AUCD Central Office News

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AUCD Welcomes 2013 Board of Directors

AUCD is governed by an elected Board of Directors that includes professionals, individuals with disabilities, and family members. The Board of Directors has established a number of committees and councils made up of experts in the field to help the Board address emerging trends and issues, and to facilitate communication across and beyond the AUCD network.

AUCD Welcomes Tanisha Clarke-Dobney, MPH

Tanisha Clarke-Dobney is a Program Specialist for AUCD's Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AIDD) Technical Assistance team. She supports and assists in carrying out a range of technical assistance and information exchange activities to support the UCEDD programs. Read more...

Ilka Riddle, PhD is AUCD's Early Career Professionals' February Guest Blogger

AUCD is happy to announce the Early Career Professionals’ February guest blogger – Ilka Riddle, PhD. Dr. Riddle is the Associate UCEDD Director at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Please take a moment to read Of Opportunities, Risks, and Feelings.

AUCD Trainees Chart Their Passion

2012-2013 AUCD Trainees were asked, "What are you most passionate about?" The responses were wide-ranging and truly reflect the enthusiasm of Trainees to make a difference in not only their disciplines or areas of interest, but in many issues that impact the disability community as a whole. This project was created by 2012 Virtual Trainee, Stephanie Weber, PsyD. Read more...

Network News - Awards & Honors

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Michael Wehmeyer Named Co-Editor of AAIDD Journal, 'Inclusion'

The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) announced that Michael L. Wehmeyer, PhD, FAAIDD, and Karrie A. Shogren, PhD, FAAIDD, have been appointed by the Board of Directors as Co-Editors of the Association's newest journal, Inclusion. Dr. Wehmeyer is a Professor in the Department of Special Education and Director of the Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) at the University of Kansas. Read more...

Network News - People on the Move

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Nisonger Center (OH UCEDD/LEND) Announces Changes in Leadership

Dr. Margaretha Vreeburg Izzo, associate professor of psychiatry at The Ohio State University, retired effective December 31, 2012, and stepped down from her role and responsibilities as the associate director of the Nisonger Center.

Dr. Michael G. Aman, professor of psychology and psychiatry at Ohio State, retired on December 31, 2012, and stepped down as the Nisonger Center's director of research.

Dr. Paula Rabidoux is the new Associate Director - she accepted the leadership role and took on her new responsibilities as the associate director of the Center on January 1, 2013.

Dr. Andrea Witwer has been appointed the new director of Training and Community Outreach at Nisonger and assumed her new responsibilities on January 1, 2013. Read more...

The Rural Institute of The University of Montana Names New UCEDD Director: Marty Blair, PhD

Dr. Blair was selected following a nationwide search, and received the support of a wide variety of groups across campus and throughout the state of Montana, since the Rural Institute serves as the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, & Service for the state of Montana. Read more...

Evon Batey Lee, PhD to Lead Vanderbilt Kennedy Center TN UCEDD Training

Evon Batey Lee, Ph.D., has been named director of training for the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (TN UCEDD). "Evon was chosen for her career-long commitment to mentoring pre-professionals and continuing professionals in the wide array of fields involved in treating and caring for children and adults with developmental disabilities and their families," said Elisabeth Dykens, Ph.D., Kennedy Center director and UCEDD co-director. Read more...

Network News - Activities & Resources

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Three UCEDDs to Engage in Translational Research in Developmental Disabilities Thanks to Grants from the Merck Fund

The John Merck Fund announced the first three grants - of $1 million each - through its new multi-year research program to support translational research into developmental disabilities. The Translational Research Program supports scientists in developing treatments and improving outcomes for individuals with developmental disabilities, particularly Down syndrome and Fragile X syndrome (and FX-associated disorders). The recipients are:

• Craig A. Erickson, MD - Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (Cincinnati, OH); Project: Acamprosate in Fragile X Syndrome. This research project will provide the first double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of acamprosate in youth with FXS.  
• David R. Hessl, PhD - Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, UC Davis MIND Institute (Sacramento, CA); Project: Cognitive Training for Fragile X Syndrome. This research project will provide the first non-pharmacological, controlled trial for FXS and will evaluate the efficacy of Cogmed, an online cognitive training program proven to enhance working memory and executive function - but not yet with FXS. 
• Jeanne B. Lawrence, PhD - Interim Chair andProfessor of Cell and Developmental Biology & Pediatrics, University of Massachusetts Medical School (Worcester, MA); Project: Accelerating Down Syndrome Progress by Translating Dosage Compensation to Trisomy. This project will pursue a unique approach to Down syndrome translational research based on the concept of functionally correcting the over-representation of Chromosome 21 genes, by de-activating one of the three copies of Chromosome 21. Read more about all three research projects...

