AUCD 360 - February 2018

AUCD Welcomes Rylin Rodgers as Director of Public Policy

Rylin Rodgers will serve as the Director of Public Policy, working to formulate and implement AUCD's legislative and advocacy priorities and strategies. Rylin currently serves as the Training Director and Family Leadership Coordinator for the Riley Child Development Center (Indiana's LEND), and was a founding board member of Family Voices Indiana. Read more...

AUCD Welcomes Brett Enneking as the 2018 Assistant Virtual Trainee

Brett Enneking is the 2018 Assistant Virtual Trainee for the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD), where she will participate in efforts to engage trainees across the AUCD network. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow in clinical psychology and a second-year trainee with Indiana's LEND program, the Riley Child Development Center (RCDC). Read more...

AUCD for All 2018 Gala: Celebrating Leadership in State Policy

Join the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) on March 20, 2018, to celebrate state-level leadership in disability policy. States are often the catalysts for innovation, and AUCD members are engaging with policy makers and coalition partners in every state and territory by presenting research, conducting training, and developing and advocating for policies that will improve the lives of children and adults with disabilities. Read more...

AUCD Trainee Updates: News from the North (AK LEND)

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South East Early Intervention Program Receives Award (UT UCEDD)

The South East Early Intervention Program at the Center for Persons with Disabilities was recently honored as the Community Partner of the Year by the Moab Valley Multicultural Center (MVMCC) for its efforts in "building bridges across language and culture through family support, community collaboration, and education." The program, which began in 2011, is a home-based program serving children from birth to 3 who are at risk of having developmental delays, or are diagnosed with a disability.  Read more...

Dr. Maria Mercedes Avila, VT LEND Director, Appointed Health Equity Inclusive Liaison at the University of Vermont College of Medicine (VT LEND)

Maria Mercedes Avila, Ph.D., an associate professor of pediatrics and director of the Vermont Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (VT LEND) Program, has been appointed Health Equity Inclusive Excellence Liaison in the University of VT (UVM) College of Medicine's Office of Diversity and Inclusion. Dr. Avila also serves as adjunct faculty in the UVM College of Nursing and Health Sciences. She has served as chair of the AUCD Multicultural Council and currently serves on the AUCD Board of Directors. Read more...

Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (TN UCEDD, LEND, IDDRC) TRIAD's Juarez now President-Elect of TABA

Pablo Juárez, M.Ed., BCBA, has been chosen as President-Elect of the Tennessee Association for Behavior Analysis (TABA). Juárez is director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (TN UCEDD, LEND, IDDRC) Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders (TRIAD), and is a behavior analyst in Pediatrics and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. He will serve as President-Elect until TABA's annual conference in 2018, and he will go on to serve as President for one year and Past President for the subsequent year. Read more...

Dr. Nettles appointed by TN Governor Haslam as Chair of DIDD Advisory Council (TN UCEDD, IDDRC, LEND)

Arie Nettles, Ph.D., associate professor of Clinical Pediatrics and Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (TN UCEDD, IDDRC, LEND) member, has been appointed by Governor Haslam as chair of the Statewide Planning and Policy Council of the Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD). Dr. Nettles has served as a member of the Council since 2014. Read more...

The Tarjan Center at UCLA (UCEDD) Staff Member Appointed to the California State Rehabilitation Council for the Department of Rehabilitation

Kecia Weller, is the Self Advocate and Community Liaison at the Tarjan Center at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). At the Center, Kecia assists with recruitment and ongoing support of members of the Tarjan Advisory Committee. She also represents the Tarjan Center on the State Self Advocacy Network.Kecia was recently appointed to the Disability Advisory Council (DAC) for the Department of Rehabilitation (DOR). Members are appointed by the Governor and assist DOR in its efforts to enhance employment and promotional opportunities, as well as, equal treatment and physical and programmatic access for persons with disabilities. Read more...

Stephanie Porter Receives Allen C. Crocker Award at Boston Children's Hospital (MA UCEDD/LEND)

Stephanie Porter, MSN, RN, a long-time ICI faculty member, has received the Allen C. Crocker Award from the Division of Developmental Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital. Ms. Porter works with the ICI's LEND Program, a multidisciplinary training initiative focused on disability inclusion and based at Children's. The Crocker Award is presented annually to honor an individual whose work within the Division of Developmental Medicine demonstrates clinical excellence and advocacy. Read more...

Susan Foley to Advise MA Commission for the Blind (MA UCEDD/LEND)

Dr. Susan Foley, a senior research fellow at the ICI, has been appointed to the statutory advisory board of the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, or MCB. According to the MCB e-newsletter, "The Statutory Advisory Board [...] consists of five people, qualified by training, experience, or demonstrated interest in the services for individuals who are blind. Read more...

