
COUNCIL ON RESEARCH AND EVALUATION (CORE)

6/17/2022
Iowa LEND Trainees Explore the Intersection of Mental Health, Disability, and Incarceration
This year, 27 trainees completed the Iowa Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (Iowa LEND) program. Their graduation ceremony was held on May 5, two days after they had presented at the third annual virtual Iowa LEND Research Poster Symposium. As in previous years, the Symposium provided an impressive display of the talent, hard work and dedication of these emerging leaders.

6/17/2022
New IDDRC Twitter Account
The (University of Iowa) Hawk-IDDRC has a new Twitter account! Check out @Hawk_IDDRC and follow us! One of only 15 Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Centers in the country, the Hawk-IDDRC is part of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD).

6/7/2022
Translational Research in Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia
New research out of Boston Children's Hospital-one of AUCD's Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Centers (IDDRCs)-provides new insight into a group of genetic diseases called hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSPs). Features of HSPs include progressive motor impairment and moderate to severe intellectual disability.

5/6/2022
Everything I Needed to Know About Leadership I Learned from the NJLEND Cohort Crest Project
Dominique Reminick, MA (she/her); NJLEND Psychology Fellow 2021-2022
Of the multitude of meaningful didactic and experiential learning activities afforded by the NJLEND program, none is quite as unique as the Cohort Crest project. This project, which runs the span of the fellowship, entails the cohort working together as a group to create a crest, or emblem of some sort, which represents our communal identity as a cohort. While a seemingly simple idea, this activity serves several purposes (both overt and covert) that help us to strengthen and hone our skills as emerging leaders.

5/6/2022
Expecting Acceptance: A Parent's Perspective
Story written by parent of autistic teen for Autism Acceptance Month
Nine years ago, when my son first spent a week at the Munroe-Meyer Institute's Camp Munroe, I hoped he would make a friend. As Autism Acceptance Month begins, my son -- who was diagnosed on the autism spectrum about 13 years ago -- is a member of his school's JRTOC Corps. He is working toward becoming an Eagle Scout.

5/6/2022
Indiana LEND Psychology Trainee Amani Khalil was Awarded the Division 33 APA Student Research Award
Indiana LEND psychology trainee Amani Khalil was awarded the Division 33 APA Student Research Award and will present her poster at the APA conference in Minneapolis in August. Amani Khalil is a PhD Candidate in Counseling Psychology at Purdue University. Her poster is titled "Help-Seeking Barriers for Racial-Ethnic Minority Caregivers Accessing Autism Interventions: A Systematic Review" and shares about work related to both her LEND leadership project and her dissertation.

5/6/2022
Munroe-Meyer Institute Names New Director of Autism Center
Seeing a perfect fit with her professional expertise and interests, Alice Shillingsburg, PhD, will join the UNMC Munroe-Meyer Institute as its new director of the integrated Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders (iCASD). Dr. Shillingsburg's hiring fulfills MMI's goal to recruit a nationally recognized expert in autism to iCASD and its redesigned home in the new Munroe-Meyer Institute building.

5/5/2022
Aggieland Sustainability Alliance Awards Dr. Marcia Montegue a the 2021 Faculty Champion
From its inception as a land-grant institution in 1876 to the additional sea-grant and space-grant designations, Texas A&M University has been a leader in research and education for how we interact with and impact our environment. In March 2008, The Office of Sustainability was founded to enhance these efforts by creating a culture of sustainability in Aggieland.

5/5/2022
Minnesota LEND Fellow Engages with Local Hmong Community
This spring, MNLEND Community Fellow Julie Li Yang is engaging in outreach activities to promote Help Me Grow resources with the Hmong community in the Twin Cities and surrounding area. Yang is mentored by Dr. Jennifer Hall-Lande in the Minnesota LEND program at the Institute on Community Integration (ICI) at the University of Minnesota. By promoting early monitoring and early developmental screening resources at tabling events and through social media, Yang found that parents are often reluctant to discuss early intervention services due to the shame and stigma surrounding autism diagnosis, specific to the Hmong community.

4/5/2022
Mailman Center Hosts Successful Conference on Early Childhood Development in a Pandemic
Over 250 childhood personnel and allied health professionals including speech language pathologists, psychologists, social workers, and physicians participated in the University of Miami Mailman Center for Child Development Innovation and Connection Conference on February 8th, 2022. The conference, "Promoting Early Childhood Development in the Era of COVID: Practice, Policy, and Future Opportunities," brought together experts in early childhood development to discuss challenges and opportunities for the care and wellness of young children as they grow up in a pandemic.

4/4/2022
AIR-P Pediatrics Supplement Now Published
AIR-P has been developing a supplement issue to be included in the Pediatrics Journal. The first supplement of articles has been published on April 1, 2022. Check out articles written by AUCD Network centers and members in this issue.

4/4/2022
KUCDD's Evan Dean Receives Fulbright Scholar Award in Iceland
Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities Associate Director Evan Dean, Ph.D., has been granted a Fulbright Scholar award in Iceland. Dean and his family have settled near the University of Akureyri, Iceland, where he is serving with the researchers and faculty in the Occupational Therapy department.

4/4/2022
Missouri's Month-Long Effort to Increase Awareness Around Sexuality and Sexual Assault
In recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the UMKC Institute for Human Development and the Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council are partnering on a month-long campaign to promote self-advocacy among individuals with I/DD.
4/1/2022
Aggie Guide Dogs and Service Dogs at Texas A&M University Needs Your Support
Aggie Guide Dogs and Service Dogs (AGS), is a student-run organization that began in 1997. Our purpose is to educate about, fundraise for, and promote the training and use of guide dogs and service dogs and to increase awareness about how these animals help the individuals, with disabilities who use them.

4/1/2022
Collaboration Between Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (TN IDDRC, UCEDD, LEND), Meharry Medical College Addresses Disparities in Autism Diagnosis for Black Families, Increases Understanding of Providing Equitable Care
Researchers from the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center's (TN IDDRC, UCEDD, LEND) Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders (VKC TRIAD) and Meharry Medical College (MMC) are collaborating to better understand the diagnostic experiences of Black or African American families with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).