APHA Disability Section Call for 2013 Awards Nominations

Do you know someone who has made a significant contribution through scholarship, teaching, practice and/or advocacy to advance the health and quality of life of people with disabilities? Do you know an especially dedicated student? If you do, now is the time to nominate him or her for one of the 2013 APHA Disability Section Awards.  Read more and nominate someone!

TN Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (UCEDD) Offers Free Workshops to Parents of Young Children With ASD

The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (TN-UCEDD) Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders (TRIAD) recognizes that parents of young children recently diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder may need help as they begin navigating disability service systems and supporting their children in reaching their full potential. One way TRIAD supports families of young children is through the parent training program Families First, a free of charge series of monthly workshops that provide specific instruction on topics that families have identified as being important to them. Read more...

Think College (A Project of the MA ICI UCEDD/LEND) Has A Whole New Look!

The Think College website has been recently redesigned, and the new features include:

• Comprehensive Searchable Resource Library
• Find out what is happening in your state
• Think College Learn Online Learning Modules Read more...

ICI (Boston, MA) and Guam UCEDD Collaborate on Vision Studies Master's Degree Program

The ICI runs a vision studies program, the Northeast Regional Center For Vision Education, housed in the new School for Global Inclusion and Social Development at UMass Boston. A few weeks ago, faculty and staff of the vision studies program traveled to the University of Guam to join 19 federally funded scholars who are participating in the Pacific Vision Impairment Project (VIP) master's degree program. The VIP program is run by the ICI in collaboration with the University of Guam Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, & Service. Read more...

New Juvenile Justice Project at MN ICI UCEDD: Making a Map, Finding My Way Back

Youth with disabilities, in particular, youth with emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD) and learning disabilities (LD), are overrepresented in correctional facilities across the U.S. They also have a high rate of recidivism. In response to the need to support these youth to make a lasting transition out of the corrections system, the Institute on Community Integration (MN UCEDD) is partnering with Twin Cities area organizations and agencies on the new project, Making a Map: Finding My Way Back. Read more...

Hill M. Walker, PhD, (University of Oregon UCEDD) Writes "Preparing Fundable Grant Proposals: A Roadmap for Professionals"

The purpose of this publication is to enhance the knowledge and skills of professionals and graduate students who compete for federal grants. The material is designed for individuals with no experience or only limited prior experience in seeking competitively-awarded, public funds from federal agencies. Read more...

UCLA (CA Tarjan Center UCEDD) Autism Research Alliance: PEERS Virtual Social Coach Study

The Program for Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS) is an evidence-based parent-assisted intervention for teens with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in middle school and high school who are having difficulty making and/or keeping friends. Classes focuses on skills like having conversations, joining conversations, choosing appropriate friends, having get-togethers with friends, handling arguments and peer conflict, and handling teasing and bullying.  Read more...

Grant from Indiana University Institute (IN UCEDD) Helps Students with Disabilities Gain Skills at Indiana Colleges

Ten high school students with intellectual disabilities are working and studying at Vincennes University Jasper Campus this semester, thanks in part to a grant from Indiana University's Indiana Institute on Disability and Community and its Center on Community Living and Careers. Read more...

Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities (NC UCEDD/LEND) to Start Two New Projects with Autism Centers of Excellence Grants from NIH

The grant to Dr. Piven, Director of the CIDD and Kenan Professor of Psychiatry, will be used to fund longitudinal brain imaging of a combined sample of 600 infants who are at high risk for later developing autism by virtue of having an older sibling with autism. 

Dr. Linmarie Sikich, associate professor of psychiatry and Director of the Adolescent and School-age Psychiatric Intervention REsearch Program (ASPIRE), has been awarded a $12.6 million grant to establish a new research network, the ACE SOARS Network, to develop and test new treatments for autism spectrum disorders (ASD).  Read more...

