PREVENTION & WELLNESS
3/30/2023
New Publication: Cultural Humility and Cultural Brokering in Professional Training
Congratulations to Boston Children's Hospital LEND alumni Victoria Filingeri, Heather Mendez, and Alisa Ssu Yu Lin and their faculty mentors (Gyasi Burks-Abbott, Amy Szarkowski, and Jason Fogler) on the publication of their article in DDNJ: Cultural Humility and Cultural Brokering in Professional Training: Insights from People of Color (POC) and Persons with Disabilities (PWD).
3/22/2023
Project ECHO Opportunities for UCEDDs and LENDs
Join the Project ECHO Orientation on May 9 to learn more about the ECHO model and how to incorporate it into your work as a UCEDD or LEND program. If you are already an ECHO partner, join the newly formed monthly UCEDD LEND ECHO Collaborative starting April 24.
3/16/2023
Opening Doors, and Minds
A MN LEND faculty member's massive open online course (MOOC) is a Coursera hit. Wendy Looman's course is about families with young children, and how environmental factors such as housing and nutritious food, influence their outcomes.
3/16/2023
UCLA PEERS for Careers: Breaking Employment Barriers for Autistic Adults
There will be an estimated 700,000 autistic adults aging into adulthood over the next 10 years and yet, a staggering 80% of autistic adults are unemployed. UCLA PEERS� for Careers is an innovative offering to support autistic undergraduate and graduate students in successfully transitioning from post-secondary education to the workforce.
3/13/2023
Dr. McNally Keehn Selected to be Health Equity Research Scholar
Dr. Rebecca McNally Keehn, Research Director at the Indiana LEND, has been selected to participate in the Health Equity Research Scholars (HERS) Program, a 9-month faculty-development program for faculty at Indiana University School of Medicine.
3/13/2023
Educating Legislators and Policymakers Through Storytelling and Legislative Visits
Each year, the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center's (TN IDDRC, UCEDD, LEND) University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, in collaboration with The Arc Tennessee and AbleVoices, produces a collection of stories and images that highlight the challenges individuals with disabilities and their families face as they navigate service systems and supports in the state of Tennessee. Kindred Stories of Disability highlights a different topic in each issue and is shared with Tennessee legislators and policymakers to educate them with first-hand accounts from constituents in their districts.
2/23/2023
The Special Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Issue of DDNJ Out Now
This special issue focused on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) will spur thought, discussion, and a renewed focus on creating genuinely inclusive supports and programs. This special issue is a DDNJ and the AUCD Multicultural Council (MCC) collaboration. Guest editors for this special issue are Lydia Ocasio- Stoutenburg (Penn State) and Jacy Farkas (Sonoran UCEDD). The Developmental Disabilities Network Journal is a project of the Utah State University Institute for Disability Research, Policy & Practice (UCEDD).
2/22/2023
Alzheimer's Progression in Down Syndrome Appears Similar to Other Genetic, Early Onset Forms of the Disease
NIH-funded study suggests people with Down syndrome may benefit from Alzheimer's disease treatments. The study was conducted by Beau Ances, M.D., Ph.D., of Washington University in St. Louis, and colleagues from the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN) and the Alzheimer's Biomarkers Consortium-Down Syndrome (ABC-DS).
2/16/2023
MMI's Adaptive Toys Program Keeps Spreading Skills
A group of 10 families, as well as volunteers from the Munroe-Meyer Institute, gathered at the Munroe-Meyer Guild Institute in early December, all hoping to make the holidays brighter for young family members with disabilities.
12/7/2022
New Video on the COVID-19 Pandemic's Impact on People with Disabilities in Indiana
The Indiana Disability History Project has produced a video about the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic for Hoosiers with disabilities. Themes that emerged over two years of remote interviews include a heightened awareness of health disparities, challenges to mental health such as social isolation and loss, and a stressed system of disability services.
12/7/2022
NRCN PSA: The COVID-19 Vaccine is Good for your Health
Get the COVID-19 vaccine so you can protect your health and the health of those around you. Ask your teacher, doctor, or a close family member where you can get vaccinated, or visit www.covid-resources.org.
9/19/2022
IDS Staff Members Participate in World Series of Wheelchair Softball
The Institute for Disability Studies offers a variety of year-round adaptive recreation and sports programming, including Quidditch, wheelchair basketball and tennis. Recently, two staff members, Sylvester Crosby and Robbie Sullivan, joined their Deep South Hurricanes teammates to represent Mississippi in the 2022 Wheelchair Softball World Series (WSWS) August 4-6 in Crestwood, Illinois.
9/15/2022
The "I Generate Rural Opportunities for Work" (iGROW) Project
The "I Generate Rural Opportunities for Work" (iGROW) Project is a one-year pre-employment and leadership-training program for up to 20 students with disabilities who are currently enrolled in middle school and high school (ages 14-22). The purpose of the program is to provide a training environment to support students with disabilities to gain the necessary skills and experiences in work readiness in order to successfully transition into postsecondary education and/or competitive integrated employment.
9/9/2022
NIH Awards $100 Million for Autism Centers of Excellence Program
AUCD Network Members Awarded
The National Institutes of Health has awarded a total of $100 million over the next five years to support nine Autism Centers of Excellence (ACEs). This endeavor funds large research projects to understand and develop interventions for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Created in 2007, the ACE program is renewed every five years.
8/29/2022
Funding Opportunity: Children's Mental Health Champions
Deadline: September 23, 2022 at 5:00 p.m. ET
Through a cooperative agreement, the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), will support a pilot program of Children's Mental Health Champions. This funding opportunity is limited to AUCD network members in any state or Territory. The Champions will support AUCD's evaluation of the Children's Mental Health Champions program by documenting and reporting project activities and measurable process outputs and short-term outcomes via program reporting forms conducted at the two-time points (mid-year and end of the program year). AUCD staff will be available to support Champions in different components of the program, including providing training and technical assistance as needed.