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Alaska Traditional Transition Skills Curriculum
The Alaska Traditional Transition Skills curriculum project goal is to improve the quality of life, connection to local community, and increase work related skills for teens and young adults with disabilities who live in rural Alaska. It provides tools teachers can use to incorporate traditional values and knowledge into Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and Transition Plans. Read more...
Frontline Initiative: The Diverse Voices of Direct Support Professionals
The new issue of Frontline Initiative features diverse voices of 18 direct support professionals from underrepresented communities, broadening our understanding of lesser-heard voices. Funded in part by AUCD, this free newsletter, published bi-annually by the Institute on Community Integration and the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals, is for DSPs and frontline supervisors who support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in living the lives they want in their communities of choice. Read more...
Inaugural "The Style Show: A Runway to Empower"
Rare by Design, a new organization joined the Sioux Falls, South Dakota nonprofit landscape. Rare by Design was founded by Kendra Gottsleben, a marketing and communications specialist with the University of South Dakota Center for Disabilities (SD UCEDD/LEND). Gottsleben is a disability/rare disease advocate, author, and seeks to expand the region’s diversity mindset. Read more...
The "I Generate Rural Opportunities for Work" (iGROW) Project
 The “I Generate Rural Opportunities for Work” (iGROW) Project is a one-year pre-employment and leadership-training program for up to 20 students with disabilities who are currently enrolled in middle school and high school (ages 14-22). The purpose of the program is to provide a training environment to support students with disabilities to gain the necessary skills and experiences in work readiness in order to successfully transition into postsecondary education and/or competitive integrated employment. Read more...
The Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities (NJ UCEDD/LEND) Launches Community Life Video Series
 The Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities (NJ UCEDD/LEND) launched a new Community Life Video Series created through funding from New Jersey’s Department of Human Services, Division of Developmental Disabilities and in partnership with people with developmental disabilities. The Community Life Video Series is meant to illustrate key concepts of the federal Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Settings Final Rule which requires that people with developmental disabilities have full access to community life and receive services in the most integrated setting possible. In each video, people with developmental disabilities share why community life and aspects of the Rule that support it are important to them. Read more...
PATHS Student, Noah Stormski, Presented on Vaccine Hesitancy
 Noah Storemski is a second-year student participating in the PATHS program with the 2021 co-hort. He is currently studying under the Direct Support Para-Professional track and fulfilling his practicum. He has been hired to work with Vanessa Richard, Program Coordinator, of a grant through Administration for Community Living (ACL) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Funding through the grant allows for critical services to help communities combat COVID-19 and ensure vaccines are equally accessible to the disability population. Read more...
Building Futures Together Recognition Ceremony
 The Building Futures Together program held a recognition ceremony on campus for its trainees. Fifteen paraprofessional trainees from the first cohort received Certificates of Completion for Level 2 (on-the-job training) and 20 paraprofessional trainees from the second cohort received Certificates of Completion for Level 1 (didactic coursework training). The goal of the Building Futures Together program is to prepare 98 paraprofessionals in healthcare and school settings to provide specialized enhanced care coordination for children and youth whose parents are impacted by opioid use disorders (OUD) and other substance use disorders (SUD). Read more...
New Hampshire Leadership Series Spring Awards Night
 At the NH Leadership Series Spring Awards Night held at UNH Manchester on June 7, many Leadership alumni, family, friends, and IOD staff were present to reunite, network, and connect in the unique way all Leadership graduates and family do. Folks also attended virtually via Zoom, which was a first for the series and a fantastic way to share the experience with those unable to attend in person.
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UNH-4U Accepts Two New Students
 Two new students have been accepted into the UNH-4U program. Grace and Nolan will be joining the four current UNH-4U students this fall on the Durham campus. The new cohort of students will be taking classes in various colleges, participating in student life activities, and accessing the many benefits and opportunities that college life provides to young adults. Welcome, new Wildcats! Read more...
Labas Reflects on Maine Partners' Collaboration to Create a Professional Pathway for TA Professionals Supporting ME's Early Childhood Workforce
Linda Labas, who recently retired as early childhood coordinator for the University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (CCIDS), Maine’s UCEDD, wrote a reflection on a multi-year collaboration with three state partners that created a set of competencies and a credential for technical assistance (TA) professionals who support Maine’s early childhood workforce. Read more...
Why is it so difficult to change ableist language?