Three UCEDDs to Start New Projects with Grants from the Special Hope Foundation

The Elizabeth M. Boggs Center, New Jersey's UCEDD, plans to develop "the NJ Developmental Disabilities Transition to Adult Health Care Forum."

The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (VKC) UCEDD and LEND at Vanderbilt University will create an electronic toolkit for primary care of adults with developmental disabilities.

Westchester Institute for Human Development (WIHD) UCEDD and LEND will develop and field test training modules designed to guide parents and their young adult child with developmental disabilities to achieve successful transitions from pediatric to adult health care.  Read more...

Submissions

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News items may be submitted for consideration via the
AUCDigest Submission page.

Waisman Center (WI UCEDD/LEND/IDDRC) Celebrates 40 Years of Advancing Knowledge About Developmental Disabilities

Although its roots are deeper, going back to its earliest iteration as the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Memorial Laboratories in the early 1960s, the Waisman Center this year celebrates 40 years of research, teaching and outreach in the interest of developmental disabilities. Exploring the range of disabilities, the Waisman Center community has helped gather new knowledge on the basic biology, developmental course, prevention, treatment and social context of a highly complex set of human conditions. The center is named after Harry Waisman, the pioneering Wisconsin pediatrician and biochemist whose work helped inform our understanding of Phenylketonuria or PKU, an inherited form of mental retardation, and its prevention. Read more...

Upcoming AUCD Webinars

The Southeast Regional Consortium and AUCD Presents: Bullying and Ostracism in Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN)
February 20 | 2:00pm - 3:00pm EST

This webinar is designed to update health care professionals in the latest definitions of bullying and ostracism and recent empirical findings about their impact. The primary focus is on the disproportionate rates of bullying and ostracism reported by CYSHCN.

Leadership in Action: LEND Pediatric Audiology Training Program Webinar Series #3
February 22 | 12:00pm - 1:30pm EST

This webinar will be composed of two distinct components. The first set of presentations, from the University of South Dakota LEND program, will introduce research projects conducted by current and former trainees. The second portion of the webinar will be led by trainees at the Mailman Center for Child Development at the University of Florida and will address issues associated with loss to follow up.

Strategies for Developing and Sustaining Partnerships with Underrepresented Communities
February 27 | 3:00pm - 4:00pm EST

This webinar will review evidence-based practices for developing and sustaining culturally appropriate partnerships with underrepresented communities. Dr. Suarez-Balcazar will review and discuss a framework for developing partnerships and 10 principles that are typical of successful partnership endeavors.

Disability Policy Seminar Orientation For Students, Trainees, and Early Career Professionals
March 18 | 4:00pm - 5:00pm EST

This webinar, presented by Kim Musheno, Director of Legislative Affairs at AUCD, will offer students, trainees and early career professionals an orientation to the policy issues and current legislation one can expect to learn more about at the 2013 Disability Policy Seminar.

Read more about our webinars and register.

Multi-Modal Communication and Learning Strategies for Children with Significant Challenges

April 4-5, 2013
Honolulu, HI

Are you working with children who face severe and multiple challenges such as Cerebral Palsy, Rett Syndrome, cortical visual impairment, deaf-blindness, Autism, intellectual disabilities, and/or Traumatic Brain Injury? Do these children also have complex communication needs? Where do teachers and therapists begin to find the most effective resources and strategies to teach them? Then you might find this training helpful. Read more and register.

Health Disparities Research at the Intersection of Race, Ethnicity, and Disability: A National Conference

April 25-26, 2013
Washington, DC

The conference is intended to bring together researchers, advocates, and policy makers in racial and ethnic disparities and disability-related disparities to:

- Learn about barriers to health care and health promotion for people with disabilities in underserved racial and ethnic groups
- Share your own work on health disparities at this intersection
- Discuss priorities for future research and action

Read more...

Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability and Diversity
Call for Papers

April 29-30, 2013
Honolulu, HI

The theme for the 29th Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability and Diversity-Being in Community-embraces the ideals of all people living together harmoniously and happily in a barrier-free world without fear of exclusion from social, economic or political life. ‘Being in community' means living inter-dependently, ensuring that basic needs are met, that policies and laws are accessible and fair to all. It means ‘nothing about us, without us.' Read more and register.