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ITAC Bulletin Board - April 2020

Thursday, April 2, 2020

As you finish the current academic year and look forward to future cohorts, we recognize the importance of delivering information and resources that may be timely to MCH training programs - including items that may support remote training as your programs and our country continue to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is our hope that you find the content of this newsletter useful in supporting the work of your faculty, staff, and trainees.

You'll notice that the newsletter sections mirror the AUCD Strategic Map priority areas. In doing so, we wish to highlight network resources and efforts that guide our collective work and mission.

Grow Diverse and Skilled Leaders

This section will highlight resources / opportunities for leadership at all levels by cultivating and equipping leaders with the skills to engage communities and improve systems.

Newly Added Training Toolbox Strategies!
ITAC's Training Toolbox serves as resource for programs to share innovative training strategies/activities on topics related to leadership and Maternal and Child Health. This Toolbox makes it easy for your program to browse through different, proven methods used by other programs to teach important concepts to trainees. This year, we are adding/highlighting new Toolbox strategies each quarter that align with MCH Leadership Competencies. By clicking the link you will be able to learn more details about each strategy, associated learning objectives, benefits, supplemental resources/links, and the challenges/lessons learned. There are nearly 120 total strategies to browse!

Check out the 2020 Emerging Leaders Map!
The 2020 Emerging Leaders Map has now launched! Check out what emerging leaders across the country are doing to enhance access for and with people with disabilities. This interactive map highlights Emerging Leaders from across the country. You will be able to learn more about them, their center and the amazing projects that they are doing.

AUCD Virtual Policy Forum Recording Now Available!
Are you an Emerging Leader or new to policy education? Learn how to build relationships with your Members of Congress! Browse through the presentation slides, view the virtual hill visit example, and access an elevator speech template.

Model Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

This section will highlight resources / opportunities to reach out, engage, and include underrepresented groups to advance our knowledge and impact.

AUCD Diversity & Inclusion Toolkit Updates
AUCD provides and continually seeks resources and strategies to help network members "model diversity, equity and inclusion" through its Diversity & Inclusion Toolkit. Recently added examples include: (1) Embracing Culturally Competent Care for LGBTQ Older Adults, (2) Partnership on Employment & Accessible Technology, and (3) Parenting stress and depressive symptoms in Taiwanese mothers of young children with autism spectrum disorder: Association with children's behavioural problems. 

Now Archived! Embracing Diversity in Recruitment of Trainees, Faculty and Staff
FCIC (a UCEDD) offers innovative, online training to a wide selection of student-trainees from various fields. Their online training platform involves several components, which include an online graduate certificate, an online master's degree program, a PhD specialty area, remote and in-person mentoring from FCIC faculty and staff, collaboration with other program grants, public online core curriculum training modules, and an online training community called Trainee Commons.

AUCD Trainee Orientation Modules in Spanish
As trainees begin their journey with AUCD, these three Trainee Orientation Modules will help them learn, connect, get involved, and grow as part of the network. AUCD has translated the videos into Spanish, recognizing the growing diversity of our network.

Join AUCD's Spanish-Language Caucus
The Spanish Language Caucus offers a forum for Spanish-speaking AUCD members to share resources and learn collectively. Join our listserv! El Caucus de hispanohablantes ofrece un foro de discusión para los miembros de habla hispana dentro de la red de AUCD para compartir recursos y trabajar juntos. ¡Únete a nuestro listserv!

Advance Policies and Practices that Improve Lives

This section will highlight resources / opportunities that increase the use of evidence-based, culturally-responsive, and inclusive policies and practices.

Join us! Autism Acceptance Month Webinar Series
AUCD's Autism Special Interest Group (SIG) is sponsoring a series of four webinars for Autism Acceptance Month. Topics will range from parent training to reducing disparities to treating mental health issues in people with ASD. We will also sponsor a special webinar aimed at the engagement of autism stakeholders in research and service initiatives.

  • Community Engagement Science in ASD
  • Project ImPACT Evidence-Based Parent Training in ASD
  • Family Navigation to Reduce Disparities in ASD
  • Adaptations of CBT for people with ASD

Autism Prevalence Rises in Communities Monitored by CDC

CDC released two new reports in MMWR Surveillance Summaries. The following publications report on the prevalence and early identification of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children.

