The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Office of Autism Research Coordination (OARC) is pleased to invite you to attend our annual special event to recognize National Autism Awareness Month, A Woman's Voice: Understanding Autistic Needs.

Join our national learning group! This group will meet monthly for the next 12-18 months to develop a network-wide strategy for implementing healthcare transition efforts that include people with disabilities and families.

Sexual health is an important topic for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Unfortunately, conversations related to sexual health are often not fully addressed or are pushed aside because of fear, lack of comfort with the topic, or lack of information. Join us for a webinar on the importance of sexual health for individuals with IDD. Participants will hear from Joe Shapiro from NPR and Barbara Thomas from the Tall Institute as they discuss why this sensitive topic needs to be addressed.

Join us for Sex Talk for Self-Advocates Webinar #5. This webinar focuses on birth control and contraception for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This webinar is part of an on-going series that addresses self-advocate questions about relationships and sexuality. This series is a great learning opportunity for self-advocates, and professionals and paraprofessionals working with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to better understand sexual health needs.

The 2019 Summer Institute on Theology and Disability will be held in Holland, Michigan, May 20-23, 2019 in partnership with Western Theological Seminar. The Institute brings together academics, theologians, practitioners, and others to explore the inclusive intersections of faith and disabilities.

The Oregon Self-Advocacy Coalition, the Oregon Office on Disability and Health and the University Center of Excellence on Developmental Disabilities is excited to share their newly released, free on-line toolkit, called "Taking Charge of My Health Care".

The Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children is in the process of developing the first ever, stand alone, Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education Personnel Preparation Standards. Learn more about the standards,what led to this important step forward for the EI/ECSE workforce and what it means to the Early Childhood Field/Systems. We will share opportunities to provide feedback to the DEC Standards Development Task Force.

The stigma associated with mental illness is based in lack of understanding and fear. It has persisted despite increased knowledge about the underlying nature of disorders. Recent events have led to further stigmatization by suggesting a direct link between mental illness and mass gun violence. This presentation will review history of stigma, describe facts on the relationship between mental illness and violence, identify underlying risk factors for gun violence, and suggest rational approaches to prevention.

This Forum is designed to be interactive and action oriented. Participate in lively discussions and planning related to policy and systems change, leadership, management, transition, career development, and integrated employment.

Most professional believe that early intervention (EI) is essential to improving outcomes for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families. But how early is "early?" Should screening identify newborns with IDD, even before symptoms appear? Is there value in "pre-symptomatic" EI for children or families? Are pre-symptomatic treatments powerful enough to alter developmental trajectories in meaningful ways? Using fragile X syndrome to exemplify these issues, this presentation describes Early Check, a research program in which screening newborns for several disorders is offered to 120,000 families per year.

Calling all IDDRC, LEND, and UCEDD trainees! Join this webinar to learn about a NEW leadership opportunity! AUCD includes 5 Councils that address emerging trends and issues to facilitate communication across and beyond the AUCD network, including community education, leadership and advocacy, research and evaluation, diversity and inclusion, and interdisciplinary training. This year, one trainee per Council will be selected as a Council Trainee Representative and act as a liaison between the Emerging Leaders Community and the Council.

Join AUCD's Mental Health Aspects of ID/DD SIG and the Wellness and Mental Health Learning Group, formed by AUCD's National Center on Disability in Public Health, to hear updates on how people living with disabilities define wellness. Timed in conjunction with Mental Health Month, AUCD hosted a Twitter chat, IDefineMyWellness, to solicit input from people with disabilities on what wellness and mental health means to them. Lessons learned and experiences from facilitating this learning group, as well as the resource developed will be showcased.

This webinar is part of an on-going series that addresses self-advocate questions about relationships and sexuality. This series is a great learning opportunity for self-advocates, and professionals and paraprofessionals working with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to better understand sexual health needs.

This webinar will offer interested potential applicants an opportunity to interact with AUCD Leadership Academy faculty and alumni. The webinar will feature a brief overview of the 2020 Academy curriculum and timeline. This will be followed by reflections from alumni about the benefits they gained from participation in the week-long academy and the follow-up activities.

This webinar will address the Demonstration Services UCEDD core function. This is the sixth installment of a multi-part series titled "Coffee and TA," addressing the UCEDD core functions as categorized in NIRS. This webinar features two UCEDDs, the Center for Leadership in Disability at Georgia State University and the University of Southern California UCEDD at the Children's Hospital Los Angeles, doing innovative work around Demonstration Services.