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Compounded Disparities: Health Equity at the Intersection of Disability, Race, and Ethnicity

Authors include several AUCD Members

Anyone can become disabled in a flash. Furthermore, across the life span, almost all persons live with disability at some time, especially in their later years. Thus, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), disability is "a continuum, relevant to the lives of all people to different degrees and at different times in their lives,"virtually a "universal phenomenon" and a "natural feature of the human condition." As the Institute of Medicine stated: If one considers people who now have disabilities..., people who are likely to develop disabilities in the future, and people who are or will be affected by the disabilities of family members or others close to them, then disability affects today or will affect tomorrow the lives of most Americans. Read more...

Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study Highlighted on Today Show

Parents and researchers alike wonder about the effects of everything from homework to screen time to stress to friendships on teenagers' brains. To understand more, the NIH has launched the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study tracking over 11,000 kids. New from the Today Show, AUCD member Dr. Susan Bookheimer, Director of the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior IDDRC, and the role she's playing in this study are highlighted in this piece from Maria Shriver. Read more...

Rett Syndrome Research of Baylor IDDRC Director Dr. Huda Zoghbi Highlighted on Today Show

This morning on the Today Show: When NBC News's Richard Engel learned his son had Rett Syndrome, he called AUCD's Dr. Huda Zoghbi at the Baylor College of Medicine Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC), one of 14 Centers funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to advance research in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) in order to contribute to the resolution of many issues encountered by individuals with IDD and their families. Read more...

New Tools Allow Site-wide Web Accessibility Evaluation (UT UCEDD)

WebAIM has long set the standard for web accessibility, and its WAVE tool has made it possible for people everywhere to find out whether a web page is usable for people with disabilities. Now, new options make it possible to use WAVE across an entire website. "The online version of WAVE and the browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox are and always will be free," said Jared Smith, associate director of WebAIM and a developer of the WAVE web accessibility evaluation tool. Read more...

Easi-CRISPR Recipe Outlined in Nature Protocols (NE UCEDD/LEND)

Yes, mouse, not mousse. As in mouse model for experiments. Earlier this year, Dr. Gurumurthy, associate professor of developmental neuroscience at UNMC's Munroe-Meyer Institute, announced his breakthrough in genome engineering with his up to 100 percent accurate way to genetically alter a mouse. The method is called Easi (Efficient additions with ssDNA inserts)-CRISPR.
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Camp Munroe Theater 'Flawless' (NE UCEDD/LEND)

"Fractured Fairy Tales," held at the Scottish Rite Masonic Hall in Omaha, was the culmination of a three-day theater workshop for children and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The 23 participants, ranging in age from 6 to 30, also created the sets and some of the props for a skewed look at some classic children's tales. Read more...

IL LEND Hosts Autism Community Screening Events for Families in Illinois

IL LEND post-doc, Robin Dodds, and Clinical Training Director, Ann Cutler, organized and supervised the first autism spectrum disorder (ASD) community screening event of the fall semester. The event was held at the Spectrum Toy Store in the north side of Chicago. Six LEND trainees - in a variety of disciplines - provided screenings and discussed steps for further diagnostic evaluation, when indicated. In collaboration with Grupo Salto, a family advocacy and support group for Latino families, a second screening event was held on October 21st for Spanish speaking families in the west side of Chicago. Read more...

Mobility Aid Invention by Gilson and DePoy in Access+Ability Exhibit at Smithsonian Design Museum (ME UCEDD)

The AFARI Mobility Device, co-invented by University of Maine and Maine UCEDD professors Stephen Gilson and Elizabeth DePoy, is part of the current Access+Ability exhibition at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City. The exhibition, which runs through September 3, 2018, features over 70 innovative designs and "explores how users and designers are expanding and adapting accessible products and solutions in ways previously unimaginable." Read more...

PCPID Releases Report on Direct Support Workforce

President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities (PCPID) include several AUCD members

The President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities (PCPID) has released its 2017 report, America's Direct Support Workforce Crisis: Effects on People with Intellectual Disabilities, Families, Communities and the U.S. Economy. Direct support professionals (DSPs) provide services and supports that empower people with intellectual disabilities to live in the community. In the report, PCPID notes that DSPs promote participation in the U.S. economy "by helping people with an (intellectual disability) get jobs and by enabling family members to work." Read more...

APHA Disability Section Call for 2018 Awards Nominations

Do you have a colleague who has made an outstanding contribution to advance disability and health? Submit a nomination! Nominators do not need to be members of the APHA Disability Section. Read more...

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AUCD for All 2018 Gala: Celebrating Leadership in State Policy

Disability Policy Seminar 2018 and Trainee Summit

April 22-25, 2018, Washington, DC

The Disability Policy Seminar is the premier opportunity to cultivate champions on Capitol Hill and advance the grassroots movement for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Join AUCD, the Arc, AAIDD, NACDD, SABE, and UCP as we learn about and advocate for access to health care and community living supports, and bedrock civil rights protections. The first 100 days of any new Administration and Congress are key to setting the agenda, and this year, more than ever, we need you in Washington, DC. Read more...