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Families with IDD Praise State's Vaccination Clinic
AThe high risk that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities face from COVID-19 is well-documented. A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine concluded "having an intellectual disability was the strongest independent risk factor for presenting with a COVID-19 diagnosis and the strongest independent risk factor other than age for COVID-19 mortality. Patients with intellectual disabilities and their caregivers should be prioritized for vaccination and health care services." During the COVID-19 pandemic, UNMC's Munroe-Meyer Institute (MMI) has been working to address the need for vaccination opportunities for people with IDD, as well as their parents and caregivers. Read more...
$6M Grant Gives IU' Indiana Institute Ability to Continue work of Indiana Center on Teacher Quality
A year ago we were trying to figure out what this virus was all about and how/if it would affect our lives. Now, just a year later, the Westchester Institute for Human Development began vaccinating people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities against this deadly virus. This was made possible through the tremendous work of WIHD to advocate for and persist in becoming an approved NY State vaccination site, turning our lobby into a state of the art vaccination site, training registrars and vaccinators, and assuring that people with IDD are in a vaccine priority category. Read more...
UC Davis MIND Institute Takes Its Social Skills Group Online
The UC Davis MIND Institute has offered Social Skills Groups for children, preteens, teens, and young adults since 2001. Traditionally, groups ran for 25 weeks, and catered to 8-15 children at a time. Groups were offered for children (ages 8-10), tweens (ages 11-13), and teens (ages 14-17).When COVID-19 caused in-person services to shut down in March 2020, groups were abruptly terminated, and no one could fathom how we would be able to offer these services for the duration of the pandemic. As services increasingly transitioned to telehealth, and as providers were forced to become increasingly creative, the staff and LEND trainees at the MIND Institute at UC Davis endeavored to create a Zoom-based Social Skills Group. In order to adapt to the new format, groups were shortened to 8 weeks, and 6 participants per group. We created a group for tweens (ages 11-13) and teens (age 14-17). Read more...
Females with autism reach puberty earlier, says Vanderbilt Kennedy Center researcher
Blythe Corbett, Ph.D., professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and investigator with the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (TN IDDRC, UCEDD, LEND), recently led a study which found that on average, females with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experienced the onset of puberty 9.5 months earlier than their peers.Corbett, Simon Vandekar, Ph.D., Rachael Anne Muscatello, Ph.D., and Yasas Tanguturi, M.D., made up the research team, representing the Departments of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Psychology, Biostatistics, Biomedical Research, and Pediatrics. Their study found that females with ASD tend to undergo puberty earlier than males with ASD and females with typical development (TD). Read more...
Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (TN IDDRC, UCEDD, LEND) Podcast Series Communicates Disabilities Research in Plain Language
 The Promise of Discovery" is a podcast hosted by the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (VKC)(TN IDDRC, UCEDD, LEND) that highlights research in intellectual and developmental disabilities in plain language, making it accessible to the general public. The podcast launched in 2020, with new episodes each month. The goals of the podcast are to host conversations about research in plain language and to highlight "real world" implications. The discussions cover why the research matters in the lives of people with disabilities and families, how the research impacts and enhances what we know already and/or raises additional questions in the field, and what implications the research might have for policy.Read more...
CNMI DD Network in the News!
 A Developmental Disabilities Conference for Families of Individuals Who are Deaf & Hard of Hearing was held on Tinian at the JC Café on March 13, 2021. The participating disabilities network partners are the Public School System Special Education & Early Intervention Programs, the Developmental Disabilities Council, Northern Marianas Protection and Advocacy Systems Inc., the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.- Maternal & Child Health Bureau and the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation. Read more...
Direct Support Workforce and COVID-19 National Report: Six-Month Follow-up
 The Institute on Community Integration's Research and Training Center on Community Living for Persons with intellectual and Developmental Disabilities at the University of Minnesota, in partnership with the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals, conducted a survey of approximately 9,000 direct support professionals (DSPs) from across the country about their experiences supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a six-month follow-up report to the initial report completed in April 2020 and is the largest study conducted on the direct support workforce. Read more...
Building Resilience in Families with Young Children
The Act Early COVID-19 Response Teams are working to bolster the 4 steps of early identification of developmental delays and disabilities and to improve resiliency among families with young children during COVID-19 response and mitigation efforts. As one strategy to achieve these goals, the New Jersey team leads, Deepa Srinivasavaradan (Act Early Ambassador) and Caroline Coffield (NJLEND/UCEDD) along with Stephanie Michael (NJLEND Trainee), authored an article, Building Resilience: Resources to Help Families Grow from Challenging Times, featured in the 2021 Guide of Exceptional Parent magazine. Read more...
