AUCD Central Office News

2013 AUCD Disability Leadership Policy Fellow: Call for Applications

AUCD is currently accepting applications for the 2013 Disability Policy Leadership Fellow. The purpose of the Fellowship is to provide significant experiences in national level activities related to policy and legislative development, advocacy, program development, technical assistance, and AUCD administration. The Fellowship in Disability Policy Leadership is envisioned as a mutually beneficial arrangement between the Fellow, the home UCEDD/LEND/IDDRC program and the AUCD central office. Read more about the fellowship and apply by Monday, July 30, 2012.

To learn more about Former AUCD Disability Policy Leadership Fellows, please click here. Also, take a moment to trek across D.C. with AUCD’s current policy fellow, Kristina Majewski, by following Kristina's blog on the new AUCD fellowship homepage.

AUCD 2012-2013 Virtual Trainee Position: Call for Applications

As sad as we are to see our current Virtual Trainee go, it’s time to recruit a dynamic individual for the 2012-2013 Virtual Trainee position. This is an exciting opportunity for a current trainee with experience to increase his/her knowledge of the AUCD network, and learn more about national level activities, events, and programmatic initiatives. Learn more about this opportunity and apply by Friday, June 29, 2012.

'Opportunities Multiply as they are Seized' - the May AUCD Early Career Professionals Blog Entry from AUCD Virtual Trainee and AZ LEND Trainee Jody Pirtle

The Early Career Professionals Blog focuses on topics of interest to early career professionals who work with people with disabilities. Blog contributors have diverse perspectives on leadership, professional development, and success in changing systems to better serve people with disabilities and their families. Read more...

In Memoriam: Katie Beckett

Katie Beckett passed away on May 18, 2012. Her struggle and that of her parents led to the Katie Beckett Waiver Program that allowed literally hundreds of thousands children with disabilities and fragile medical conditions to be supported at home rather than in hospitals or nursing homes. Katie grew to be a youth leader in the world of children with special health care needs who, by her example, courage, energy, and spunk, provided a model and was a standard bearer for all those working for full participation and individualized supports for individuals with disabilities and special health care needs and their families. Read more...

AUCD Announces Teams Chosen for the MCHB/AUCD Interprofessional Leadership Learning Collaborative

The purpose of the MCHB-AUCD Interprofessional Leadership Learning Collaborative is to engage MCHB-funded interdisciplinary leadership training programs in an experiential, skill-based "community of practice" related to the UNC MCH Leadership Consortium model. The overall goal of this learning collaborative is for participants to incorporate and evaluate this intentional type of leadership training as a component of their MCHB-funded interdisciplinary leadership training programs. The MCHB-AUCD Interprofessional Leadership Learning Collaborative is a year-long quality improvement opportunity comprised of in-person training workshops and ongoing technical assistance to participant programs. The learning collaborative will commence with a 4-day "Leadership Intensive" July 31-August 3, 2012 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Six teams (TX, NH, PA, WI, IN and CA) have been chosen to participate in the 2012-2013 Interprofessional Leadership Learning Collaborative. Read more...

Network News - Awards

Fran Goldfarb Presented with the Distinguished Individual Award from the Family Resource Centers Network of California

The Family Resource Center Distinguished Individual Service Award is presented to a deserving individual or individuals who have contributed long-time service to their Family Resource Center. This award recognizes the outstanding contributions of an individual member of FRC personnel or volunteer, who through personal experience and action has demonstrated his or her commitment to improving the quality of support to families with children with disabilities. Read more...

Dr. Barbara Wheeler Presented with the Distinguished Professional Award from the Family Resource Centers Network of California

The Distinguished Professional Award honors a professional or professionals who have enhanced and promoted the spirit and intent of Family Resource Centers and the Family Resource Centers Network of California. The Distinguished Professional has demonstrated unyielding commitment to ensure families have access to parent-to-parent support and resources throughout California sustained by local FRC's and the Family Resource Centers Network of California. Read more...

John Moeschler, MD, MS (NH LEND) Named 2012 New Hampshire Pediatrician of the Year

The New Hampshire Pediatric Society recently named Dr. John Moeschler as the 2012 New Hampshire Pediatrician of the Year. A professor of pediatrics at Dartmouth Medical School and Director of Clinical Genetics at Children's Hospital at Dartmouth, he is cited for his 20 year tenure as director of the New Hampshire Leadership Education in Developmental and Related Disabilities (NH LEND). NH LEND is a collaboration of Dartmouth Medical School, University of New Hampshire and University of Maine. Read more...

Judy Struck, EdD, Executive Director of SD UCEDD, Receives Distinguished Awards

Judy Struck, EdD, executive director of the SD UCEDD, Center for Disabilities at the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine, was presented with two awards in April for her contributions to the field of disabilities. She received the Champion for Children award from SD Voices for Children; and the 2012 Advocacy award from SD Advocacy Services. Read more...

Network News - People on the Move

Stephan Viehweg Named Interim Director of IUPUI Center for Translating Research Into Practice

Stephan Viehweg has been named interim director of the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Center for Translating Research Into Practice (TRIP). As interim director, he will lead the effort to identify and celebrate translational research on the IUPUI campus. While interim director, Viehweg will maintain his position as associate director of the Riley Child Development Center at the School of Medicine, and will continue to lecture at the School of Social Work and oversee the Catie B. Project for Family Centered Care. His appointment is effective July 1, 2012. Read more...

