AUCD Central Office News

Katie Arnold, MS is AUCD's Early Career Professionals' December Guest Blogger

AUCD is happy to announce the Early Career Professionals’ December guest blogger – Katie Arnold, MS. Katie is the Director of Community Education (Illinois UCEDD), as well as the Executive Director of the Sibling Leadership Network. Please take a moment to read Making a Mentor Magically Appear.

AUCD Members Attend Ceremony Honoring Senator Bob Dole

On December 4, Barbara LeRoy of the Wayne State University UCEDD, Cynthia Rowland from the Utah State UCEDD, and Robert Stodden, Norma Jean Stodden, and Jean Johnson with the Hawaii UCEDD, were invited to the Senate Dirksen Building for a ceremony honoring and celebrating Senator Bob Dole. This ceremony was sponsored by U.S. International Council on Disabilities and over 50 other organizations, including AUCD, serving veterans and people with disabilities. Senator Dole has been a life-long advocate for services for people with disabilities. Read more...

Network News - Awards & Honors

Peter Blasco, MD, Oregon LEND/UCEDD, Receives AACPDM Mentorship Award

At the 66th annual meeting of the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine, Dr. Peter Blasco was honored by receiving the 2012 AACPDM Mentorship Award. Dr. Blasco was nominated by his former and current fellows in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities. Dr. Michael Kruer, who practiced at OHSU as a fellow from 2007 to 2011, led the ceremony where the award was presented. Read more...

President Barack Obama Appoints Sachin Pavithran, MS, CPD Program Director (UT UCEDD/LEND) to US Access Board

Sachin Pavithran, director of the Utah Assistive Technologies Program at Utah State University's Center for Persons with Disabilities, has been appointed as a member of the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (commonly referred to as the U.S. Access Board) by President Barack Obama. Pavithran was one of four people recently appointed to Administration posts. "It's an exciting opportunity," Pavrithan said. "It's not often one gets appointed by the President." Read more...

Network News - People on the Move

Connecticut UCEDD's New Research Director Selected: Brian Reichow, PhD, BCBA-D

The A. J. Pappanikou Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities at the University of Connecticut is pleased to announce that Brian Reichow, PhD, BCBA-D is the new Research Director for the Center. Dr. Reichow completed his MS and PhD in Special Education at Vanderbilt University and completed a two-year post-doc under the supervision of Dr. Fred Volkmar at the Yale Child Study Center. His current research interests include the translation of clinical research into practical applications in schools and communities, the identification and evaluation of evidence-based practices, systematic review and meta-analytic methods and applications, and applied research in authentic educational settings. Read more...

Network News - Activities & Resources

In Memoriam: Roz Parrish, MSN

Roz Parrish, MSN, Associate Director of the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (LEND) Program at the University of Cincinnati UCEDD (University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities) and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, passed away on December 3. For more than 40 years, Roz has been at the heart of interdisciplinary training at the Cincinnati UCEDD and LEND Program. Roz's work in interdisciplinary pre-service training changed the lives of countless trainees, professionals, family members and individuals with disabilities in Cincinnati and around the country. Read more...

CPD Clinic at Utah State University (UT UCEDD/LEND) Offers Interdisciplinary Evaluation of Autism

Often, the diagnosis of autism comes from a single professional-a psychologist, a medical doctor, a social worker-and parents are left with that diagnosis, but no clue about what to do next. Who should they see, where should they go to find the help their child needs? The Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Evaluation Clinic at Utah State University's Center for Persons with Disabilities is taking a different approach. "We realized that one of the complaints of parents of kids with ASD is that they have to go six different places to get help," said clinical psychologist Marty Toohill. "We asked, ‘Can we do this under one roof?' Read more...

National Center for Prenatal and Postnatal Down Syndrome Resources Launched by University of Kentucky's Human Development Institute

The University of Kentucky's Human Development Institute (HDI) is proud to announce the launch of its National Center for Prenatal and Postnatal Down Syndrome Resources at DownSyndromeDiagnosis.org. The National Center includes the following medically reviewed programs: the recently updated Brighter Tomorrows website, the Lettercase/Kennedy Foundation booklet, and the Down Syndrome Pregnancy books and website. Read more...

