NATIONAL TRAINING DIRECTORS COUNCIL (NTDC)
8/24/2023
Publishing Opportunity with AIR-P Cureus Channel
The AIR-P would like to share the Autism and Health: Across the Lifespan channel, where our authors can publish articles without cost and at a faster rate than is typically available through the traditional scholarly publication process.
6/20/2023
Impact: 35 Years of MN UCEDD's Flagship Publication
Impact magazine is the flagship publication of the MN UCEDD, highlighting what matters to people with disabilities for 35 years. This issue reconnects with voices from the past and looks ahead to the issues of the future.
6/20/2023
Ohio State University UCEDD Announces Intellectual Disability and Mental Illness Prevalence Study in Collaboration with OHSU
Intellectual disability (ID) confers increased risk of mental illness; however, a robust prevalence study of the occurrence of mental illness in adults with intellectual disability has not been conducted in the United States. Prevalence estimates are based on previous research in the UK (Cooper, Smiley, Morrison, Williamson, & Allan, 2007; Stromme & Diseth, 2000) and on US studies that have used convenience samples (Fletcher, Barnhill, & Cooper, 2016; Reiss, 1994; Rojahn & Tasse, 1996; Smiley, 2005;) suggesting that mental illness occurs in 30% to 50% of adults with intellectual disability. Co-occurring mental illness is associated with an increased intensity and complexity of support needs compared to adults with ID without comorbid psychiatric disorders (Borthwick-Duffy, 1994; Rojahn, Matson, Naglieri, & Mayville, 2004; Tasse & Wehmeyer, 2010). A systematic national prevalence study is needed to guide federal policy and programs to address mental health problems in adults with intellectual disability.
5/25/2023
Perspectives on the Implementation of Pre-ETS Services: Identification of barriers and facilitators to early career planning for youth with disabilities
There are differences between and within states in the delivery of Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS) for students with significant disabilities early in their career planning process. This complicates the delivery of services for these youth with disabilities (YWD) and leaves gaps in communication between families, educators, and vocational rehabilitation (VR) counselors.
5/17/2023
Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (TN IDDRC, UCEDD, LEND) Member Works to Improve Sleep Assessment in Down Syndrome Research
Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (VKC) member Sarika Peters, Ph.D., received a VKC Director's Strategic Priorities Grant to determine the feasibility of use of a wearable sensor to assess sleep in children (ages 4-10 years) with Down syndrome. Down syndrome is estimated to occur in 1 out of 700 babies and is associated with many co-occurring conditions including obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). OSA impacts between 50-79 percent of individuals with Down syndrome and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends screening for OSA in children with Down syndrome starting at age 4.
5/3/2023
EDI-Self-Report (EDI-SR) Survey
The purpose of this new research study is to create a questionnaire known as the EDI-Self-Report (EDI-SR). This project is funded by the Eunice Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD). The EDI-SR was designed to measure emotional experiences in autistic teens and adults and teens and adults with other intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). This study is enrolling individuals ages 11 and older who are autistic or have an intellectual or developmental disability (IDD) and their parents/caregivers, as well as individuals without these diagnoses. Individuals must be current United States residents to participate.
3/16/2023
UNMC Munroe Meyer Institute LEND Trainees Collaborate with Special Olympics Nebraska
University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) physical therapy students and Munroe Meyer Institute (MMI) LEND trainees partnered with Special Olympics Nebraska for their LEND Community Learning and Leadership project. They were involved with helping Special Olympics Nebraska (SONE) provide a variety of services to the community, their largest being a 6-week Young Athletes Camp hosted at a local elementary school.
9/6/2022
Building Community Capacity for Accessible Vaccine Events
The UCEDD in the Institute on Development and Disability at OHSU worked with the Oregon Health Authority to create resources for vaccine events to be more inclusive. They made videos, guides, and checklists to go with a boxed kit of accessibility tools. This will help people with disabilities and people who speak languages other than English get vaccines in their communities. There are more videos and resources coming soon.
8/1/2022
Engineering non-hallucinogenic versions of psychedelics to treat psychiatric conditions
By David E. Olson, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry and Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Medicine
Psychedlic drugs like MDMA and LSD can promote neuroplasticity and help treat some mental illnesses in autistic adults. To lessen the risk of dangerous side effects, the Olson Lab created safer, non-hallucinogenic psychedelics that show promise in models.
7/27/2022
Autism characteristics in individuals with Down syndrome
Amanda Dimachkie Nunnally, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Scholar, UC Davis Mind Institute
There is still much to be understood about the presentation of autism symptoms in individuals with Down syndrome, as some of the core characteristics of autism may overlap with intellectual disability. Individuals with Down syndrome and co-occurring autism tend to have more severe rigid and repetitive behaviors and greater challenges with social communication than do individuals with Down syndrome alone. However, the degree to which symptoms can be attributed to each condition remains understudied.
7/27/2022
Decline in looking at faces may signal onset of autism in infants
By Devon Gangi, Assistant Project Scientist, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
A new study from UC Davis Mind Institute supports earlier findings that children who were diagnosed with autism at age 3 had a decreased level of eye gaze as infants compared to children without autism. This gives new insights into development trajectories and may help children get identified earlier.
7/27/2022
Developing innovative methods to study the human genome
Medium or large changes to the genome are called structural variations (SVs). SVs are tied to many different diseases and conditions. Researchers at UC Davis Mind Institute are developing new models to understand and study SVs.
7/27/2022
The role of maternal autoantibody exposure in brain development and behavior in autism
By Matthew Bruce
A recent collaborative effort by MIND Institute Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC) investigators Judy Van de Water, Jill Silverman, and Jacqueline Crawley, as well as researchers from Canada and the United Kingdom, used an animal model to evaluate the effects maternal autoantibodies on offspring brain development.
7/25/2022
Community Supports in Crisis: No Staff, No Services
All the progress toward community living that has been made in services for people with IDD over decades is now in jeopardy because of catastrophic labor shortages and pervasive high turnover rates in the direct support workforce. This white paper from ICI and its partners at HSRI and NASDDDS explores the depth of the crisis in the workforce and the impact on people with IDD and sounds the alarm about the nature and scope of the workforce crisis in the IDD service system.
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.