Kayla was one of three other students who helped create and deliver a training focused on accessibility and inclusion at a local Tucson zoo. Kayla and her colleagues agree that the experience to apply what they learned and help make a difference in the community was a fulfilling experience.

The Mailman Center LEND program has teamed up with the medical school's NextGenMD program to develop a pathway in Child Health, Development, and Leadership. The Next GenMD curriculum pathway provides a longitudinal, structured learning opportunity for a non-dual degree medical student in the form of didactic sessions, required coursework, research under the direction of faculty mentors, experiential learning, professional development through participation in organizations, societies and scientific meetings, and self-directed learning activities, both conventional and web-based.

Plenty of mission statements for faith-based organizations talk about welcoming everyone. When it comes to people with disabilities, however, it takes more than words and a wheelchair ramp to achieve true inclusion. MN LEND fellows, along with the MN UCEDD, are working with a Twin Cities-area church and mosque to think differently about how they serve worshippers with disabilities. MN LEND is an interdisciplinary leadership development program, funded by the U.S. Maternal & Child Health Bureau, that spans more than 16 disciplines across the University of Minnesota.

On May 7, 2021, twenty-four trainees from the 2020-2021 New Hampshire-Maine Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (NH-ME LEND) Program shared their scholarship and leadership development during the annual Capstone Poster Session and Celebration. In keeping with federal and state Centers for Disease Control (CDC) health and safety guidance, the event was held online. For the second year in a row, the trainees remotely collaborated with faculty mentors and leadership partners to complete their capstone projects throughout Maine and New Hampshire.

During a person's education, people with disabilities usually get an IEP (Individual Education Program). When a person leaves school, they often can feel lost. This may be good time to consider a person-center plan. Just what is person-center Planning?

This is an exciting leadership opportunity for an up-and-coming leader in the Autism Community. The Vice Chair of the Autism Special Interest Group will work closely with the SIG co-chairs Brian Be and Dr. Laura Carpenter.

It has been more than a year since we started adapting to the "new conditions" of living in a world with the COVID-19 pandemic. Transitioning from face-to-face to all-virtual interactions was not as much fun as the option of "working and studying from the bedroom" sounded. Not only did we start missing familiar faces, but we had to limit new relationships to connections traveling through router devices and Zoom platforms. Despite these limitations, the pandemic has triggered a virtual realm of opportunity. It has challenged our creativity and our passion to keep pursuing the visions and missions we sought out in "normal" times. It invited us to think outside the box and has extended connectivity and networking beyond local boundaries. The 2021 LEND cohort has experienced this firsthand.

Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental & Related Disabilities (LEND) trainees and faculty from the states of Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas participated in the Southern Regional Collaborative Seminars on November 20th and March 5th virtually via Zoom. The Southern Regional Collaborative Seminar is an opportunity for each state's program to come together to learn more about each other's programs and to give trainees an opportunity to network.

The UC Davis MIND Institute has offered Social Skills Groups for children, preteens, teens, and young adults since 2001. Traditionally, groups ran for 25 weeks, and catered to 8-15 children at a time. Groups were offered for children (ages 8-10), tweens (ages 11-13), and teens (ages 14-17).

We are pleased to announce our 2021 Council Trainee Representatives.