Delaney Owen is currently a speech language pathology graduate student and a long term LEND Trainee at the University of Kansas Medical Center. She was selected for the Robinson International Scholar Studies Award. The Robinson International Studies Award honors former KUMC Professor, Vice Chancellor for Clinical Affairs, and Chief of Staff, Dr. David W. Robinson, and his commitment to cross-cultural education.

Two former NJLEND Family Fellows partnered with Family Voices NJ recently to highlight parent-professional partnerships in training programs in the Exceptional Parent Guide 2020: Navigating Special Needs Resources. Their article on matching future healthcare professionals with families of children with special needs highlights the NJLEND Mentor Family Experience as well as other opportunities for parents to serve as educators of future health care professionals.

On December 6, 2019, the New Jersey Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (NJLEND) program at The Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities held a didactic seminar focused on cultural competency. The didactic seminar session included a family panel comprised of three parents representing the following cultural backgrounds: West African, Hispanic/Latino, and South Asian.

AUCD has made available six (6) scholarships of up to $500 each to support LEND audiology trainees in attending the in Early Hearing Detect8-10, 2020 in Kansas City, MO. All current LEND audiology trainees, including those in their externship year, are eligible to apply. However, priority will be given to trainees from programs that do not currently receive supplemental funding and trainees that have not attended the EHDI Meeting in previous years. Application deadline: February 14, 2020.

The MNLEND fellowship program was accepted as a designated 1Health Interprofessional Activity, the University of Minnesota's interprofessional education curriculum initiative that brings together students from a wide range of health-related disciplines. 1Health challenges medical, dental, social work, public health and other students to cultivate skills in teamwork, communication, and collaborative care. These skills are integral to the medical community's "triple aim" of improving patient outcomes, advancing population health, and reducing costs. In selecting MNLEND, 1Health's Interprofessional Education Team considered the program's mix of learners from different professions, its explicit focus on interprofessional learning and the authenticity of its learning activities.

Vanderbilt Kennedy Center's (TN IDDRC, UCEDD, LEND) Consortium LEND has seen a lot of change this year, including the installment of a new director, new program staff members, and growth within its cohort at East Tennessee State University. Among the changes is the addition of the genetic counseling discipline to LEND's Care Navigation practicum, thanks to LEND faculty member Laura Duncan, M.S., CGC, as well as its first long-term trainee from Vanderbilt's inaugural Master of Genetic Counseling program, Gianna Petrelli

Can mindfulness techniques help young families better support their children with autism and other neurodevelopmental disabilities? A team of MN LEND Fellows (https://lend.umn.edu/) from the University of Minnesota's Institute on Community Integration (https://ici.umn.edu/) aims to find out.

Over the past two decades, Maine has experienced a rapid growth of racially, ethnically and linguistically diverse populations. Although Maine's population is largely White (95%), children in Maine are disproportionately from minority populations; currently 9% of children in Maine are from a race other than White.

Rep. Joelle Martin, NH-ME LEND graduate, was recently honored with the New Hampshire Legislator of the Year award by New Futures, New Hampshire's leading health policy, and advocacy organization. After working for a decade as an executive in publishing, Martin's focus shifted to education and advocacy. As her daughter, who has a life-threatening food allergy, entered preschool, she began to educate her family and school community about severe food allergies. Soon after, she developed an educational program about life-threatening allergies for teachers and staff.

The AUCD Board has appointed John Tschida, MPP, as the acting Executive Director of AUCD effective Monday, January 6, 2020. John Tschida, MPP, has spent more than 20 years using data and research to drive policy change and service development for individuals with disabilities. Before joining AUCD in February of 2017, he was appointed as director if the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. NIDILRR is the federal government's premier applied research agency impacting individuals with disabilities.