AUCD 360 - April 2023
April 28, 2023
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It might be surprising to learn that one of the most powerful tools for teaching children during early development is the humble building block. And yet, according to Cynthia Willmarth, Early Education Quality Coach for Child Care Aware (CCA) of Kentucky at the University of Kentucky Human Development Institute (HDI), they can have a profound impact on children in their earliest years. 
Lisa Bowman-Perrott, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Affiliated Faculty Member with the Center on Disability and Development at Texas A&M University is working with two new grants and collaborating with UTSA and Baylor University. Committee. In March, Dr. Bowman-Perrott, along with colleagues at University of Texas at San Antonio and Baylor University conducted a professional development session for charter school teachers titled 'Multi-tiered Systems of Support for English Learners/Emergent Bilinguals with Disabilities in the Inclusive Classroom.' 
The Conference theme this year was Destination: A Good Life! Let's Travel This Road... Together. Help plan a roadmap for your child's life. Keynote speakers were Ben and Wendy Erdman who spoke about their lives and almost 20 years of marriage in a session titled, "Don't Worry, Be Happy!" They shared the story of their lives, family supports. early education, work opportunities, how they met and about their marriage. 
Autistic people are more likely to experience mental health distress than the general population. Unfortunately, therapy services for this community are limited and rarely designed with and for autistic people. Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (VKC) researcher Jessica Schwartzman, Ph.D., recently co-authored a paper* in the journal Autism which outlines the development and testing of an autism-adapted, measurement-based care** system (MBC-AUT) to enhance therapy processes for autistic people and their families. 
Recently, our UCEDD joined our sister agency, the Iowa Developmental Disabilities Council, and other organizations, including the Iowa Association of Community Partners, Iowa Caregivers Association, ASK Resource Center, Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Serves and Iowa Workforce Development, to develop a new recruiting tool. "A Job That Matters: Learn How You Could Become a Direct Support Professional" is publication that features a series of stories about the job, the people who need supports and services to live in the community, and the people who do these jobs in different ways. The publication was recently inserted into local Sunday newspapers and is being circulated electronically throughout the state to build awareness and support DSP recruitment.” 
Most people receive care from a variety of health professionals throughout their lives, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dietitians, people who run public health programs, and more. Unfortunately, not all of these professionals have experience providing care to people with disabilities. The Sonoran Center for Excellence in Disabilities in the Department of Family & Community Medicine in the College of Medicine – Tucson works to ensure that future health care providers are prepared for some of the unique challenges they may face.” 
With a $499,970 grant from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services Office of Aging and Disability Services, the University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (ME UCEDD), will conduct a model demonstration project of intensive evidence-based behavioral intervention to help adults with disabilities who are currently subject to restrictive behavior management plans. 
In January, NH-ME LEND convened trainees, faculty, and five panelists for a Leadership Intensive: Organizing to Influence Your State's Policy. Panelists represented perspectives on advocacy at the state, local, and personal levels. The Leadership Intensive was the first step in preparing the 2023 LEND cohort for the spring Disability Policy Seminar (DPS) and subsequent meetings with congressional delegations. 
Think College, a center at the University of Massachusetts Boston dedicated to expanding college options for students with intellectual disability, announced today the launch of its public awareness campaign, Think Higher. Think College. The campaign aims to expand college access for students with intellectual disability (ID) by ensuring students explore a variety of college options during transition planning, increasing the number of institutions of higher education offering programs for students with ID, and preparing students for college while in high school. 
South Dakota LEND trainees, Kylie Hamman (Audiology), Abby Myers (Physical Therapy), and Kaylee Schmidt and Emily Bruinsma (Occupational Therapy) joined clinical outreach ventures to Antigua and Santiago Atitlán in Guatemala during spring break 2023. The groups were led by LEND discipline heads Patti Berg-Poppe (PT), Shana Cerny (OT), and Liz Hanson (SLP), and were also joined by former discipline head, Lana Svien (PT-retired), all from the University of South Dakota. 
MN LEND fellow searches neuroimaging databases for patterns that could lead to more personalized and effective strategies for regulating emotions, or developing social cognition, among other skills. Damien Fair, co-director of the MIDB and director of the Developmental Cognition and Neuroimaging Lab , and Sanju Koirala, a MNLEND fellow at the Institute on Community Integration, recently shared their work in neuroimaging studies with the 2022-23 MNLEND fellowship class. 
AUCD ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY CENTERS ON DISABILITIES Research, Education, Service
A network of interdisciplinary centers advancing policy and practice for and with individuals with developmental and other disabilities, their families, and communities.