Project Description:
Objective 1.02: Educational and Internship Experiences Annual Narrative 2016-2017
The Center on Disability and Development's Graduate Fellows and Internship Program provides an opportunity to study the complex social, political, cultural, and educational issues that surround individuals with disabilities and their families. Our focus on Disability Studies supports the formation of teachers, activists, practitioners, and researchers who are interested in the phenomenon of disability from various disciplinary perspectives. Our program is designed to prepare graduate students throughout the College of Education and Human Development as well as students from other colleges wishing to make the program part of their degree plan. Our current Fellows are engaged in research, policy, and service projects that make an impact on the lives of individuals with disabilities and their families. Our program will increase the number of qualified personnel across disciplines that can provide services and supports for individuals with developmental disabilities. Our Interdisciplinary Training Program began training its first graduate students in 2006. Reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the Center, our trainees have come from the disciplines of special education, school psychology, counseling psychology, public policy, and learning sciences. Our trainees are assigned to work with CDD Center Faculty on projects that directly address our Center's objectives and participate in research, training, and outreach activities under the direction of Center faculty. During 2015-2020, the CDD will provide educational and internship experiences to doctoral students from a variety of academic programs. Two different levels of training will be provided, along with support that corresponds to the intensity and number of hours of training provided by Center faculty: 1) Fellowships for graduate students engaged in long term (>300 hours) training under the direct supervision of Center faculty across multiple Center project objectives. These students will receive orientation to the Center and an overview of UCEDD missions, structure, and history under the direction of Dr. Stough, the Interdisciplinary Training Coordinator. These Fellows will be mentored to participate in research, presentations, grant writing, as well as participating on Center projects, as well as to participate in AUCD sponsored conferences, professional training, and webinars. Fellows will be selected by Center faculty for their interest in disability issues and desire to engage in advocacy, capacity building and systemic change in the core areas of education/early intervention and quality of life. 2) Short term training (>300 hours) for graduate and undergraduate students participating in activities usually restricted to one Center project objective. These experiences may include graduate internships, undergraduate research projects, or other involvement on a project sponsored by the Center. These short-term trainees usually will not be supported by the Center, but may be employed or sponsored by external funds that support one of the Center projects. Short term trainees will be usually selected by individual Core Faculty or Affiliated Faculty to participate on projects that have as their aim one emphasis.
FY 2017/FY 2018 Trainees
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Jeffrey Opaleye is a second-year doctoral student in the Department of Sociology at Texas A & M University (TAMU). His research interests include race & ethnicity, marriage & family, urban poverty, and disparities in education. Actively engaged in scholarship and research, Jeffrey seeks to produce influential work that enhances the disciple of Sociology as well as make a profound impact on the lives of people.
Currently, he is working on the Aggie Ability Awareness for Graduate Student project along with the TAMU Disability Services and the TAMU Center for Teaching Excellence. This project proposes to promote a strong dialogue to graduate students about how to best work with individuals with disabilities.
In addition to being a graduate teaching assistant at TAMU, Jeffrey is a mentor who provides support to undergraduate students, volunteers by giving back to the homeless, and teaches Sociology courses at multiple institutions in the Houston area. Furthermore, he holds memberships in the following organizations: Alpha Kappa Delta The International Honor Society of Sociology, the Association of Black Sociologists. Jeffrey also engages in institutional service, as he is a committee member on The Minority Initiative Committee at Lone Star College to improve the educational experiences of all students and is a committee member on the Woodson Black Awareness Committee at TAMU.
In the Fall of 2016, Jeffrey was awarded a fellowship from the Texas A & M Center on Disability and Development for the Leadership Training for Diversity to assist with improving the lives of individuals with disabilities. It is with great determination that Jeffrey hopes to acquire as much knowledge and research skills from the Center on Disability and Development to be a better advocate for those who face adversities because of disabilities.
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Grace Ellen Brannon is a second-year doctoral student studying Health Communication in the Department of Communication in the College of Liberal Arts at Texas A&M University. She earned her B.A. in Communication Studies and her M.A. in Communication at the University of Texas at Arlington. She is currently a research assistant, but also has worked as a teaching assistant and instructor of record for communication courses. After her diagnosis of type 1 diabetes in 2011, she became interested in health-specific communication, which led to her current research interests. Graces research focuses on health in interpersonal relationships using mixed methods, investigating issues such as disclosure, information management, privacy issues, and health disparities. She currently is examining how young adults manage face and privacy in conversations about sexually transmitted infections with romantic partners.
Grace became interested in the Center for Disability and Development after becoming involved with her departments Climate and Inclusion Committee in 2015. After some research, she decided applying to the Diversity Fellow program could provide much-needed disability- and diversity-specific training, fitting well with her interests in health disparities in rural areas. Her current CDD projects include adapting an existing program (Aggie Ability Awareness) for the Texas A&M University medical community and creating a health practitioner-specific handout for patients with diabetes. In her spare time, she enjoys reading fantasy novels, spending time with her husband, Jeremy, and their dog, Ewok, practicing martial arts, and running. Grace is also active in the Bryan/College Station community, volunteering with a local United States Army Reserve unit Family Readiness Group.
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Melina Cavazos is a second-year graduate student in the College of Education and Human Development at Texas A&M University, where she is pursuing her Ph.D. in School Psychology. Inspired by her younger brother, who is diagnosed with autism, and by her mother, her brothers biggest advocate, Melina is dedicated to learning best practices in supporting students with difficulties and disabilities. She has recently worked with Dr. Deborah Simmons and Dr. Melissa Fogarty in the Integrated Vocabulary of Comprehension (IVC) Project funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), where she assisted in various aspects of the project (e.g., program development, assessment, project monitoring, etc.). She is currently working with data from the Counseling and Assessment Clinic (CAC) in Bryan, TX under the supervision of Dr. Krystal Simmons to explore the effects of parent income and motivation on attrition rates. Her current research interests involve addressing the unique challenges faced by college students with autism through development of a comprehensive college transition theory and program, as well as through creating interventions and measures that address the development of self-advocacy skills in these students prior to college attendance. She excited to pursue her research goals through the Center on Disability and Development as an AIDD funded Diversity Fellow. Her current research projects as a Diversity Fellow include working with Dr. Dalun Zhang and other Diversity Fellows in surveying the current efforts taken by DD Network Partners to increase diversity in their respective programs, and with Dr. Meagan Sumbera in evaluating the effectiveness of monthly parent training sessions for parents of students with autism.
