
Tuesday, June14, 2016, 2:00p.m. - 3:30 p.m. ET