MI-DDI Manuscript Accepted for Publication to Developmental Disabilities Network Journal
Michigan Developmental Disabilities Institute (MI-DDI) is excited to announce that the manuscript, Assessing and Mitigating Risk for Applied Behavior Analysis Providers During a Pandemic, has been accepted for publication to the Developmental Disabilities Network Journal! The manuscript was written by Krista Clancy, Ph.D., LBA, Josh Plavnick, Ph.D., LBA, and Sharon Milberger, Sc.D. in response to the report, Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies for Applied Behavior Analysis: Treatment of Children with Autism During a Pandemic, published in July 2020. Read more...
Mailman Center for Child Development Faculty Awarded Dual Grants to Improve Language Skills for Children with Hearing Loss
 Investigators Dr. Lynn Perry and Dr. Daniel Messinger at the University of Miami College of Arts and Sciences Department of Psychology have been awarded federal funding to study the development of children with hearing loss at the University of Miami's Debbie Institute, which is affiliated with Mailman Center for Child Development. Children with hearing loss are less likely to read at grade-level than their typically hearing peers'a gap that exists as early as preschool. Read more...
Advocates in the Making
 While on the path to adulthood, all young people need to learn to advocate for themselves. In other words, they need to find their voices. For young people with disabilities, learning to advocate for themselves is crucial in becoming more independent and reaching their life goals. The Institute for Disability Studies (IDS) Transition to Adulthood Programs have recognized the need to have advocacy at the core of all curriculum and services. Read more...
Creation of a Student Chapter at Ohio State for the Special Care Dentistry Association
Under the Faculty Advisors, Stephen Beetstra (Nisonger) and Bryant Cornelius (OSU Dental School), the Ohio State dental and dental hygiene students have created a student chapter of the Special Care Dentistry Association. The first meeting occurred on May 18th with over 68 attendees. Dr. Beetstra was the speaker for this event. This is the fifteenth chapter formed at dental schools in North America. The students are very active and donated $480 to the Tim Tebow Foundation from a t-shirt sale they held prior to the first meeting. The students are eliciting the assistance of the Nisonger Center staff to create a video to demonstrate proper oral health home care for individuals with IDD that can be distributed to group homes in Ohio as their community service project. Read more...
American Occupational Therapy Foundation Intervention Research Grant 2021
Jewel Crasta, PhD,OTR/L who is an assistant professor in Occupational Therapy at The Ohio State university was awarded a pilot grant characterizing occupational therapy interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders. Marc J. Tasse, director of The Nisonger Center, will be her mentor. Read more...
Morgan Turner leads presentation at the Dignity of Work International Forum
SHDI Program Education Assistant, Morgan Turner, recently presented at the Dignity of Work International Forum sponsored by the Institute on Community Integration. In his presentation, Morgan' Musings: My Successful Journey to Inclusive Employment in Higher Education, Morgan shared his experience as a person with a disability in finding, maintaining, and thriving in employment. Morgan was joined by co-presenters and HDI colleagues, Johnny Collett and Austin Nugent for a panel discussion about advocacy and strategies to improve employment and awareness. As an Employment First state, Kentucky is committed to supporting competitive integrated employment as the first and primary option for our citizens with disabilities, regardless of their level of disability. Read more...
Connecting Trainees on a State Level: California Maternal and Child Health Leadership Training Network
It is established that the health gradient created by the social determinants in the US is steeper than in any other developed nation. Our current patchwork systems of care for children and families have been thrown in sharp relief by COVID-19 pandemic with many families on the edge of falling through the cracks. The percentages of U.S. households with children living below the poverty line have significantly increased over the last year. Additionally, with school closures and limited access to free or reduced cost school lunches, children's food insecurity has grown to the highest level it has been in decades. California is not exempt from these developments.
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AUCD Professional Fellows alumna Maria Omare from Nairobi, Kenya, has won a grant from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for her work on Somesha Stories, a TV series she created that delivers accessible and inclusive educational content to children in East Africa. Somesha Stories is a weekly program that promotes early literacy and is one of the first children's TV series in East Africa to use closed captioning and sign language in all episodes. The series uses interactive storytelling to foster inclusive values and educate children about diverse topics, including science, community, mental health, COVID-19, and interacting with peers.
