The AUCD Leadership Academy is a weeklong program designed to enhance the skills of current and emerging leaders from the disability network in building coalitions that will improve systems of supports and services. The AUCD Leadership Academy seeks participants from UCEDDs, LENDs, and their disability partners to come together to immerse themselves for a week of study, shared experiences, self-evaluation, and skill development. Participants will continue to engage with their cohort, academy staff, local coaches, and national allies in the year following the experience. The academy will focus on the exploration of shared values and commitments to civil and human rights, assessments of personal and leadership strengths, skills in building partnerships to achieve collective impact, and establishing personal and professional leadership goals.

The goal of a Gathering is to facilitate critical conversations on person-centered practices, share, gather knowledge to enhance training skills and to network with like-minded people and make connections.

The Gatlinburg Conference continues its tradition as one of the premier conferences in the United States for behavioral scientists conducting research in intellectual and related developmental disabilities. The Gatlinburg Conference on Research and Theory in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities was established in the 1960's.

The Disability Policy Seminar is the premier opportunity to cultivate champions on Capitol Hill and advance the grassroots movement for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Join AUCD, the Arc, AAIDD, NACDD, SABE, and UCP as we learn about and advocate for access to health care and community living supports, and bedrock civil rights protections. The first 100 days of any new Administration and Congress are key to setting the agenda, and this year, more than ever, we need you in Washington, DC.

Save the Date for the 2017 START National Training Institute (SNTI), the second annual training event offered by the Center for START Services, a non-profit program at UNH/IOD. SNTI was founded in 2016 to promote dialogue and collaboration in our continuous effort to improve practices, service outcomes, and life experiences for individuals with intellectual/developmental disability and co-occurring mental health conditions (IDD/MH).

Disability advocates Candace Cortiella and Ricki Sabia will provide an overview of key ESSA provisions important to ensuring equity for students with disabilities, share issues identified in their analyses of Consolidated State Plans to date and offer tips on how AUCD network members can be more involved in state plan development.

The free "Rural VR Job Development" webinar will explore the relationship between VR payment models, geography, and VR outcomes. The webinar will feature a review of current research from the Research and Training Center on Disability in Rural Communities (RTC:Rural), followed by reactions and perspectives from a panel of experts, including VR directors, field service staff, and researchers. The webinar is designed to provide current and pertinent information that will stmulate a rich discussion among participants.

The APHA Disability Section will be conducting their first webinar in this series! The purpose of these webinars is to promote learning and to provide an opportunity for students and Disability Section members to share their research throughout the year!

Join us for a chance to learn about what to expect during the 2018 AUCD Trainee Summit and the Disability Policy Seminar. You'll get tips around setting up your Hill visits, and hear first hand from a previous attendee who is also a trainee! Lastly, we'll be available to answer any questions you may have as you prepare to join us in Washington, D.C.

On Sunday evening immediately before the Disability Policy Seminar, AUCD is hosting a special Trainee Policy Summit! Attendees will have exclusive access to Hill staffers and former trainees now working in policy, and learn from the experts how to best craft your message for Wednesday's Hill visits. An evening reception will provide a comfortable background for trainees to meet and network with over 200 peers from around the country.

The Ninth Summer Institute on Theology and Disability is taking place this year at the Edenton Street United Methodist Church in Raleigh, June 11-14, hosted by the church in collaboration with Duke Divinity School.

The AUCD Leadership Academy is a week-long program designed to enhance the skills of current and emerging leaders from the disability network in building coalitions that will improve systems of supports and services. Participation is open to individuals from Self Advocacy Organizations, UCEDDs, LENDs, IDDRCs, CILs, DD Councils, Disability Rights, community based disability organizations, and other disability partners to come together to immerse themselves for a week of study, shared experiences, self-evaluation, and skill development. Participants will continue to engage with their cohort, academy staff, local coaches, and national allies in the year following the experience. The academy will focus on the exploration of shared values and commitments to civil and human rights, assessments of personal and leadership strengths, skills in building partnerships to achieve collective impact, and establishing personal and professional leadership goals.

This 3-day course covers the development, prevention, and treatment of psychological disorder. It weaves together theory, human development, assessment, case examples, and treatment applications to reframe maladpative behavior in terms of strategies for self-protection. The course covers development from infancy to adulthood, emphasizing the process of adaptation and developmental pathways that carry risk for psychopathology.

REGISTRATION for the 2018 Coleman Conference is now open. For more information about this year's conference and to register, please visit: www.colemaninstitute.org

The Organization for Autism Research (OAR) will be hosting a free webinar on the topic of sexuality on Monday, October 15, at 2:00 p.m. ET featuring Peter Gerhardt, Ed.D., OAR Scientific Council chairman and executive director of the EPIC School (Paramus, NJ), and Amy Gravino, M.A., president of A.S.C.O.T. Consulting. They will provide an overview of the many challenges associated with sexuality and sexuality education for those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and offer recommendations as to the role individuals with autism, their families, and the professionals who support them need to play in this complex and important area of adult life.