AUCDigest
January 23, 2007 • Volume 7, Number 1
Center on Disability Studies (HI UCEDD) Faculty awarded the Duane Brenneman Humanitarian Award. Associate Director Dr. Jean Johnson was nominated by the Easter Seals Organization in recognition of her commitment to enhance the well being of individuals with disabilities and other special needs. The award was presented with the statement that "Your idealism and commitment serves as an inspiration to others."
Center on Disability and Community Inclusion (VT UCEDD) Welcomes New Director Dr. Susan Ryan. Dr. Ryan comes to Vermont from the University of Alaska Anchorage, where she held the position of Professor of Early Intervention and Special Education. Her professional areas of interest and expertise include Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, Personnel Preparation, and Inclusion. She replaces the retiring Dr. Chigee Cloninger.
UCLID Center (PA LEND Program) Appoints Dr. Robert Noll as New Principal Investigator. Dr. Noll is excited about the opportunity to continue the vision of UCLID. While Dr. Noll is the PI of the center, he will have a co-director Dr. Ron Dahl. Drs. Noll and Dahl are excited about the opportunity to continue the vision of UCLID while expanding its focus to include children with chronic health problems such as sickle cell disease, sleep disorders, Fragile X, and autism. Finally, they are excited to expand UCLID's focus to foster a broader inclusion of research efforts related to children with developmental disabilities.
Center for Child and Human Development (DC UCEDD) Receives Funding for DC Health Resources Partnership Project. The project aims at improving healthcare access for adults with developmental disabilities. The project's web page features a Virtual Library that contains clinical guidelines and other articles pertaining to the health care of individuals with intellectual and other developmental disabilities. Funded by the District of Columbia's Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Administration.
Center for Persons with Disabilities (UT UCEDD) Receives $100,000 Worth of Assistive Technology Equipment. Shriners Hospital in Salt Lake City recently made the donation to the Assistive Technology Lab at the Center located in Logan, Utah. The Lab will repair the donated assistive technology in need of repair and distribute all of the equipment to individuals with disabilities of all ages throughout the state of Utah. Some of the donated equipment includes walkers, standers, small wheelchairs, power chairs, wheelchair seats and tires. For more information, visit the Utah Assistive Technology Program (UATP) Website or call 800-524-5152.
News and Honors from the Rural Institute (MT UCEDD)
- UCEDD Develops PLUK for Middle School Students. The UCEDD is exploring the development of transition planning activities for middle school students with developmental disabilities. PLUK (Parents, Let's Unite for Kids) focuses on creating and implementing strategies to help families, schools, and communities prepare their middle school youth for success in the rest of their school years and beyond. This project is funded by the Montana Council on Developmental Disabilities, UCEDD, and the statewide parent advocacy agency. Ellen Condon and Kim Brown are the lead persons in this developmental effort.
- Faculty Receives National Distinguished Disability Research Award. In October, Dr. Craig Ravesloot, Director of Health Projects at the Research and Training Center on Disability in Rural Communities, received the National Distinguished Disability Research Award at the 2006 Southwest Conference on Disability in Albuquerque. This award recognizes an individual whose disability-related research has advanced the knowledge of disability.
- Faculty Receives Distinguished Award and Serves as Guest Editor. Dr. Tom Seekins, Director of Research and Professor of Psychology, receives the Allan Meyers Award from the American Public Health Disability Forum. Dr. Seekins is also serving as guest editor for the Journal of Community Development Society Special Issue: Disability and Community Development. Volume 37 (3).
News and Activities from the Tarjan Center (CA UCEDD)
- Training Director Participating in Congressional White Paper on FAS. Dr. Mary O'Connor is a member of the National Task Force on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effects and is participating in writing a white paper to Congress on the current need for funding in research on the refinement of the diagnosis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and intervention with these individuals.
- Post-Doctoral Fellowship Opportunity. A 2-year, full time postdoctoral fellowship is offered in the Department of Psychiatry and Bio-behavioral Sciences of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Under the supervision of Dr. Mary O'Connor, the fellow will participate in research in the UCLA Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Program. Research and clinical training will be provided in a community based project designed to test the effectiveness of a social skills training program for children with prenatal alcohol exposure. The fellow is expected to have some experience with children and families and a strong research background. Experience working with diverse populations and fluency in Spanish is preferred. Dates: July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2009 (start date may be flexible). To apply for the fellowship please submit a CV and 2-3 page statement of research and clinical experience and interests to Dr. Mary O'Connor. For further information, please email or call 310-206-6528. Application deadline: March 30, 2007.
New Projects and Activities from the A.J. Pappanikou Center (CT UCEDD)
- Mind the Gap Grant: A Reference Guide for People with Physical Disabilities Riding Trains. The UCEDD has been awarded a mini grant from Easter Seals of Connecticut to produce a report that identifies the barriers that people with physical disabilities face when riding trains and to create a fact sheet to assist people to overcome those barriers. For more information, please contact Jill Bradshaw at 860-679-1547.
- STAR Project. The Student Technical Assistance Response (STAR) Team is a project that provides support to school districts and parents to increase access to the general education curriculum for students with intellectual disabilities. The project is funded by the Connecticut State Department of Education. The process includes a Collaborative Consultation protocol that assists teams to identify barriers to regular class placement and design action plans to address those barriers. For more information, please contact Gina Fleming at 860-679-1560 or visit the project website.
- Connecticut Coaches Academy. This is a graduate-level training course for educators in response to the PJ settlement agreement and is also funded by the Connecticut State Department of Education. The course goal is to build capacity within school districts to successfully move inclusion forward by increasing the number of qualified professionals to support the education of children with intellectual disabilities in general education settings. For more information, please contact Jessica Veneziano at 860-679-7592 or visit the website.
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