AUCD Central Office News

2012 AUCD and ITAC Announce the Launch of the Training Toolbox

The Training Toolbox makes it easy for program staff to browse and share innovative training strategies on a variety of topics relevant to leadership and Maternal Child Health. In the Toolbox, training strategies are categorized by topic, making it easy for you to browse different methods by which others teach important concepts to their trainees, and save strategies you feel could be applicable in your program to a folder of your personal favorites. The Training Toolbox was developed by AUCD, through a cooperative agreement with the Maternal and Child Health Bureau. Read more...

David Helm, PhD Is AUCD's Early Career Professionals' November Guest Blogger

AUCD is pleased to announce the Early Career Professionals’ November guest blogger, David Helm, PhD. Dr. Helm is the LEND Director at the Institute for Community Inclusion in MA. Please take a moment to read “Becoming a Leader is to Take on Leadership Roles.”

AUCD Disability Policy Fellow Gives Grand Rounds at RFK UCEDD

For the inaugural Grand Rounds of the 2012-2013 academic year, the staff of the Rose F. Kennedy UCEDD at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine were delighted to have Kristina Majewski, J.D., the current AUCD Disability Policy Fellow, speak about her experiences in Washington over the past 10 months. During the hour, Ms. Majewski, who's topic was "Treaties, Policies and Politics: Disability Rights Advocacy in Washington, D.C.", enthused about the extraordinary experiences she's had working with the AUCD Legislative Affairs team. Read more...

AUCD Welcomes Anna Costalas!

Anna Costalas, MPA, has joined the AIDD TA team at AUCD as a program specialist. She brings over a decade of experience in advocacy programs, including working as the Program Coordinator for the Rochester Institute of Technology Women’s Center violence prevention efforts funded by DOJ; Communications and Development Coordinator for The Advocacy Center, a Parent Training and Information Center also in Rochester, NY, and most recently the Information and Resource Manager at the parent-run Support for Families of Children with Disabilities in San Francisco, CA. Read more about Anna.

Network News - Awards

Congratulations to Gloria Krahn on Receiving the APHA Disability Section Lifetime Achievement Award

Each year, the APHA Disability Section honors those who have made significant contributions to the field of disability within the public health context. This year's winner of American Public Health Association Disability Section Lifetime Achievement Award is Dr. Gloria Krahn, the Director of the Division of Human Development and Disability at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. Dr Krahn is also former President of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD). Read more...

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP, PA LEND) Faculty Recognized by PA Office of Vocational Rehabilitation

The CHOP Career Path Program, created by CHOP LEND in 2007, was recently honored by the Pennsylvania Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, which named CHOP an “Exemplary Employer” as a result of this program developed and directed by the LEND Director of Community Outreach, Symme Trachtenberg, M.S.W., LSW. Career Path aims to assist young adults with making the transition from adolescence and school to adulthood and work, with an emphasis on vocational training and independent living skills. Read more...

Network News - People on the Move

Valerie N. Williams, PhD, MPA, (OK UCEDD) is the New Chair of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)

Valerie N. Williams, Ph.D., M.P.A., vice provost for academic affairs and faculty development, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC) is the association’s new chair. She succeeds Mark R. Laret, chief executive officer of the University of California, San Francisco, Medical Center. Since joining the OUHSC in 1989, Dr. Williams has served in a variety of faculty development and leadership posts, including associate dean for faculty affairs in the OU College of Medicine and interim associate dean for academic programs in the OU College of Nursing. Read more...

Former UT UCEDD Project Director Named as Utah State Schools Superintendent

Dr. Martell Menlove is the next Utah State Schools Superintendent after a unanimous endorsement by the state school board. Dr. Menlove completed his doctorate while he worked as program director for the Utah Assistive Technology Program at the Center for Persons with Disabilities. Dr. Menlove has served as superintendent in the Box Elder and Rich school districts in Utah. He has been deputy superintendent at the Utah State Office of Education since 2009, and in 2010, he was named the CPD's Alumnus of the Year. Read more...

Network News - Activities & Resources

In Memoriam: Daniel Friedman, MPA

Daniel Friedman, MPA, Associate Director of the Children's Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center (CERC), the clinical arm of the Rose F. Kennedy UCEDD at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, passed away after a long and valiant struggle against pancreatic cancer. For more than 34 years, Dan has been the guiding light and the heart and soul of the UCEDD, the LEND program, and of CERC. He loved, respected and cared deeply about the staff, and, equally importantly, he loved, respected and cared about the children and adults who sought services at the center. Read more...