Mid-Atlantic Regional LEND Advocacy Day

On Monday November 19th the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) Program hosted a workshop on legislative advocacy for the Mid-Atlantic Regional LEND Group and the Pennsylvania Leadership Learning Collaborative. Joined by LEND fellows and faculty from programs at the University of Virginia, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and the Kennedy Krieger Institute based in Maryland, over 60 people participated. Read more...

Next Steps Summer Institute at the TN Vanderbilt UCEDD/LENDOffers a Sneak Peak Into What It's Like to Go To College

Postsecondary education programs for students with intellectual disabilities continue to be developed across the country. This rise in opportunities means more and more students are realizing that a college experience may be a viable option for them. However, many students and families may have questions about whether a postsecondary education program would be a good fit. Next Steps at Vanderbilt, a college-certificate program in Nashville, Tennessee, now offers the Next Steps Summer Institute as a unique way for students to explore these questions of compatibility. Read more...

UC Davis MIND Institute (CA UCEDD) Autism Research is Acknowledged

Autism research by Sally Rogers, UC Davis Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, has been named number five among the Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs of 2012 by TIME magazine. Dr. Rogers is affiliated with the UC Davis MIND Institute and UCEDD. Also, Dr. Rogers, together with Dr. Robin Hansen, Director of the UCEDD at the UC Davis MIND Institute, edited a new book, "Autism and Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders," which provides clinicians with up-to-date information on the impact advances have on the standard of care in the range of neurodevelopmental disorders commonly encountered by both primary and subspecialist physicians. Read more...

Indiana University Center (IN UCEDD) Partners with Indiana Grantmakers Alliance to Help Make Communities Age-Friendly

Indiana University’s Center on Aging and Community and the Indiana Grantmakers Alliance have been awarded a contract to help Indiana communities prepare for the massive growth of the older adult population. The project is part of a national initiative called Community AGEnda: Improving America for All Ages. Supported by Pfizer Foundation and Grantmakers in Aging, a national association of funders, the national effort is helping nonprofits in five U.S. regions accelerate local efforts to make towns and cities “age-friendly” – that is, great places to grow up and grow old. Read more...

IHD-AzUCD's (AZ UCEDD) Graduate Certificate in Assistive Technology Receives a Seal of Assessment Achievement

IHD-AzUCD's Graduate Certificate in Assistive Technology recently received a Seal of Assessment Achievement for the academic year 2011-2012 from Northern Arizona University. Academic programs earning this recognition have established priorities for assessment, selected appropriate methods and indicators for assessing student learning outcomes, and set standards in order to meaningfully interpret assessment results. Read more...

World Wheelchair Athlete Visits University of Hawaii at Mānoa College of Education Center on Disability Studies (HI UCEDD) and Prepares for Honolulu Marathon

Fulbright Scholar Yevgeniy Tetyukhin spoke to an intimate group at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa College of Education Center on Disability Studies (CDS) about disability from a Kazakhstani perspective on October 29, 2012. A linguistics professor from North Kazakhstan State University, Tetyukhin is an international wheelchair racer and disability advocate. During his five-month visit to CDS, Tetyukhin will conduct research, audit classes, and hold two more talks to broader audiences before returning to Kazahkstan in February 2013. He is also preparing a lecture on disability and multiculturalism, which he will deliver in Guam as part of the Fulbright program. Read more...

Rose F. Kennedy Center (NY UCEDD/LEND/IDDRC) Hosts Several Events

The first event was a Halloween party for the families that the Center serves, which was hosted just two days after Super Storm Sandy hit the region. In collaboration with the IDDRC Program, the UCEDD sponsored this party. Then on Friday, November 16, the RFK UCEDD, in collaboration with the Bronx DD Council, the New York State Developmental Disability Planning Council and NYS Office of People with Developmental Disabilities, an all day conference was held on the campus of the Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, entitled "Visions for the Future: Health Care Services for Children and Adults with Developmental Disabilities". Finally, RFK UCEDD and IDDRC co-hosted a symposium on Williams Syndrome at Albert Einstein College of Medicine on Thursday, December 6, 2012. This event brought together international experts on Williams Syndrome, basic science researchers, clinicians and families to learn about this condition and plan for future research. Read more...

