
MULTICULTURAL COUNCIL (MCC)

9/21/2023
Host a Fellow from the Professional Fellows Program
Is your UCEDD or LEND eager to drive global change in disability inclusion? Host a Fellow from the prestigious Professional Fellows Program (PFP)! The PFP supports mid-career disability rights professionals from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Ethiopia to participate in a five-week Fellowship in the US in Spring 2024. As a host, we will match you with a Fellow whose professional interests and goals align with your organization to exchange disability-inclusive civic engagement knowledge and practices.

9/21/2023
Identifying Autism in Rwanda
In rural Africa, people with autism and other disabilities are stigmatized and routinely hidden indoors. This summer, the MN UCEDD trained community health workers in Rwanda on identifying the signs of autism in children and on principles for addressing the needs of people with disabilities in rural areas.

8/11/2023
In Art and Sound, Exhibit in VCU Medical Center Gave Voice to Those with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Art and storytelling can be powerful ways to advocate for change. The Healing Narratives project used participatory research as a way for people with IDD to educate their communities about how they should be treated by health care providers.

8/11/2023
In Art and Sound, Exhibit in VCU Medical Center Gave Voice to Those with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Art and storytelling can be powerful ways to advocate for change. The Healing Narratives project used participatory research as a way for people with IDD to educate their communities about how they should be treated by health care providers.

8/11/2023
UK Human Development Institute Photo Library
Stock photography lacks disability representation. The photos are often staged and use models without disabilities resulting in misrepresentation and unnatural scenes. The UK Human Development Institute (HDI) created a library of 1000+ photos that you can download, share, and

7/26/2023
Emerging Leaders Internship & Council Trainee Representative - Applications Now Open!
AUCD is excited to announce (3) openings for the AUCD Emerging Leaders Internship and (5) openings for Council Trainee Representatives. Applications for the 2023-2024 academic year are now open and close on August 4th, 2023.

7/25/2023
Call for Papers, Deadline Extended - Conversations With/Across the Global South: Towards Decolonial Disability Futurities
Deadline: August 31, 2023
The Review of Disability Studies: An International Journal, the peer-reviewed, open access journal published by the Center on Disability Studies at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, is seeking submissions for a special issue exploring stories of the Global South through a decolonial and anti-ableist lens.

7/20/2023
"Let's Try a Different Way"
Agnes Cole is a recent MN LEND graduate who works at a service provider, runs her own non-profit organization, and who spent much of her fellowship working on a longitudinal study that tracks the living arrangements of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who receive services.

7/20/2023
2024 Call for Presentation Proposals - 39th Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability and Diversity
The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa's Center on Disability Studies, in the College of Education, is accepting presentation proposals for the 39th Annual Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability and Diversity, February 27-28, 2024 in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. Submissions are being accepted until October 1, 2023 with a preferred submission date of September 15th at http://go.hawaii.edu/na2.

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.

6/16/2023
Iowa's UCEDD Welcomes a Professional Fellow from Zanzibar
Iowa's UCEDD welcomed Bakar Hamad from Zanzibar last month as part of his experience in the Professional Fellow Program, a joint project of the Institute for Community Inclusion at UMass Boston and Humanity & Inclusion. Hamad is the fourth Professional Fellow that Iowa's UCEDD has hosted through the program, which has provided wonderful opportunities for the fellows and for UCEDD staff to exchange information, ideas and strategies for supporting people with disabilities.

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
A Qualitative Investigation on COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Neurodivergent Communities
Over the course of 2 years, the student led group, Neurodiversity Health Chats at UCLA has published their explorative work on vaccine hesitancy in the neurodivergent community!

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.