Envisioning the Future: Allies in Self-Advocacy Final Report

In collaboration with the Developmental Disabilities network, self-advocates, and allies, a series of nine regional summits across the country were held in 2011-2012 to promote collaboration, planning, and recommendations at the state and national levels. This report summarizes the goals of the Self-Advocacy Summit Initiative and describes the planning, implementation, findings, outcomes, evaluation, and feedback of the events. Read more...

Native American Developmental Disabilities Needs Assessment (AZ Sonoran UCEDD)

The Sonoran University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) at the University of Arizona in conjunction with the Native American Research and Training Center (NARTC) performed a needs assessment of selected American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) in the spring and summer of 2011. The purpose of the project was to provide Commissioner Sharon Lewis, Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AIDD), with a snapshot of the AI/AN experience with DD in selected Tribal and urban American Indian communities. Read more...

The Center on Disablity and Community Inclusion (VT UCEDD) Welcomes Chinese Disability Advocate

The Center on Disability and Community Inclusion (Vermont UCEDD) was honored this past month to host visitors Zhao Chunli of China, and Dr. Kathy Johnson of St. Cloud State University. They shared their inspirational story of efforts to build a model school in China for people with disabilities. Zhao Chunli, a young woman with brittle bone disease and dwarfism was not allowed to attend school, suffered chronic physical pain and was a victim of social discrimination. In 1998, President Clinton visited her town, and the 16 year old girl was forced into hiding because officials in her ancient Chinese fishing village thought she was not fit to be seen by such an important man. Read more...

Carrie Sandahl, PhD, UIC (IL UCEDD/LEND) Puts Disability on Display in U.K.

Associate professor Carrie Sandahl traveled to Liverpool, England, in August to participate in DaDa Fest, one of the longest running international festivals of disability and deaf arts.Sandahl, along with other cast members from the U.S. and the U.K., worked with playwright Terry Galloway and dramaturg Donna Nudd to workshop a play-in-development "In the House of the Moles: A Tragedy in Burlesque." The play explores issues of disability, gender and sexuality within the dynamics of family and the wider society. Read more...

Indiana University Center (IN UCEDD) and the Indiana State Department of Health Create New Publication That Supports Early Diagnosis of Children on Autism Spectrum

A new publication developed by Indiana University Center and the Indiana State Department of Health encourages parents to have their young children evaluated if they suspect autism and provides guidance for professional evaluations. The free brochure, "Roadmap to Services: When You Are Concerned Your Young Child May Have an Autism Disorder," includes information on the early signs of autism in the areas of communication, social skills and restrictive or repetitive interests, along with steps for obtaining a diagnosis and where to find services andsupport. Read more...

University of South Dakota Center for Disabilities (SD UCEDD/LEND) Dietetic Internship Program Awarded Full Accreditation

The accreditation was granted for non-degree dietetic internships with an adults and children with disabilities concentration. This accreditation allows the Center for Disabilities to enroll 18 full-time interns annually in two tracks – a 10-month track for interns without a master’s degree and a seven-month track for interns who already earned a master’s degree. Read more...

Ohio State University Nisonger Center (OH UCEDD/LEND) to Start EnvisionIT 

The United States Department of Education has awarded a five-year grant to The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center's Nisonger Center to refine and test a web-based curriculum called EnvisionIT for students with disabilities in high-risk urban, suburban and rural schools. This online high school curriculum teaches students skills in three core competency areas: information technology (IT) literacy, transition planning and reading. Despite the emphasis on higher academic standards and transition services, many students with disabilities are leaving school without these skills, says Margo Vreeburg Izzo, who applied for the grant and will serve as project director. Izzo is the associate director of the Nisonger Center and also program director of Special Education and Transition Services. Read more...

Iowa LEND Trainees Gain Practical Experience through Iowa Mission of Mercy

Sixteen Iowa LEND (ILEND) trainees were among the hundreds of volunteers who assisted with this year's annual Iowa Mission of Mercy (Iowa MOM) in Davenport, Iowa on October 5 and 6. Iowa MOM was started in 2008 by the Iowa Dental Foundation to provide free dental care for any child or adult, regardless of income. Access to dental care can be an issue for many Americans, but for those individuals who have limited resources, or who have disabilities and are reliant on Medicaid for their health and dental coverage, access to care often represents a significant challenge. As volunteers, ILEND trainees helped patients write thank-you notes and complete exit surveys, and served as interpreters for individuals with hearing impairments and those individuals whose native or primary language was one other than English. Read more...

