Project Description:
Objective 2a: Strengthen advocacy skills for consumers and families, including culturally diverse populations.
CEDD has made significant strides forward on several advocacy projects this year:
* CEDD has a new consultant, Angie Rivera, who is an early childhood special education teacher with over twenty years experience supporting Spanish speaking families with children with disabilities in Northern California. Angie?s projects include adding Spanish language resources to our website and the M.I.N.D. Institute Resource Library, supporting Fiesta Educativa in Sacramento (a Spanish language conference), supporting Apoyo de Padres Para Padres (Spanish language parent support group), and assisting with outreach and connection to the Latino community.
* A networking group for young adults with disabilities, the brainchild of two young adults on the CEDD CAC, started up in February and is meeting twice a month.
* CEDD has a new consultant, Sharon Fallis, who is working on Youth and Young Adult Advocacy Projects. Sharon has been involved with advocacy and organizing with the disability community in the Sacramento area for many years and has professional experience with the California Department of Developmental Services CAC, the Supported Life Institute, and Early Head Start. In addition to providing support for the young adult networking group, Sharon is working on our summer camp project and on political advocacy projects, including Capitol Action Day.
* We have started a Medical-Legal Partnership, with Legal Aid California and Health Rights Hotline. Bilingual project staff are available for pediatric neurodevelopmental clinics to offer referrals for free legal (and other) services to patients experiencing trouble with access to healthcare, housing, and other social services and other issues such as medical debt.
* Development of the ?Information for Consumers and Families? section of our website is ongoing.
Over the last two years, CEDD has supported the development and rolling out of a Parent Training Program consisting of two modules: Teaching Adaptive and Self Help Skills to Your Child with ASD and Positive Behavior Support and Strategies for Your Child with ASD. These modules were presented as a traditional face to face ground course twice in 2008, with another scheduled for spring/summer 2009. More than forty parents participated in the 2008 training sessions. The ground courses were co-taught by professional educators and parents who have children on the autism spectrum. Pre and post assessments of confidence and knowledge were collected. The results of the pre-post data indicate that this curriculum and format result in significant increases in parent confidence in working with their children.
As in past years, CEDD provided leadership, financial support, and outreach and dissemination services for two statewide conferences for people with disabilities. The annual Supported Life Conference is the best-attended conference on DD on the West Coast, with 1250 to 1500 professionals, teachers, people with disabilities and family members sharing information, learning, and gaining encouragement from state-of-the-art efforts to create fully inclusive communities. The Youth Leadership Forum for Students with Disabilities (YLF) is an innovative, intensive five-day career and leadership training program for sixty high school juniors and seniors with disabilities, held annually in Sacramento.
Objective 2b: Utilize telehealth/distance learning strategies to maximize access, particularly for rural professionals and families.
We are currently working on developing the two parent training modules, described under Objective 2a above, into multimedia/web-based training modules, available in both English and Spanish, which can be accessed by parents through the CEDD website. Two other training videos are in production at this time; the subjects are Assistive Technology (for teachers and families) and 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (for physicians). Two more are in the planning stages: 1) Applied Behavior Analysis Strategies and Interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorders, and 2) Best Practice Strategies and Interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorders (both for teachers, families, and caregivers).
Target Audience:
Professionals and Para-Professionals, Family Members/Caregivers, Adults with Disabilities, Children/Adolescents with Disabilities/SHCN, Legislators/Policy Makers, General Public
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Disadvantaged Circumstances, Limited English, Geographic Areas, Rural/Remote
