AUCD Central Office News

2012 UCEDD Brochure Available

UCEDDs were created in 1963 with the enactment of Public Law 88-164 to serve people with intellectual disabilities. Currently authorized under the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (PL 106-402), UCEDDs are now a resource for Americans with a wide range of disabilities.This brochure outlines the functions and recent accomplishments of the nation's 67 UCEDDs, all of whom are members of AUCD, and the locations of each. Read more and check our new UCEDD brochure.

2012 LEND Brochure Available

Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) programs were developed by the Health Resources and Services Administration's Maternal and Child Health Bureau to achieve a vision for the 21st century that, "All children, youth, and families will live and thrive in healthy communities served by a quality workforce that helps assure their health and well-being." This brochure describes the LEND program and its highlights in interdisciplinary leadership training, faculty and trainees, and network activities. Read more and check our new LEND brochure.

Network News - Awards

David Helm, PhD, and Ludwik Szymanski, MD, at the MA ICI UCEDD/LEND Receive Important Awards

David Helm, Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI)/Leadership in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Program Coordinator, was awarded the Allen Crocker Award for his extensive commitment to disability issues.

Ludwik Szymanski, Director Emeritus in psychiatry at the Institute for Community Inclusion, was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Children's Hospital Boston Division of Developmental Medicine awards ceremony. Read more...

DE UCEDD Graduate Receives the State Council for Persons with Disabilities Legislative Award

Delaware State Rep. Debra Heffernan, a 1983 University of Delaware (DE UCEDD) graduate with a bachelor's degree in biological sciences, was presented the State Council for Persons with Disabilities Legislative Award at the 14th annual LIFE Conference in Dover, Jan. 19. The award is given to a state or federal legislator who has worked on disability issues that have had a positive impact on the lives of people with disabilities and their families Read more...

Network News - People on the Move

Donna Gilles, EdD, Named Director of Partnership for People with Disabilities at Virginia Commonwealth University, VA's UCEDD

AUCD welcomes Donna Gilles, EdD, to her new position as Executive Director of the Partnership for People with Disabilities (PPD), VA's UCEDD, at Virginia Commonwealth University. Before being named Executive Director, Dr. Gilles served PPD as the Interim Executive Director for seven months and as Associate Director of Operations for four years. Dr. Gilles earned her EdD in Severe and Profound Disabilities from Johns Hopkins in 1986. Prior to joining VCU, she spent 20 years as a researcher in the Departments of Psychiatry and Special Education at the University of Florida. Read more...

Network News - Activities & Resources

Congratulations to the New Editors of the Disability Studies Quaterly Journal!

Congratulations to the new editors of the Society for Disability Studies' journal, Disability Studies Quarterly: Bruce Henderson of Ithaca College & Noam Ostrander of DePaul University! They will begin as the DSQ editors July 1, 2012. They are both alumni of the Disability Studies Program at the Institute on Disability and Human Development, University of Illinois UCEDD.

VA-LEND Book Adventure

Public discussion of Ian Brown's The Boy in the Moon (NY, ST. Martin's Press, 2009) and individual faculty awareness of the University's undergraduate summer reading program led the VA LEND to pilot a faculty-trainee shared reading discussion experience in 2011. Briefly, The Boy in the Moon is a father's journey to understand his extraordinary son's cardiofacialcutaneous syndrome, a genetic condition, associated in Walker with global delays, absent speech, and a tendency to constantly hit himself. The father asks "What is the value of life lived in the twilight, and often in pain? What is the cost of his life to those around him?" The father, a Canadian journalist, works to understand the medical science, the impact on families, and the meaning of life, especially his family's, through his reporting and reflections. Read more...

Leadership Maryland Selects Maureen van Stone, Esq, MS (MD UCEDD/LEND) for Its 20th Anniversary Class

Maureen van Stone, Esq., M.S., Director of Project HEAL, a medical-legal partnership between Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service and Kennedy Krieger Institute, and the Associate Director of the Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities at Kennedy Krieger, has been selected for the Leadership Maryland Class of 2012, its 20th Anniversary Class. Founded in 1992, Leadership Maryland is an independent, educational, non-profit organization designed to inform top-level executives, from the public and private sectors, about the critical issues, challenges and opportunities facing the state of Maryland and its regions. Van Stone, of Towson, is one of 52 accomplished and talented statewide leaders selected to participate in the eight-month program. Read more...

UH Mānoa College of Education Student (HI UCEDD) is Selected to Serve Saudi Arabian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Hana Omar, a College of Education (COE) doctoral student and former graduate assistant for the Center on Disability Studies, was selected to serve as a woman diplomat for a newly created program in the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From Saudi Arabia, she has been in the COE since 2008, earning an interdisciplinary certificate in disability and diversity studies and working on her PhD in educational technology. One of fifteen women, including a Saudi Arabian princess, Omar was selected out of 30,000 candidates. "Now is a great time in Saudi Arabia for the women's movement," Omar said. "Many government sectors, like the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have opened their doors for women." Read more...

The Institute for Community Inclusion (MA UCEDD/LEND) Launches New Blog

The Institute for Community Inclusion has launched a new blog. It is a place for readers to learn about disability, employment, health care, and other topics related to inclusion. It will also provide an inside look at the ICI and the latest research and best practices from the field. Read more...

Michigan UCEDD Launches Possibilities Video Series with Gala Event

The Developmental Disabilities Institute (DDI) at Wayne State University hosted a gala event at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) the evening of Friday, January 13, 2012 to launch the Institute's new video series entitled Possibilities. The event attracted over 400 people from all walks of life and professional disciplines. The night was highlighted by a viewing of the four Possibilities videos. Read more...

Submissions

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COMPASS - Iowa's New Disability Resources Database

People from Dubuque to Council Bluffs, Des Moines to Davenport, Sioux City to Iowa City, all really like Iowa COMPASS and its newly redesigned disability resources database. They like the new database website because it's so easy to navigate, even from their cell phones. Iowa COMPASS is the state's one-stop resource for information about disability-related programs and services. The COMPASS staff is based at Iowa's UCEDD, the Center for Disabilities and Development at the University of Iowa. Read more...

28th Annual Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability & Diversity

"Living to Our Complete Potential"

The 28th Annual Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability & Diversity (Pac Rim) will bring together academics, community leaders, self-advocates, specialists and officials to Honolulu, HI on March 26-27, 2012. With over 18 topic areas, 200 presentations and several institutes, the program is fertile ground for dialogue and exchange while 'pushing the envelope' to ensure all human beings can live to their complete potential. Read more and register.

2012 International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities (IASSID) World Congress 
July 9 - 14, 2012
Halifax, Nova Scotia

The 2012 IASSID World Congress, "A World of Potential," will bring approximately 1,500 delegates from around the world to Halifax. The conference will offer several plenary addresses about major advances in the biological, behavioral, and social sciences related to intellectual disabilities. In addition, presenters will share recent research findings in more than 200 concurrent sessions.

DEC's 28th Annual International Conference On Young Children With Special Needs & Their Families
October 28-30, 2012 Minneapolis, MN

Working in early intervention or early childhood special education? Join the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) and over 300 outstanding presenters to explore the evidence, present practical strategies, and engage in discussions that will change the way you think. DEC is located at the Rural Institute on Disabilities in Montana. Read more...