AUCD 2024 Conference

November 3-6 | Washington, D.C.

AUCD 2024 Conference Invitation

Image of Ilka Riddle, a white woman with short blond hair wearing a pink shirt and smiling.

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

I am pleased to invite you to the AUCD 2024 Conference from November 3-6. The theme of this year’s event, Stronger Together: Creating a More Inclusive World, emphasizes the strength our Network has when working together to advance research, training, education, and service for and with people with disabilities. I hope you will join us this fall in Washington, D.C. to learn more about our extensive collection of impactful work.

By focusing on the core of what makes the AUCD Network succeed, we celebrate the unity that drives the advancements of every researcher, practitioner, teacher, student, community advocate, and supporter. Each one of you plays a role in making the AUCD Network a collective of advocates and changemakers for inclusive research, inclusive education, meaningful community living, self-determination, and so much more.

We are one Network and we play an equal role. During this year’s Conference, we will devote time to better understand the breadth and depth of the Network, our different focus areas, and the connections we’ve created or can create in the future. We will give space to share perspectives from across the AUCD Network, including the territories and native communities, on successful and collaborative strategies that have elevated our work and discuss ideas that will propel us forward.

We look forward to learning from each other and celebrating all of the Network’s innovative work. Together, we are creating a stronger, more inclusive world. Please join us!

Warmly,

Ilka K. Riddle, PhD

Ilka Riddle's signature

AUCD President Elect and AUCD 2024 Conference Chair

Director, University of Cincinnati Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities

Conference Theme

Stronger Together: Creating a More Inclusive World

The AUCD Network recognizes that collaboration is critical to advance the rights and opportunities for and with people with disabilities through research, training, education, and service. This collaboration crosses every University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD), Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Program, and Intellectual and Developmental Disability Research Center (IDDRC) throughout the U.S. and its territories in close partnership with the voices of community advocates, researchers, communicators, and leaders in the disability community. Together as a Network, we encourage connections, break down barriers, and amplify diverse voices to create a world where everyone can thrive. Focusing on the core of AUCD’s Network serves as a reminder of the power of unity, where Network members across diverse disciplines and backgrounds and members of the disability community come together stronger than ever as driving forces to create positive change and to build a more inclusive world for all.