AUCD Central Office News

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AUCD Members Celebrated 50th ADA Anniversary at White House Event

The White House hosted an observance of the 50th Anniversary of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act, signed into law by President Kennedy in 1963. This event marked an opportunity for the intellectual and developmental disability community to review the accomplishments of the past, examine current challenges, and look ahead to the future of disability policy. The event included speakers from the Administration and representatives from a number of disability organizations. AUCD members Andy Imparato, William Kiernan, Deborah Spitalnik and Liz Weintraub spoke at the event. Read more...

AUCD 2013 Awards Presented to Outstanding Individuals

The Disability Community and AUCD network members - advocates, trainees, professionals - work to improve the lives of individuals with developmental disabilities and their families. They inform the public, provide services, conduct research, teach the next generation, develop policy, and support others - all toward our goals of independence, productivity, inclusion, and self-determination. The effect of these daily activities is likely seen in a thousand small ways.  18 awards were presented to network members and friends at the 2013 AUCD Conference. We are incredibly proud to recognize those who have made exceptional contributions to the lives of people with disabilities and their families. Read more...

2013 Conference Materials Available

Select presentations from AUCD2013 are now available! View the conference agenda at left, and select the day/time of the session in which you're interested. Most materials can also be viewed from the AUCD 2013 conference app on Guidebook. Read more...

Leslie Cohen, JD, Inducted as President of AUCD

The Association of University Centers on Disabilities welcomed Leslie Cohen, JD, as President of the Board of Directors at the AUCD 2013 Conference November 18-20 in Washington, DC. Ms. Cohen is Director of the Sonoran UCEDD at the University of Arizona and will serve as President of the AUCD Board for the 2013-2014 year. Read more...

AUCD Welcomes 2014 Board of Directors

The Association of University Centers on Disabilities welcomed the 2014 Board of Directors during the AUCD 2013 Conference November 18-20 in Washington, DC, "Promoting Inclusion in an Increasingly Diverse World." Located in every U.S. state and territory, AUCD members are all part of universities or medical centers. They serve as a bridge between the university and the community, bringing together the resources of both to achieve meaningful change. Read more...

2013 AUCD Network Report

Across the nation and territories, AUCD network members and collaborators implement research based practices that impact lives and families regardless of ability, culture, age, language, or socio-economic background. This FY 2013 annual report reflects our network's on-going commitment to support and empower people with disabilities and their families to live meaningful lives; contribute to society; and to live, learn, work, and play in communities of their own choosing. Read more...

Kenya Spear, MS.ED, is AUCD's Early Career Professionals' December Guest Blogger

AUCD is happy to announce the Early Career Professionals’ December guest blogger – Kenya Spear, AS, BS, MS.ED. Kenya, an alumna of the 2010 LEND, Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Training Program, of Westchester Institute of Human Development, in Westchester, New York, is currently the Literacy Coach, at The Milagro Center, a 501(c)(3) non-profit agency, located in Delray Beach, Florida, whose mission is to enrich children’s lives through cultural arts, academic support and living values. Read more...

New Training Strategies and Categories Posted to ITAC Training Toolbox

3 new training categories are now available in ITAC's Training Toolbox: Genetics, Audiology, and Adult Health. The Toolbox is an easy way to browse and share innovative and time-tested training strategies on a variety of topics relevant to leadership and Maternal and Child Health. Read more...

Network News - Awards & Honors

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Children's Book by UC Davis UCEDD Author Patricia Schetter Wins National Award

Percy Learns to Fly, a children's book by Patricia Schetter, project coordinator at the Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities at the UC Davis MIND Institute, has received a gold medal for outstanding contributions to children's literature in the 2013 Gelett Burgess Children's Book Award competition. The book was honored in the "motivation and inspiration" award category.  Read more...

Network News - Activities & Resources

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The School for Global Inclusion and Social Development at the UMass Boston (MA ICI UCEDD) Announces Official Opening

The new School for Global Inclusion and Social Development (SGISD) at the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMass Boston) received full approval for its curriculum in both masters and doctoral programs in global inclusion and social development from the MA Board of Higher Education. With this exciting news, the school is now officially open and accepting applications for its first masters class in January 2014. Read more...

News from MT UCEDD

Rural Institute (MT UCEDD) CAC Shines at Transition Conference

Ten members of the Rural Institute Consumer Advisory Council (CAC) traveled to Billings, Montana, in November for the 2013 Montana Youth in Transition Conference. Young adult CAC members presented three workshops ("Living on Your Own," "Let's Talk about Money!" and "The Missing Therapy - Mental Health"); co-presented with MonTECH (the Institute's assistive technology program) staff at an AT session; hosted information tables at the Youth and Adult Vendor Fairs; and recruited Emerging Leaders to share their stories of inclusive employment, education, housing, and/or recreation with other Montanans. Read more...

