HOMEPAGE IN THE NEWS
4/15/2024
Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (TN IDDRC, UCEDD, LEND) Researchers Awarded $2.48M in Special Education Training Grants
Two Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (TN IDDRC, UCEDD, LEND) researchers have received two training grants totaling $2.48 million in funding from the Office of Special Education Programs at the U.S. Department of Education. The new grants address the need to train culturally conscientious special education teachers of students with high intensity needs. One of the grants will support training for teachers of students with limited or no functional speech. The other grant will support training for teachers of students with visual impairments. Both grants seek to recruit candidates from historically underrepresented groups or with a unique interest in supporting students from culturally and linguistic diverse backgrounds.
4/2/2024
Missouri UCEDD Launches Third Season of Accessible: The Podcast
It's BAAAAACK! The University of Missouri-Kansas City's Institute for Human Development, the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities for the state of Missouri (UCEDD), has just launched a new season of Accessible: The Podcast. Accessible is the podcast that opens the door to disability leaders and their ideas. Featuring UMKC-IHD Director George Gotto and Senior Research Assistant Amelia Reighard. The podcast hosts leaders in the disability field with new insights and developments that you can channel into your own career and development. Or you can share these ideas to help others learn from you. Listen to the Accessible Podcast.
3/25/2024
IDDRC Research Brief: Providing Support for Families Affected by Rare Genetic Diseases
The RFK IDDRC unveils its groundbreaking "Operation IDD Gene Team" program developed by Dr. Steven Walkley. This multidisciplinary initiative supports families affected by rare genetic diseases causing intellectual & developmental disability (IDD).Operation IDD Gene Team brings together families, physicians, and scientists to foster understanding and empowerment. Through collaborative meetings, families share their experiences, physicians discuss clinical implications, and scientists provide insights into gene biology. Published in the Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, this innovative program offers hope and guidance to families while advancing research into rare genetic diseases.
3/25/2024
ME UCEDD Goes to White House to Highlight Impact of Federal Initiatives on Maine's Disability Community
On March 14, 2024, Alan Cobo-Lewis, associate professor of psychology and director of the University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (ME UCEDD), was invited to attend Communities in Action: Building a Better Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, in person at the White House complex. This meeting brought together federal figures with over three dozen local elected officials and community leaders working on behalf of their communities to create opportunities and improve people's everyday lives. Discussions highlighted federal initiatives, especially those funded by the American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA), Inflation Reduction Act, and Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
3/25/2024
NH-ME LEND Spring Kickoff: Organizing to Influence Your State's Policy
In late January, NH-ME LEND gathered for the annual spring kick-off event: Organizing to Influence Your State's Policy. An inspiring keynote speaker, Ansley Peacock, followed by an informative panel discussion set the stage for the upcoming policy module, and the trainees' participation in the upcoming Disability Policy Seminar (DPS) in Washington, D.C.
3/22/2024
2024 Developmental Disabilities Day at the Legislature Reflection
Each year, the Maryland Developmental Disabilities (MDD) Coalition sponsors Developmental Disabilities Day at the Legislature (DD Day), an opportunity for participants to educate state legislators in the capital on crucial issues affecting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), their caregivers and their families. On February 21, 2024, we had the pleasure of attending this year's DD Day as Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities trainees, alongside Kennedy Krieger Institute staff members, other trainees and self-advocates.
3/21/2024
Missouri UCEDD Launches New Training on Traumatic Brain Injuries
Brain injury is more common than you might think. Every brain injury is different in terms of symptoms, affected areas of the brain and the outcome. The University of Missouri-Kansas City's Institute for Human Development, the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities for the state of Missouri, has just launched a new free training to raise awareness of traumatic brain injuries - or TBIs. It highlights symptoms, treatments and provides prevention strategies.
3/21/2024
Oklahoma LEND Graduate's Non-Profit Nationally Recognized
Jeanette O'Hara is an OK LEND 2022 graduate and Founder/Executive Director of the nonprofit, Will's House, located just outside Tulsa in Jenks, Oklahoma. Will's House serves as a specialized respite option that supports full time caregivers of children and young adults with medical needs or intellectual/developmental disabilities. Jeanette's approach is simple yet profound: "What do you need? How can we help you?" This philosophy reflects a commitment to addressing the diverse and often overlooked gaps in services for caregivers and families.
3/21/2024
Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (TN IDDRC, UCEDD, LEND) Researcher and Health Equity Champion Arie Nettles Retires
Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (TN IDDRC, UCEDD, LEND) researcher and longtime health equity champion Arie Nettles has retired from Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. As a psychologist and professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, her entire career has been spent ensuring the well-being of pediatric and adolescent patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities, autism and cleft craniofacial disorders.
2/23/2024
Exploring the Intersectionality of Ability, Race, & Religion
Dr. Nicholas Wright and Maria Kemplin, staff at the University of Kentucky Human Development Institute, received a University of Kentucky Office for Institutional Diversity Award to support programs that are student-centric and foster collaboration through partnerships that address the important of diverse views and cultures. In partnership with the Martin Luther King Center and the Disability Resource Center, staff will explore the intersectionality of ability, and race.
2/23/2024
Video Podcast Series: Life After LEND
Meet Sharon Williams, LEND Class of 2019-2020
In this episode, meet Sharon Williams, LEND Class of 2019-2020. Sharon was a LEND trainee from the US Virgin Islands. She lives on the island of St. Croix with her husband and daughter Sharon joined the Virgin Islands UCEDD (University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities) in 2012 and is the Assistant Director of Assistive Technology.
2/22/2024
Higher Ed Grants Coming Soon
Aiming to boost college options for Minnesota students with intellectual disability, the Institute on Community Integration's new Inclusive Higher Education Technical Assistance (TA) Center is collaborating with the Minnesota Office of Higher Education as it implements a competitive grant process this spring.
2/22/2024
Support Work: Realizing Inclusion
The Direct Support Workforce Solutions group at the MN UCEDD works with employers, state officials, and related stakeholders to recruit and retain direct support professionals.
2/22/2024
To Survive, and to Laugh
Air-raid sirens interrupt classes and rip through other aspects of daily life in western Ukraine. For Sergiy Sydoriv, an education professor at Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University in the city of Ivano-Frankivsk, life outside the heavy bombardment area comes with blaring reminders that life is still far from normal.
2/22/2024
Transforming the Landscape of Behavioral Health Access for Geographically Dispersed and Military-Connected Children and Families across the Midwest
Accessing and navigating services for children with developmental, emotional, or behavioral health (D/E/B) concerns has greater complexity for military families, geographically-dispersed families, and families who are highly mobile or lack providers near their homes. University of Minnesota's Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain (MIDB) has received $3.5 million to lower these barriers as a partner in the Department of Defense Child Collaboration Study "A Research Collaboratory to Explore Best Practices for Expanding Access to Care Through Expansion and Support of Telehealth Care for Children and Families with Behavioral Health Needs."