On May 22, graduates and leaders of the Minnesota Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (MNLEND) program celebrated accomplishments and urged one another to find ways to resolve dire challenges facing people with disabilities.
Speaking to those challenges, which include the proposed elimination of federal LEND and other programs providing services and support to the disability community, ICI Director Amy Hewitt praised the MNLEND fellows’ work. Over the course of the past academic year, more than two dozen fellows from diverse professional and cultural communities learned about disability policy and services and contributed to new and ongoing projects across ICI. Building public awareness about the early signs of autism, studying community housing and support options for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and surveying special education students to learn better teaching methods are just a few of the projects this year’s fellows completed.
“Our work makes real change in communities,” Hewitt said in addressing the graduates, their family members, and ICI staff. “We conduct groundbreaking research, deliver statewide and national training, and translate new knowledge into real-world improvements for people with disabilities across education, healthcare, employment, and community living.”
College of Education and Human Development Dean Michael Rodriguez said MNLEND has played a critical role in developing the next generation of leaders in disability policy.
“MNLEND engages the spirit of interdisciplinary and cross-sector learning, research, and community practice that is core to the mission of CEHD and to the land-grant mission of the University of Minnesota,” Rodriguez said.
ICI is a lead partner for the MNLEND program, which spans more than 16 disciplines across the university, including the departments of educational psychology and pediatrics, and speech language and hearing sciences. The program also recruits community fellows from a variety of fields, forming a cohort for an academic year. Many fellows combine the experience with their studies in occupational or physical therapy, dentistry, pediatrics, education, and other fields, and many have gone on to take leadership roles in the field of neurodevelopmental and other disabilities.
A video featuring this year’s fellows discussing their research projects and their overall experiences was played at the event, which was held at Norway House in Minneapolis.
Watch the video here .
Akeem Anderson (MNLEND 2022-23), another invited speaker, urged his fellow graduates to work for disability inclusion in their communities, even in the face of service cuts.
“The world needs thoughtful changemakers more than ever,” Anderson said. “LEND has taught us that we are faced with challenges around disability care and policy that demand our attention and our action. Be imaginative. Don’t just appreciate differences; learn to be different.”
Concluding the event, fellows thanked MNLEND’s leadership team, including Hewitt, Andrew Barnes, Jessica Simacek, Jennifer Hall-Lande, Rebecca Dosch Brown (pictured fourth from left), and Ajibiké Ojomo (extreme right).
“I would not be as far along on my path if I hadn’t come to this program,” said Danielle Roberts (MNLEND 2024-25). “I needed the diversity, and the complexity, to find a better path to where I am going. This is a program that is needed.”
Ojomo, interdisciplinary education coordinator for MNLEND, also thanked the leadership team for creating a learning environment that affirms the values of an inclusive community.
“Standing here today reminds me of the reason I took this position, to be in a diverse community that shares the same goal,” Ojomo said. “It reminds me of home. I’m from Nigeria, in a community where every house door is open to receive and accommodate people. I have seen that happen since I started this position.”
View Original Article