Audiologist Brian Fligor (MA ICI UCEDD/LEND) Intricately Involved in Massachusetts Requirement for Insurance companies to Cover Hearing Aids for Children

Brian Fligor, ScD, Director of theDiagnostic Audiology Program at Boston Children's Otolaryngology and Communication Enhancement Department, even simulated the hearing loss, and benefit from using hearing aids, for five of the children of MassHAFCC parents -Paul, Nathan, and three children of Coalition member Michelle Dardeno-which he played for lawmakers to demonstrate how the children's hearing is affected when they don't have access to hearing aids. Read more...

Michael Wehmeyer, PhD, Kansas UCEDD Director, Rights Old Wrongs in New Book: "Good Blood, Bad Blood"

In 1912 eugenicist and psychologist Henry Herbert Goddard published his highly influential book, "The Kallikak Family: A Study in the Heredity of Feeble-Mindedness." While the book is now seen as pseudoscience, Goddard's chronicle of a family with two hereditary lines, one presented as a cavalcade of outstanding citizens and the other rife with criminals and the "feeble-minded" still resonates in culture, policy and science. In fact, the immutability of the inheritance of intelligence was an article of faith for much of the 20th century. Dr. Michael Wehmeyer and co-author J. David Smith have brought together evidence that disputes the very basis of Goddard's book, "The Kallikak Family: A Study in the Heredity of Feeble-Mindedness," that a degenerate line descended from the progenitor Revolutionary War soldier's dalliance with a barmaid in "Good Blood, Bad Blood: Science, Nature, and the Myth of the Kallikaks." Read more...

Institute on Community Integration (MN UCEDD) To Start Four New Projects

The Institute on Community Integration (ICI) at the University of Minnesota has received funding for four new projects that build on earlier ICI work and reach across the lifespan. The newly-funded projects are in the areas of juvenile justice, wellness, English language learners, and residential services. Read more...

Of Interest to the Network: 2010-11 National Core Indicators Annual Report Released

HSRI and NASDDDS are pleased to announce the release of the National Core Indicators 2010-11 Annual Summary Report. The Annual Summary Report highlights selected aggregate results from several of the NCI data sources. For 2010-11, particular attention was paid to the Family Surveys data. Read more...

Submissions

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

Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (TN UCEDD/LEND) Hosts Autism Study Tour for French Disability Professionals

Vanderbilt Kennedy Center hosts autism study tour for French disability professionals. Autism clinical, educational, and research activities at Vanderbilt were the focus of a day-long visit, October 1, hosted by the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for a group of nine social workers associated with the CREAHI Campagna-Ardenne, a regional center in France that provides services for children and adults with developmental disabilities. Read more...

AUCD 2012: Innovating Today, Shaping Tomorrow

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.

Download our Free Conference App Today!

AUCD is pleased to bring you the FREE 2012 conference app, allowing you to save a personal schedule, receive instant alerts and news, connect with attendees and speakers, and more. Keep it all at your fingertips, from wherever you are.

Some Key Features:

• Schedule. View every session, speaker, sponsor, attendee, and exhibitor on your mobile device

• MyShow allows you to choose the events you want to attend and save them to your personal calendar. You can add recommended Places to Eat and Visit around the hotel to your MyCity list.

• Conference floor plans make it easy for you to navigate your way to meetings and events

Ted Kennedy, Jr. to Close AUCD Conference

AUCD is thrilled to confirm that Ted Kennedy, Jr., entrepreneur, healthcareattorney, and advocate for poeple with disabilities, will speak at the closing plenary of the AUCD 2012 Conference. Read more here.

Conference Agenda

Be sure to check the agenda to learn about important changes to the conference schedule and learn about all the exciting workshops, symposia, and special events scheduled for this year.

Pre-registration closed on November 16

Visit the Registration desk during the AUCD conference to register on-site, or to add and pay for a workshop or fitness event to your existing registration.

National Disability Inclusion Leadership Development Institute

December 10-11, 2012
Arlington, VA

The 2012 National Disability Leadership Institute convenes leaders from national service programs, State Service Commissions, State Education Agencies, state and national nonprofit organizations, federal agencies and disability organizations whose missions include the meaningful inclusion of individuals with disabilities. Read more...

Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability and Diversity
Call for Papers

April 29-30, 2013
Honolulu, HI

The 2013 Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability and Diversity is seeking papers--or performances--related to "Disability Studies as a Performative Act." The 2013 Disability Studies & Culture topic area will focus on the complexity of identities and how such identities are performed, represented and negotiated. Particular avenues to explore are disability identities in performance art, performing everyday acts, performing political acts and performing Disability Studies. Submissions will be considered for poster presentations, interactive roundtables, 30-minute topical presentations, 60-minute breakout presentations, 90-minute seminar/colloquium, and 120-minute interactive workshops. Read more and submit your proposal.