Network News - Activities & Resources

Baby Communication Milestones: a PSA Video from the Albert Einstein UCEDD/LEND

In this brief 7 minute public service video for parents from The Children's Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center (CERC) at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Lisa Shulman, MD, a Developmental Behavioral Pediatrician and Director of the Center's Infant and Toddler Team, uses video of babies and toddlers to show the communication milestones expected in typically developing children. She also discusses what parents should do if they suspect their child has a developmental delay. Read more...

New Virtual Reality Study and Book Series Help Advance Educational Opportunities for Children with Autism, from UC Davis UCEDD

In the U.S., 80 percent of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) go to public schools, and at least 50 percent of them are in general education classes throughout the school day. More than 60 percent have average IQs and are not affected by intellectual disabilities, yet they have the worst graduation rates of any group. "Schools are not very well equipped to deal with ASDs," said Mundy, who holds the Lisa Capps Endowed Chair in Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Education and is director of educational research at the UC Davis MIND Institute. Read more...

Rebecca Landa, PhD, from the Kennedy Krieger Institute (MD LEND/IDDRC), Featured in the Wall Street Journal

Dr. Rebecca Landa is the Director of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD) at the Kennedy Krieger Institute. She was featured in the Wall Street Journal speaking about early intervention for children with autism. The article describes an intervention model designed by Dr. Landa, which targets children's play to help tackle autism. Read the full article.

Beth Marks, PhD, at the Institute on Disability and Human Development (IL UCEDD/LEND) Contributes to the Signing of Important Agreement on Employment for People with Disabilities

Beth Marks, PhD, Research Assistant Professor at the IDHD is also the President of the National Organization of Nurses with Disabilities (NOND). In her latter role, she led the NOND to sign an alliance agreement with the US Labor Department's Office of Disability Employment Policy Disabilities to promote the hiring of people with disabilities in the health care industry. Read more...

MA ICI LEND Program Graduation, 2012

The ICI/LEND program at Children's Hospital Boston celebrated its end-of-year graduation on May 11th. The LEND fellows participated in a series of presentations reflecting on their year. The highlights included visiting families, meeting Title V program directors, working with community-based organizations, conducting research and clinical services and attending the annual Disability Policy Seminar in Washington DC late in April. The convocation featured a talk by Dr. Kass Braden, the Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center's LEND program on cross cultural collaborations. Read more...

Submissions

News items may be submitted for consideration via the
AUCDigest Submission page.

University of Maine UCEDD and College of Education and Human Development Welcome Early Childhood Opportunities Scholars

The University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (Maine UCEDD) and the College of Education and Human Development are collaborating on a four-year project, Early Childhood Opportunities (EChO) Scholars, to support the preparation of highly qualified early intervention professionals serving children with disabilities in Maine. Read more...

AUCD 2012: Innovating Today, Shaping Tomorrow

The 2012 AUCD Conference is a unique forum to share innovations and promising practices across a broad array of topics that ultimately impact the quality life for people with disabilities and their families in their communities. Join AUCD on December 2-5, 2012 at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC, to learn and share today's promising practices and innovations that shape the lives of people with disabilities and their families through research, policy, education, and service.

Call for Proposals Open - Due June 25

Proposals are welcome from the entire AUCD network and its partners, including individuals with disabilities and their family members, faculty, researchers, program directors and staff, students, policymakers, administrators, and advocates. Share your innovation—new projects, new research, new ways of thinking, new training methods, and more—with your colleagues from across the country and the AUCD network. Proposals are being sought for discussion, panel and poster sessions. To read about the new types of sessions for this year's conference, click here. Submit your proposal by June 25, 2012.

Sponsorship Slots Available for All Levels

Each sponsorship opportunity is connected to one major conference event at which you may be the sole sponsor, in addition to a number of highly desirable ways to connect with attendees and promote your business or brand, both before, during, and after the conference. Click here to learn about all the categories available and submit your application by September 1, 2012. Companies who turn in their sponsorship applications by August 1st will be entered into a drawing to receive a free ad or double their existing ad space!

Autism - You Do See it First: How to Recognize, Screen, Refer

The LoneStar LEND will host its first annual conference, "Autism - You Do See it First: How to Recognize, Screen, Refer," at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston on June 15-16th. The conference is intended to educate primary care providers on routine developmental surveillance and screening for autistic spectrum and related neurodevelopmental disorders (ASD/NDs), thus increasing timely and accurate diagnosis of ASD/NDs. The program will be of interest to primary care physicians, psychologists, residents, fellows, medical students, nurses, OT/PTs, LCSWs, language pathologists, educators, ECI and child care providers.

2012 International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities (IASSID) World Congress 
July 9 - 14, 2012
Halifax, Nova Scotia

The 2012 IASSID World Congress, "A World of Potential," will bring approximately 1,500 delegates from around the world to Halifax. The conference will offer several plenary addresses about major advances in the biological, behavioral, and social sciences related to intellectual disabilities. In addition, presenters will share recent research findings in more than 200 concurrent sessions.