Language is deeply intertwined with power. When we choose to use words that have historically been used to harm groups of people or originate from places of hate, we perpetuate the stigma and ideas of oppression and exclusion attached to said words that ultimately support a system in which one group is placed above the other. Over the last couple of decades, Americans’ understanding of the relationship between language and power has grown, and we have moved away from using many words with harmful and oppressive connotations; some communities have even begun to use words historically used against them in order to reclaim their stolen power. Read more...
Transition Through a Global Lens
The new issue of Impact, which is the flagship publication of the MN UCEDD, is about transition in a global context for people with intellectual, developmental, and other disabilities. This issue in the Impact series focuses on transition in a global context. Preparing for life after high school—whether that means college, work, or simply living in the community—varies greatly around the world. The authors, from Australia, Bhutan, Kenya, New Zealand, Czech Republic, Ukraine and elsewhere, share their personal stories and their work in building inclusive transition programs that will lead young people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities toward fulfilling lives of their own choosing. In these times of war and pandemic, it is more important than ever to reach beyond our own borders for ideas and solutions that will create a more inclusive world for us all. Read more...
IDS Staff Members Participate in World Series of Wheelchair Softball
The Institute for Disability Studies offers a variety of year-round adaptive recreation and sports programming, including Quidditch, wheelchair basketball and tennis. Recently, two staff members, Sylvester Crosby and Robbie Sullivan, joined their Deep South Hurricanes teammates to represent Mississippi in the 2022 Wheelchair Softball World Series (WSWS) August 4-6 in Crestwood, Illinois.
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The 2022-2023 Work-Based Learning Application is Now Available
Project TAPP-Teaching, Autism, and Practitioner Preparation.Our team provides a series of workshops, followed by 3 months of follow-up support, to paraprofessional and teacher teams working with students with autism in Texas.During follow up, we provide check-ins, resources related to the workshops, and individualized support based on need. Read more...
Dr. Bates Attend Year 2 of Leadership and Economic Development Program
Dr. DeMetra Bates, Executive Housing Director, The University of Southern Mississippi Institute for Disability Studies (IDS), has recently completed the Year 2 of the 36th annual Community Development Institute (CDI) at the University of Central Arkansas on August 5, 2022. Dr. Demetra Bates was selected as a scholarship recipient for the Community Development Institute for the second consecutive year in June 2022. CDI trains community leaders and economic development professionals on how to strengthen their local economies and build communities. Read more...
Celebrating National Disability Employment Awareness Month 2022
Throughout the month of October, The University of Southern Mississippi Institute for Disability Studies (IDS) is hosting a series of activities in conjunction with National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). National Disability Employment Awareness Month is part of an annual awareness campaign designed to educate about disability employment issues and celebrate the many and varied contributions of America's workers with disabilities. Read more...
WVU CED Launches New Disability Micro-credentials/Badges for Faculty and Staff
A new micro-credential (badge) available at West Virginia University focuses on disabilities and disability services and supports within the university setting. Specifically designed for faculty, instructors and staff from any university, this badge series provides information you may choose to use for: Enhancing your classroom environment and course experience for students. Enhancing your clinical/professional first impressions with patients and clients. Read more...
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Milena Bates (MNLEND 2021-22), co-founder of the Minnesota Autistic Alliance, is recruiting self-advocates for new projects supported by a grant from the Minnesota Department of Human Services. Cultivate, a 10-hour online self-advocacy course covering how to identify needs, navigate barriers, and understand intersectionality (among other topics), begins August 23. It is designed for and by neurodivergent self-advocates. Lattice is a partnering program that will connect a team of three partners best suited to the support needs of a self-advocate. The group also is recruiting writers for an accessible, digital resource database. 
Dr. Ann Marie Martin, postdoctoral research fellow at the Indiana LEND, has been awarded the 2022 Research Grant Award from the Society for Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics’ Research Committee. Dr. Martin’s project entitled, Evaluation of a Latinx Cultural Adaptation of a Community Based System of Early ASD Diagnosis, will evaluate the social validity and accuracy of a cultural adaptation of the Indiana Early Autism Evaluation (EAE) Hub model for young children from Spanish-speaking Latinx families. Dr. Martin’s research, mentored by Indiana University School of Medicine Division of Developmental Medicine faculty, Dr. Rebecca McNally Keehn, has the potential to impact innovative models of professional training and autism health services for historically underserved and minoritized children and families that face barriers to accessing needed care. 
