Transition

4/1/2022

Center Staff Attend the Texas Transition Conference and PATHS Staff Attend the Grimes County Transition Fair

The Texas Transition Conference was held on February 23-25 in Denton, Texas. This year's conference faced a few challenges as an unusual ice storm made travel difficult for many of the attendees and speakers. However the event was very successful and informative. With over 350 in-person attendees registered and over 200 online registrants. Those who registered, but could not attend, were given access to view sessions online during the event. Many positive comments and feedback were given.

3/10/2022

A College Exploration Conversation with Jake and Christy (Maine UCEDD)

It's a cold morning in late November and Jake, a high school junior, sits on' the edge of a leather couch in the University of Maine's historic Heritage House. He's accompanied by his mother, Christy; and Hailey Howard, his vocational rehabilitation counselor from the Maine Department of Labor, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR).

3/9/2022

Opening Doors: UNH-4U Program Introduces Students with Intellectual Disabilities to Campus Life

Hats off to UNH-4U students on a successful first semester! UNH-4U students explored campus, attended classes, and made meaningful social connections. The IOD congratulates them on completing their first semester as UNH Wildcats!

2/11/2022

Think College Awarded US Department of Education Grant to Increase Access to and Visibility of Inclusive Post-Secondary Education Programs Nationwide

Congratulations to ICI's Think College and partners for accepting a $5.9 million three-year award from the US Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education to expand their remarkable work of translating and disseminating research and best practices on inclusive post-secondary education for colleges and universities across the US.

2/10/2022

iGROW - New Funded Grant

The "I Generate Rural Opportunities for Work" (iGROW) Project is a one-year pre-employment and leadership-training program for students with disabilities who are currently enrolled in middle school and high school (ages 14-22). The purpose of the program is to provide a training environment to support students with disabilities to gain the necessary skills and experiences in work readiness in order to successfully transition into postsecondary education and/or competitive integrated employment.

The Need for Mentoring Youth with Disabilities:Youth with physical or mental disabilities represent special populations at risk for juvenile delinquency, victimization, educational failure, and poor employment outcomes and often have multiple, overlapping risk factors. Such youth can and do benefit from mentoring relationships.

The Need for Inclusive Mentoring Programs:Youth with disabilities typically to receive mentoring within disability-specific programs rather than in inclusive, community-based programs that have a diversity of resources that promote education, job readiness, development of employment skills, and/or training in and exposure to entrepreneurial activities.

The Benefits:

• Youth with disabilities can participate with their typically developing peers in mentoring programs,
• The community capacity to serve people with disabilities would be enhanced with training, technical assistance, and programmatic supports,
• There is a social value to providing inclusive supports and services, and
• Through building the capacity of community-based mentoring programs to serve all youth well-including those with special physical or mental challenges-is more cost-effective than supporting multiple specialty services.

 Factsheet:

AUCD has developed a factsheet that provides an overview of mentoring youth with disabilities, and gives examples of promising practices from the AUCD network. Click here: factsheet in PDF