Tele-Intervention and Distance Learning
A number of states are providing service delivery via technology to young children with disabilities and their families, using funding from both Medicaid and private health insurance. In response to the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), additional instruction and services may also be provided using these methods.

New Health Care Access Resources! Public Health is for Everyone Toolkit
The Public Health is for Everyone Toolkit serves to increase the capacity of public health professionals to create programs that benefit entire communities, including people who have disabilities. The online toolkit provides resources to enhance planning efforts in key issue areas such as emergency preparedness, nutrition, obesity, health care access, accessibility, and more.

Follow @AUCDNews and #Phis4Everyone For Disability and Public Health News!
AUCD is consolidating its social media presence to better serve and interact with followers. Effective April 2020, AUCD's National Center on Disability in Public Health @Phis4Everyone twitter handle will no longer be active. Instead, you will now receive the same great public health news from @AUCDNews with the hashtag, #PHis4Everyone.

Conduct and Apply Research and Share Knowledge

This section will highlight resources / opportunities that engage the disability community to identify priorities and conduct research with the goal of accessible presentation of information.

Spotlight: AUCD's Council on Research and Evaluation (CORE)
CORE will hold its quarterly call on Thursday June 4, 2020 at 2:00pm ET. To subscribe yourself and/or a faculty member from your program to the CORE e-mail list and get more information about Council priorities and activities, please contact Luis Valdez ([email protected]).

Research by UCEDDs
Tuesday, April 14, 2020, 3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. ET
This is the seventh installment of a multi-part series titled "Coffee and TA," addressing the UCEDD core functions. This webinar features three UCEDDs (Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities, and the Waisman Center) conducting innovative research work.

Resources and Announcements

Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Maternal and Child Health Bureau Frequently Asked Questions
HRSA is aware of the impacts the coronavirus (COVID-19) public health emergency has and will continue to have on families. The mission of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) is to improve the health and well-being of America's mothers, children, and families. Given this mission, programs funded by MCHB, including Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant programs and other formula and discretionary grant programs, have an important role to play in delivering critical services and assisting local communities to meet the unique needs of maternal and child health populations.

COVID-19 HRSA Grantee Frequently Asked Questions
Linked are answers to common questions received from HRSA grant recipients concerning important COVID-19 grants policies.

Distance Learning Technology Resources: Tools for Interdisciplinary Training Programs
Technology continues to expand access to healthcare for traditionally underserved populations. So, too, can it be a tool for training professionals across multiple locations. While a number of LEND programs have successfully incorporated distance learning approaches into their curricula, others have expressed through a variety of mechanisms (needs assessments, progress reports, etc.) a desire to build their knowledge base in this area, thereby increasing their capacity to engage non-traditional trainees and those outside major metropolitan centers. This is especially salient during this time of distancing across our society.

NIRS Import/Export Feature 
Thursday, April 16, 2020, 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. ET
This webinar will feature the new and improved Import/Export in NIRS. Demo will be provided as well as Q & A Session. The webinar will be recorded for future viewing and useful for directors and data coordinators.

ITAC welcomes Maureen Johnson!
Maureen Johnson joins us as a Program Specialist for AUCD's Maternal and Child Health technical assistance team. Her responsibilities include supporting LENDs and DBPs and strengthening efforts to engage and promote collaboration among the Emerging Leaders Community. Read more about her here. Welcome Maureen!

Open Position at AUCD Central Office
ITAC is seeking two motivated and highly qualified individuals to join our technical assistance team!

  • Senior Manager -  This individual will lead and manage the Interdisciplinary Technical Assistance Center on Autism and Developmental Disabilities (ITAC) supporting LEND and Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics (DBP) training programs.
  • Manager - This individual will lead the overall vision, direction, and ongoing evaluation of the Emerging Leaders Community, and serve as team lead on other key projects, initiatives, and national meetings.

AUCD Network Updates on COVID-19
Network members have asked for a forum to discuss responses to COVID-19, and AUCD is pleased to respond. Join AUCD for weekly calls with UCEDD, LEND, and IDDRC Directors to share information. These calls will be an opportunity to share what we know about federal response, and will provide an opportunity for discussion and resource-sharing between network members. For more information on how to join, please email [email protected].