Kennedy Krieger Institute (MD UCEDD) Is Pleased to Announce Their First Legislative Intern

The Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities (MCDD) at Kennedy Krieger Institute is pleased to announce that it will host a spring 2013 legislative intern from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. Lauren Peterson is a second-year law student who will earn four course credtis for completing her externship with the MCDD. Lauren earned a bachelor of science from Villanova University and she is currently pursuing a health law certificate in conjunction with her juris doctor degree. Read more...

Developmental Disabilities Institute at Wayne State University (MI UCEDD) Adds Two New Videos to Award Winning Possibilities Series

The Developmental Disabilities Institute (DDI) at Wayne State University in Detroit has added two new videos to its award winning Possibilities Video Series. Possibilities focuses on the lives and accomplishments of individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Each 4-7 minute video highlights one or more individuals' life journeys, along with their family and friends, and shows the myriad possibilities and options that all people have as they grow up, become independent, and pursue their life's dreams and goals. Read more...

The A. J. Pappanikou Center (CT UCEDD) to Start Two New Projects

One Will Establish a National Early Childhood Personnel Center and a Second One Will Develop New England's Only Early Childhood Doctoral Program in Special Education. The Early Childhood Personnel Center will serve as a national resource on personnel standards, competencies, and recommended practices for professional development of personnel providing services to infants, toddlers, and preschool children with disabilities and their families. For the second project, the Center will develop, implement, and evaluate a new doctoral training program in early childhood intervention(ECI) at the University of Connecticut (UConn) Neag School of Education. The program will fund 8 students who will complete the program in 3 years. Read more about both projects.

Submissions

News items may be submitted for consideration via the
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Maine UCEDD Celebrates Two Decades of Community Engagement through Education, Research and Service

The University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (ME UCEDD) recently celebrated its 20th year of enhancing the quality of life of Maine's citizens with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. Two special events were held in conjunction with the Center's celebration: a 20th Anniversary Distinguished Lecture, "From Segregation to Self-Determination: Looking Back, Looking Ahead," by Stephen T. Murphy, Ph.D, and special 20th Anniversary Awards that recognized individuals whose efforts have made long-term and significant changes to enhancing the lives of individuals with disabilities in Maine. Read more...

AUCD 2012: Innovating Today, Shaping Tomorrow

Thank you to all who attended and participated in the 2012 AUCD Conference! We had a great time learning and sharing the newest in promising practices and innovations that shape the lives of people with disabilities and their families through research, policy, education, and service. We continue to post additional session materials, photos, and wrap up items on the conference website and in the app, so check back often, and save the date Nov 16-20, 2013. 

         Thank you            Conference Sponsor!

AUCD would like to thank the 2012 Annual Conference Premiere Sponsor - MetLife Center for Special Needs Planning. At MetLife, the focus on special needs planning is evolving with the families they serve. MetLife recognizes that caregivers and their dependents are of all ages and relationships. And while caregivers are aging, dependents are living longer as well. That’s why the MetLife Center for Special Needs Planning is eminently qualified to help you continue to financially protect your loved one—even when you may no longer be there for them. Let us show you how. Learn more here.

Multi-Modal Communication and Learning Strategies for Children with Significant Challenges

April 4-5, 2013
Honolulu, HI

Are you working with children who face severe and multiple challenges such as Cerebral Palsy, Rett Syndrome, cortical visual impairment, deaf-blindness, Autism, intellectual disabilities, and/or Traumatic Brain Injury? Do these children also have complex communication needs? Where do teachers and therapists begin to find the most effective resources and strategies to teach them? Then you might find this training helpful. Read more and register.

Health Disparities Research at the Intersection of Race, Ethnicity, and Disability: A National Conference

April 25-26, 2013
Washington, DC

The conference is intended to bring together researchers, advocates, and policy makers in racial and ethnic disparities and disability-related disparities to:

- Learn about barriers to health care and health promotion for people with disabilities in underserved racial and ethnic groups
- Share your own work on health disparities at this intersection
- Discuss priorities for future research and action

Read more and submit your proposal by January 14, 2013.

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. 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.