Adaptive Equipment for Outdoor Recreation Helps Make the Environment Accessible (MT UCEDD)

Chris Clasby, a former employee of UM's MonTECH (Montana's Assistive Technology Program), is featured in a recent Montana PBS episode of "Backroads of Montana." You will see how Chris uses adaptive equipment to continue experiencing the outdoors after his accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down. Read more...

Effects of a Beta-adrenergic Antagonist on Social and Cognitive Abilities in Autism Spectrum Disorder (MO UCEDD/LEND)

In Tajikistan, where the average person earns $25 a month and spends $17 of it on bread, it's easy for the unique needs of the disabled to be overlooked by a struggling society. But Tajikistan-based advocates for this vulnerable population have found a new ally in Wayne State University's Developmental Disabilities Institute (DDI), which recently sent an advocacy expert to the capital city of Dushanbe to educate and encourage activists as part of an international partnership. Read more...

Dr. Jeff Brosco (FL LEND), Co-author of New Book Entitled, The PKU Paradox

Dr. Jeffrey Brosco, LEND Director at the University of Miami Mailman Center for Child Development recently co-authored a book entitled The PKU Paradox: A Short History of a Genetic Disorder with Diane Paul, professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Read more...

Unraveling How Autism Disrupts the Early Brain (UCLA - IDDRC)

A UCLA study that is the first to map autism-risk genes by function and uncover how mutations in the genes disrupt fetal brain development was widely reported in recent news, including this Nov. 21 article by HealthDay News. Lead author Dr. Daniel Geschwind, the Gordon and Virginia MacDonald Distinguished Professor of Human Genetics, professor of neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, and first author Neelroop Parikshak, a graduate student researcher, were quoted. The Semel Institute is an AUCD member IDDRC. Read more...

Public Health Partnerships Can Increase State Disability Capacity for Healthcare and Health Promotion (OR UCEDD)

During this time of healthcare transformation, there are opportunities for disability agencies and communities to step in and help direct the changes. The Oregon Health & Science University presented at AUCD2013  ways in which UCEDDs can use low - or no-cost solutions for health activities for their constituents. Read more...

California (UC Davis MIND Institute and USC UCEDD) Launches Statewide Technical Assistance Network for Autism

The Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (CEDD) at the UC Davis MIND Institute, in collaboration with the USC UCEDD, California Department of Education, Department of Developmental Disabilities/Regional Centers and the Family Resource Center Network of California, launched the California Autism Professional Training and Information Network (CAPTAIN) in October 2013.  Read more...

Submissions

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

A Better Future: CDS (DE UCEDD) Assists with Delaware's Strategic Plan for Autism Spectrum Disorder

Over the past two years, the University of Delaware's Center for Disabilities Studies (CDS) has collaborated with a number of organizations, professionals and family members in a statewide planning initiative to improve supports and services for people with ASD.  Read more...

Upcoming AUCD Webinars

Scaling-Up EnvisionIT: An Evidence-Based Practice to Improve Academic and Transition Outcomes
December 16 | 1:30pm - 2:30pm EST

An Introduction to Translational Neuroscience Approaches to Investigating Autism
December 18 | 2pm - 3pm EST

Read more about our webinars and register.

March 5-7,2014
Chicago, IL

The Gatlinburg Conference on Research and Theory in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities was established in the 1960's as a forum for the exchange of scientific findings and as a mechanism to promote scientific networking. Read more...

April 23-25, 2014
St. Petersburg, FL

Don't miss out on this wonderful training opportunity in sunny Florida! The National Training Institute on Effective Practices, hosted by the Florida Center for Inclusive Communities (UCEDD) and the Pyramid Model Consortium, provides professionals with an in depth, intensive learning experience around the Pyramid Model framework for addressing the social and emotional development and challenging behavior of young children. Read more...

May 19 - 20, 2014
Honolulu, HI

The Pacific Rim international Conference on Disability and Diversity is a welcoming place that celebrates the human experience in the context of disability and diversity. The two-day conference is where innovation and research meet social action. New ideas percolate. Friendships blossom. Change occurs. Read more...

July 16-19, 2014
 Washington DC

The National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health at the Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development is offering Training Institutes on improving services and supports for children, adolescents, and young adults with or at risk for mental health challenges and their families. Read more...