News
8/23/2016
Tuesdays with Liz - Melody Stevens, CCD
During this week's edition of Tuesdays with Liz: Disability Policy for All, Liz interviews Melody Stevens from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the current state of Zika. In case you missed last week's edition, Liz interviewed Shannon Haworth (AUCDs Public Health Program Manager) about the Public Health Workforce Competencies.
8/22/2016
SEANET Student Interns Gather Data on Invasive Green Crabs (Maine UCEDD)
The Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (ME UCEDD), with funding from Maine EPSCoR/Sustainable Ecological Aquaculture Network (SEANET), is partnering with the Community Environmental Health Laboratory (CEHL) at MDI Biological Laboratory to train and engage middle/high school students with disabilities from coastal Hancock County in intertidal census work. CEHL works to identify and help remedy threats to public health and water quality on and around Mount Desert Island. Enrolled students are offered paid internships and receive training in the identification of invasive species, such as green crabs; data collection and data management. Student interns, superv
8/16/2016
Tuesdays with Liz - Shannon Haworth
During this week's edition of Tuesdays with Liz: Disability Policy for All, Liz interviews Shannon Hayworth, AUCD's Senior Public Health Program Manager, about the Public Health Workforce Competencies.
8/15/2016
Assistive Technology Services Expand in Utah (UT UCEDD)
People with disabilities in the Uintah Basin in central Utah will soon have more help meeting their goals for independence, thanks to a grant from the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation and the new Assistive Technology Lab at Utah State University in Roosevelt. The lab and the $73,925 award from the foundation will open new possibilities in obtaining and learning about assistive technologies that could make a difference to people with mobility, communication, vision, hearing or other disabilities. "We have a physical presence over there in the Uintah Basin now," said Alma Burgess, the grant's principal investigator. "That allows us to do something similar to what the AT Lab does in Logan now."
8/15/2016
Diversity Competence: Tailoring the Scope of Cultural Competence Education using an Innovative Self-Reflective Training Curriculum (FL UCEDD/LEND)
With widespread recognition of the need for cultural competence being more prevalent than ever in today's diverse society, Dr. Kira Knight has embraced her role as the AUCD Diversity Fellow of the University of Miami's Mailman Center for Child Development. Eager to foster change - a change that embraces diversity, appreciates common humanity, and channels inclusion, Kira is in the process of revising and strengthening the Cultural Competence curriculum for LEND/UCEDD trainees, medical students, residents and fellows throughout the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine and Jackson Health System in Miami, Florida. This curriculum development project involves the implementation of an innovative, online cultural competency training module series, coupled with in-person workshops, geared towards reducing health disparities and barriers to healthcare, and cultivating university-wide culturally competent healthcare professionals.
8/11/2016
Routing a Path for Everyone (KY UCEDD)
A group of students and HDI employee, Darrell Mattingly, led by HDI Disability Program Specialist Anna Bard, set out on a mission last year to map accessibility on campus so that everyone - no matter how they're navigating - can have the information they need to get around campus efficiently. In the fall 2016 semester, UK Facilities Management's Facilities Information Services will unveil the new interactive campus map that includes accessibility attributes and can route an appropriate path depending on a user's needs.
8/9/2016
Tuesdays with Liz - Dianne Dressler
During this week's edition of Tuesdays with Liz: Disability Policy for All, Liz interviews Dianne Dressler (Senior Associate with Community Life Resources) about housing issues.
8/8/2016
Careers in the Arts Online Dialogue (CA UCEDD)
The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the UCLA Tarjan Center's National Arts and Disability Center (NADC) convened a Careers in the Arts Online Dialogue June 6 through June 19, 2016.
8/8/2016
Disability Policy News In Brief
House and Senate are on recess; Zika Response Funding; Labor Statistics; ESSA Implementation; and more
8/8/2016
It's a Small World (GA UCEDD/LEND)
A personal account from a GA-LEND trainee documenting his interest in working in the disability field and how events and people in his life have come full circle.
"It's a small world." This phrase typically refers to events that are related in often unexpected ways. While I have heard and used this phrase many times throughout my life, a recent series of events led me to a new and personal appreciation for just how small our worlds can be.
8/8/2016
Welcome Ambassadors!
Four Nutrition Ambassadors were competitively selected to provide practical solutions to common barriers of proper nutrition including cost, access to fruits and vegetables, and basic knowledge of healthy foods. Ambassadors will develop a tailored work plan based on their specific state needs to help prioritize in-person nutrition education events and creative partnerships.
8/3/2016
Thank You, Interns!
This summer, AUCD was fortunate to have two amazing interns in our office. Toby Henley and Caitlin Chasar have been a welcome addition to the AUCD team. Their willingness to try new things and cheerful demeanor has quickly made both of them invaluable to the summer operations of AUCD, and it has been a joy to watch them grow in their skills, confidence, and leadership. We greatly appreciate their contributions to the AUCD office and network, and are excited about what the future holds for both Kate and Toby.
8/3/2016
The Michigan UCEDD Announces Several New Collaborations
MDHHS received a three-year grant from the Centers of Disease Control directed at increasing education on diabetes prevention for people with disabilities. Working in collaboration with the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan, DDI will develop recommendations for implementing the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The revised curriculum will be used to train DPP trainers statewide to improve the educational program for persons with disabilities. DDI staff will also utilize the disability network to disseminate information to people with disabilities to increase their participation in the DPP.
8/3/2016
TIME Magazine Feature on Disability Rights and the Democratic Convention Quotes AUCD's Andy Imparato
"Disability rights advocates understand the politics at work. 'Donald Trump mocking the reporter from the New York Times is something the Clinton campaign has decided is an important issue for them,' said Andy Imparato, executive director of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities. 'Having people with disabilities take on Trump is an effective strategy for Secretary Clinton. But I'm hoping that it's more than that.'"
8/2/2016
Cognitive Testing Using Tobii I-15 Eye Gaze System (IA UCEDD/LEND)
Typically cognitive assessments have not been reliably completed for individuals with significant motor impairments and complex communication needs. However with advances in technology, cognitive assessments are possible when early intervention of a communication system has been introduced. Psychologist, Angela L. Smith, PsyD and Speech-Language Pathologist, Laura M. Bohnenkamp, MA, CCC-SLP at the Center for Disabilities and Development, Iowa's University Center for Excellence on Disabilities used eye gaze technology to assess cognitive status in a patient.
8/2/2016
NIH Names Dr. Diana Bianchi Director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
National Institutes of Health Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., announced today the selection of Diana W. Bianchi, M.D., as director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). Dr. Bianchi is expected to join NIH on Oct. 31, 2016.
