News
7/22/2021
Free Coaching Available for UCEDD Staff to Implement the ED&I Action Plan
Free Individualized Coaching is available for UCEDD members on Implementing the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Action Plan. Meet the coaches and sign up for a free coaching session.
7/19/2021
Mailman Center for Child Development's Families First Program: The Impact of a Community-Based Program on Parenting
The University of Miami's Families First Program, funded by The Children's Trust since 2004, delivers free parenting services to at-risk families with children ages birth to 3 throughout Miami-Dade County. Goals include building resources for parents, strengthening families, promoting optimal child health and development and reducing parental stress. Families First partners with over 20 community organizations including childcare facilities, places of worship and healthcare sites to offer two evidence-based/best practice parenting groups in English and Spanish at times and locations convenient to families. Baby & Me, developed by the University of Miami's Perinatal C.A.R.E., is a ten-session curriculum for parents and their infants ages birth to 12 months.
7/19/2021
Path's Graduate Abigail Junek
Abigail is excited about working at River Bend Elementary School and feels confident and prepared to begin her work as a paraprofessional in a SpEd setting in the fall. She is looking fo growing and learning in her career. Her ultimate goal is to earn a degree from Texas A&M University and become a certified Special Education Teacher. She stated that the PATHS program was a great first step for her.
7/16/2021
29 MN LEND Fellows Complete Year
Capping a year of learning and interacting almost entirely online, the 29 graduates of MN LEND certificate program recently closed out their final ceremony with messages from Minnesota's lieutenant governor, state senators from both political parties, a former MN LEND fellow, and others.
7/16/2021
Louisiana DeafBlindess for Youth (Louisiana UCEDD)
Louisiana's UCEDD, Human Development Center (HDC), is featured in Helen Keller National Center's 2021 DeafBlind Awareness video campaign. DeafBlind Awareness Week 2021 runs from June 27- July 3. HDC's DeafBlind initiative, Louisiana DeafBlind Project for Children and Youth (LADBP), is supported by the US Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs. LADBP identifies and supports students with varying degrees of combined hearing and vision losses throughout the state of Louisiana.
7/16/2021
Nisonger In 'Sights' Photo Contest
The Nisonger In'Sights' Photo Contest first began in 2014 as a way to help increase positive images of individuals with intellectual & developmental disabilities and their families. Since then, with themes varying from 'at work' , 'technology' and 'families'; we've received over 500 photos and been able to use them in a multitude of settings and variety of media including our website, facebook page, and various promotional, educational and research materials - THANK YOU!
7/15/2021
All in the Family: Salma Hussein (MN LEND, 2012-13)
Salma Hussein (MN LEND, 2012-13), recently selected as a 2021 Bush Fellow, will use the $100,000 fellowship to complete her doctorate degree in educational leadership and continue the non-profit organization she runs with her sister, Fatimah, the Girls Initiative in Recreation and Leisurely Sport (GIRLS). Trained as a social worker while attending MN LEND, she is now an assistant principal at a Saint Paul, Minnesota high school.
7/15/2021
Celebrating ADA in Good Health
Jennifer Hall-Lande of MN UCEDD/MN LEND in 2016 at the headquarters of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where, as the Minnesota Act Early Ambassador, she was trained to promote early identification, screening, and intervention for autism and related neurodevelopmental disabilities in culturally- and linguistically-diverse communities across Minnesota.
7/15/2021
Dan Habib of UNH's Institute on Disability Accepts New Role at the Westchester Institute for Human Development
Dan Habib, Project Director and Filmmaker at the UNH Institute on Disability (IOD), has accepted the position of Inclusive Communities Project Director at the Westchester Institute for Human Development (WIHD) in Valhalla, NY. Habib will assume his new role on July 26.
7/15/2021
HHS Announces New Membership of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee: AUCD Network Members Added
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced the appointments of new and returning members to the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC). Several AUCD Network Members were appointed.
7/15/2021
Pop-Up Vaccine Clinic at Rose F Kennedy UCEDD Site
On Friday June 11th, the RFK UCEDD's clinical site held a 'Pop- Up' Vaccination Clinic. The day was a huge success! A total of 40 patients were scheduled and 34 were vaccinated!Our space was carefully configured and even allowed for a safe, separate area for children and adults with behavioral or sensory issues.
7/15/2021
Prenatal Laws: Down Syndrome Information Acts
A state-by-state guide to Down Syndrome Information Acts. On October 8, 2008, the "Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act" was signed into law "to increase the provision of scientifically sound information and support services to patients receiving a positive diagnosis for Down syndrome or other prenatally and postnatally diagnosed conditions." Unfortunately, the federal law was never funded; therefore, several states have proposed and/or passed similar legislation.
7/7/2021
CLD Launches COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence Initiative
The Center for Leadership in Disability (CLD) at Georgia State University is launching a new public health initiative: COVID-19 Vaccine Access and Confidence for People with Disabilities. This initiative is focused on building vaccine confidence in the disability community through conversations among people with disabilities, families, and the direct support workforce during the 2021 summer months.
7/7/2021
Congratulations to Marc J. Tasse, PhD
The Ohio State University Nisonger Center Director Marc J. Tass�was awarded the AAIDD Exceptional Service to the Field and Association Award during the AAIDD 2021 Annual Meeting held on June 22nd. Dr. Tass�, is a Professor in the Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry and is also the Director of Nisonger Center, a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, at The Ohio State University. Marc has more than 30 years of experience in conducting research and providing clinical services in the field of intellectual disability (ID), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and other related neurodevelopmental disorders.
7/7/2021
IMPACT: A Special Issue on Crisis Management for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Impact contains contributions from researchers at Texas A&M University's Center on Disability and Development and the University of Texas at Austin's Texas Center for Disability Studies. Dr. Laura M. Stough, served as edition editor, along with Mary Sowers, Executive Director of the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services, and Ren�ta Tich�, Co-Director of the Global Resource Center for Inclusive Education at the Institute on Community Integration. Note that this interactive digital edition also provides a voiced reader to increase accessibility.
7/7/2021
Kennedy Krieger Institute Hosted Special Vaccine Clinics for People with Disabilities
Kennedy Krieger Institute recently partnered with Johns Hopkins Medicine to offer a series of free, drive-through vaccine clinics for people with disabilities. The clinics were held at the Baltimore-based Institute. More than 100 volunteers helped to plan and carryout the well-attended clinics, which were designed especially for individuals with intellectual disabilities, serious mental health disorders, behavioral disorders and those with complex medical conditions. Volunteers administered 580 shots.
