2. Early Intervention/Early Childhood

9/22/2023

WVU CED Expands Efforts to Improve Outcomes for Babies Born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

Incidence rates of newborns diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome have rapidly increased in rural states as West Virginia continues to see a rise in opioid use and addiction, including pregnant women. For the past five years, the WVU Center for Excellence in Disabilities (WVU CED) has tested and implemented models of care to strengthen services for West Virginia families with infants born exposed to substances in utero or diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome.

6/26/2023

Funding Opportunity: State or Tribal Liaisons to CDC's "Learn the Signs. Act Early." Program

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities and the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) announce a funding opportunity for Act Early Ambassadors and Tribal Act Early Ambassadors to work with CDC's "Learn the Signs. Act Early."

4/13/2023

Child Care Aware of Kentucky Block Project

It might be surprising to learn that one of the most powerful tools for teaching children during early development is the humble building block. And yet, according to Cynthia Willmarth, Early Education Quality Coach for Child Care Aware (CCA) of Kentucky at the University of Kentucky Human Development Institute (HDI), they can have a profound impact on children in their earliest years.

3/16/2023

New Program Builds Business and Leadership Acumen for Early Childhood Educators

As a part of the Association of University Centers for Disabilities and the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities for the state of Missouri, the University of Missouri-Kansas City's Institute for Human Development (UMKC-IHD) along with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) are launching a training and coaching program over a two-year period starting in 2023. The project aims to enhance the efficacy of early childhood education by building the leadership and business skills of early childhood education administrators across family child care businesses, smaller independent early learning centers and large early learning organizations across Missouri.

3/16/2023

Will SARS-CoV-2 During Pregnancy Impact Child's Neurodevelopment?

Scientists led by the Lieber Institute for Brain Development are studying how a mother's SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy affects the biology of the placenta and the corresponding trajectory of the child's brain development, including the risk for neurodevelopmental disorders such as schizophrenia and autism.

3/13/2023

UCONN UCEDD Awarded National Early Childhood Intervention Personnel Development Equity Center

Mary Beth Bruder, PhD Director of UConn UCEDD & LEND and Tawara Goode Director of Georgetown UCEDD & LEND has been awarded a $10 million federal grant by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education, to provide technical assistance to increase equity in the delivery of early childhood intervention services to infants and young children from diverse backgrounds who have disabilities or developmental delays.

1/12/2023

The Ohio State University Nisonger Center Launches Project STEER

The Ohio State University Nisonger Center is proud to announce the launch of our Project STEER (Stakeholders Engaged in Early Intervention Research) website! The website contains a variety of resources related to early autism intervention research and consultation, including an early autism intervention Research Agenda created by our stakeholder teams, and a Consultation Workbook to guide researchers in their efforts to collaborate effectively with autism community stakeholders.

12/5/2022

Va-LEND Assistant Director Presents at the Division for Early Childhood and International Society on Early Intervention Fall Joint Conference

Collaboration, teamwork, and leadership are fundamental to Va-LEND. Jackie Robinson Brock, MSW and Assistant Director of Virginia Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (Va-LEND), demonstrated them all at the annual Division for Early Childhood (DEC) and International Society on Early Intervention (ISEI) Joint Conference held in Chicago this past fall.

11/30/2022

Georgia Association for Infant Mental Health: Birth to Five to Host Kick-Off Event

The Georgia Association for Infant Mental Health: Birth to Five (GA-AIMH), housed in the Center for Leadership in Disability at the Georgia State University School of Public Health, will hold a Kick-Off event on November 2. The event, which will celebrate the establishment of GA-AIMH and look ahead to opportunities to expand Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) initiatives, will draw more than 200 IECMH leaders from across the state.

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.  

8/5/2022

Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (TN IDDRC, UCEDD, LEND) Introduces New Toolkits Promoting Neurodiversity and Self-determination in Early Childhood Services

The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (VKC)(TN IDDRC, UCEDD, LEND) recently introduced two brand-new educational resources promoting neurodiversity and self-determination in early childhood services. The toolkits were created by the VKC Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorder (TRIAD) and the Vanderbilt Consortium LEND Training Program.

7/1/2022

CDC-AUCD Leadership Opportunity: Act Early Ambassadors-State or Territorial Liaisons to CDC's "Learn the Signs. Act Early." Program

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities and the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) announce a funding opportunity for Act Early Ambassadors to work with CDC's "Learn the Signs. Act Early."

6/17/2022

Herron Named Interim Director of the Early Childhood Center at the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community

Katie Herron, research scientist with the Institute's Early Childhood Center, has been appointed as interim director of the center. Herron is replacing Michael Conn-Powers, who has retired after serving as the center's director for 28 years. Herron has been with the institute for nearly a decade and brings her extensive background in psychology and belief in the center's research-to-practice mission to the role.

5/16/2022

Mentoring Autism Researchers to Advance Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

At the Conference on Research Innovations in Early Intervention in San Diego, February 2022, Dr. Landa brought together current and past mentees to support their career development and foster exchanges between early investigators from diverse cultural, racial, and geographic backgrounds. Each of the mentees had the honor of presenting cutting edge research at this very prestigious scientific meeting.

5/10/2022

Promoting Learn the Signs, Act Early in the Latinx communities of Minnesota

Andrea Castillo is a Family and Caregiver Empowerment Specialist at CLUES (Comunidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio) and University of Minnesota LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities) fellow mentored by Dr. Jennifer Hall-Lande, CDC Act Early Ambassador to Minnesota. Andrea's LEND project was to promote the public health campaign Learn the Signs, Act Early (LTSAE) to improve early identification of developmental delays and disabilities, including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).