News
5/26/2022
Visual System Brain Development Implicated in Infants who Develop Autism
Researchers at AUCD's Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC), Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, analyzed magnetic resonance images collected during infancy from younger siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). They found that brain changes in the size, white matter integrity and functional connectivity of the visual processing systems of six-month olds are evident well before they show symptoms of autism as toddlers, and related to the severity of autism traits in their older ASD siblings, as reported in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
5/16/2022
Mentoring Autism Researchers to Advance Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
At the Conference on Research Innovations in Early Intervention in San Diego, February 2022, Dr. Landa brought together current and past mentees to support their career development and foster exchanges between early investigators from diverse cultural, racial, and geographic backgrounds. Each of the mentees had the honor of presenting cutting edge research at this very prestigious scientific meeting.
5/10/2022
Bold Beauty Project Hosts its First College Edition at the University of Miami
The Bold Beauty Project, founded by the Mailman Center for Child Development's Leadership Training Initiatives Director Shelly Baer, LCSW, hosted its first college edition exhibition at the University of Miami on March 27th. The event was held in collaboration with the University of Miami chapter of Girl Up, an international United Nations Foundation organization that seeks to empower at-risk girls around the world.
5/10/2022
Listen to "Living That MI-LEND Life" from MI-DDI's podcast, Possibilities
In this episode of Possibilities, listen to Lily Slavin, MI-LEND Cohort 2020-2021, talk about her experience with the program and how it creates tomorrow's leaders in the disability community.
5/10/2022
Maine UCEDD Celebrates the Achievements of 22 Interdisciplinary Disability Studies Graduates
Twenty-two University of Maine students were honored on April 26th during the 2022 Interdisciplinary Disability Studies Celebration of Achievement. Dr. Alan Cobo-Lewis, Director of the University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (ME UCEDD) and Associate Professor of Psychology delivered the opening welcome.
5/10/2022
Promoting Learn the Signs, Act Early in the Latinx communities of Minnesota
Andrea Castillo is a Family and Caregiver Empowerment Specialist at CLUES (Comunidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio) and University of Minnesota LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities) fellow mentored by Dr. Jennifer Hall-Lande, CDC Act Early Ambassador to Minnesota. Andrea's LEND project was to promote the public health campaign Learn the Signs, Act Early (LTSAE) to improve early identification of developmental delays and disabilities, including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
5/6/2022
Everything I Needed to Know About Leadership I Learned from the NJLEND Cohort Crest Project
Dominique Reminick, MA (she/her); NJLEND Psychology Fellow 2021-2022
Of the multitude of meaningful didactic and experiential learning activities afforded by the NJLEND program, none is quite as unique as the Cohort Crest project. This project, which runs the span of the fellowship, entails the cohort working together as a group to create a crest, or emblem of some sort, which represents our communal identity as a cohort. While a seemingly simple idea, this activity serves several purposes (both overt and covert) that help us to strengthen and hone our skills as emerging leaders.
5/6/2022
Expecting Acceptance: A Parent's Perspective
Story written by parent of autistic teen for Autism Acceptance Month
Nine years ago, when my son first spent a week at the Munroe-Meyer Institute's Camp Munroe, I hoped he would make a friend. As Autism Acceptance Month begins, my son -- who was diagnosed on the autism spectrum about 13 years ago -- is a member of his school's JRTOC Corps. He is working toward becoming an Eagle Scout.
5/6/2022
Indiana LEND Psychology Trainee Amani Khalil was Awarded the Division 33 APA Student Research Award
Indiana LEND psychology trainee Amani Khalil was awarded the Division 33 APA Student Research Award and will present her poster at the APA conference in Minneapolis in August. Amani Khalil is a PhD Candidate in Counseling Psychology at Purdue University. Her poster is titled "Help-Seeking Barriers for Racial-Ethnic Minority Caregivers Accessing Autism Interventions: A Systematic Review" and shares about work related to both her LEND leadership project and her dissertation.
5/6/2022
Kansas LEND Trainee Wins HRSA Public Health Award and is a Finalist at a Research Competition for Her Project about the Deficit of IDD Knowledge in Medical Education
Sydney Walls, a Kansas LEND Public Health Trainee, conducted public health research over the deficit of intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) knowledge in family medicine providers at the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC). Sydney's research earned her the Midwestern Public Health Training Center Field Placement Award (a U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration program), and her presentation over her findings at KUMC's Student Research Forum was also awarded first place in her platform and was a finalist out of over 100 projects.
5/6/2022
Munroe-Meyer Institute Names New Director of Autism Center
Seeing a perfect fit with her professional expertise and interests, Alice Shillingsburg, PhD, will join the UNMC Munroe-Meyer Institute as its new director of the integrated Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders (iCASD). Dr. Shillingsburg's hiring fulfills MMI's goal to recruit a nationally recognized expert in autism to iCASD and its redesigned home in the new Munroe-Meyer Institute building.
5/6/2022
Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Welcomes Adithyan Rajaraman as new TRIAD Director of Behavior Analysis Research
The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center's (TN IDDRC, UCEDD, LEND) Treatment & Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders (VKC TRIAD) announces the hiring of Adithyan Rajaraman, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LBA, as Director of Behavior Analysis Research. As an assistant professor in Pediatrics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and a VKC investigator, Dr. Rajaraman will lead the research and dissemination of TRIAD's innovative behavior analytic services and the growing portfolio of related projects
5/5/2022
Aggieland Sustainability Alliance Awards Dr. Marcia Montegue a the 2021 Faculty Champion
From its inception as a land-grant institution in 1876 to the additional sea-grant and space-grant designations, Texas A&M University has been a leader in research and education for how we interact with and impact our environment. In March 2008, The Office of Sustainability was founded to enhance these efforts by creating a culture of sustainability in Aggieland.
5/5/2022
Center on Disability and Development receives 2022 Texas A&M University President's Meritorious Service Team Award
The University President will present these prestigious awards to recognize 25 outstanding individuals, two outstanding teams and two supervisors for demonstrating their commitment to the Aggie core values of respect, excellence, leadership, loyalty, integrity and selfless service.
5/5/2022
Center Staff Awarded Aggie Green Fund Micro-Grant
The Center staff, Dr. Jacqueline Turner, Tanya Baker, Jessica Dees and Aimee Day, were awarded a micro-grant from the Aggie Green Fund to replace the water fountain on the 6th floor of Harrington Tower with a Bottle Filling Water Station.
5/5/2022
Collaboration between The Ohio State University Nisonger Center and Boundless Health, Inc
The OSU Nisonger Center is helping Boundless Health, Inc create a dental program to increase access to dental care for individuals with IDD. Dr. Beetstra, the dental program director at the Nisonger Center, discusses how the relationship is a win-win-win for the institutions and the community.
