Transition

6/2/2021

OSU TOPS Program Celebrates 2021 Graduating Class

The TOPS Program celebrated its seventh graduating class yesterday in an intimate, socially-distanced ceremony. The four graduates of the Class of 2021 were recognized for their hard work and effort, especially the ability to navigate their college experiences during a global pandemic. The TOPS Program staff are incredibly proud of these students, Congratulatons!

6/2/2021

The Boggs Center Celebrates the Graduation of the 2020-2021 NJLEND Fellows at the 5th Annual Maternal and Child Health Leadership Symposium

The Boggs Center celebrated the graduation of the 2020-2021 NJLEND Fellows at the New Jersey Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (NJLEND) program's 5th annual Maternal and Child Health Leadership Symposium. Held virtually this year in response to COVID-19, the event featured a keynote address, "The Meaning of Resilience: Building Self-Healing Communities," by Dave Ellis, Founding Executive Director The Office of Resilience New Jersey Department of Children and Families, and was attended by those from the Rutgers community, New Jersey's Department of Children and Families and Department of Health, SPAN Parent Advocacy Network, and other state and community organizations. There were brief video presentations by each of the 20 graduating NJLEND Fellows sharing their personal definitions of leadership, the culmination of the year-long Defining Leadership: Charting Your Trajectory Learning Exercise.

6/2/2021

The Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities Hosted a Virtual Graduation Ceremony to Celebrate the Accomplishments of the New Jersey Partners in Policymaking Class of 2020-2021

New Jersey Partners in Policymaking is a leadership development and advocacy education program for adults with developmental disabilities and family members available through The Boggs Center with funding from the New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities. This year's graduates included 11 self-advocates and 14 parents prepared to work toward meaningful change in our state.

6/1/2021

MN LEND Fellows Help Faith-based Organizations with Inclusion

Plenty of mission statements for faith-based organizations talk about welcoming everyone. When it comes to people with disabilities, however, it takes more than words and a wheelchair ramp to achieve true inclusion. MN LEND fellows, along with the MN UCEDD, are working with a Twin Cities-area church and mosque to think differently about how they serve worshippers with disabilities. MN LEND is an interdisciplinary leadership development program, funded by the U.S. Maternal & Child Health Bureau, that spans more than 16 disciplines across the University of Minnesota.

5/7/2021

Putting Faith to Work Highlighted on Disability Podcast

Putting Faith to Work (PFTW), an employment model created by four UCEDDS (TN, MN, KY, TX), was featured on a recent episode of the podcast Navigating Life as We Know It. Developed in 2014 through a Signature Employment Grant awarded by the Kessler Foundation, the PFTW model focuses on building the capacity of faith communities to support employment for members with disabilities.

5/3/2021

Pathway Program Adjusts to Remote Internships During Pandemic

Pathway at UCLA Extension has taken great pride in our robust internship program, which matches students with internship sites based on their career interests. For the last 15 years these internships have been in person. When Covid-19 restricted in-person internships for our safety in Los Angeles, Vocational Advisor, Rachael Ambler, started thinking outside the box. "Internships give our students a sense of purpose and responsibility, and even though in person opportunities were on hold, this need remained."

4/29/2021

Updates from the State Public Health Autism Resource Center

2021 has arrived! Despite the challenges we have all faced during COVID-19, our Community of Learners have persevered and made excellent progress in their work. To learn more about each grantee's work, check out their state profiles on the SPHARC webpage.

4/28/2021

AIR-B Network Continues Outreach in Diverse Communities

Although much of the research activity has moved virtual, the Autism Intervention Research Network on Behavioral Health (AIR-B Network; PI: Kasari) continues its research-community partnership in the COVID-19 era. The AIR-B is a network of researchers at UCLA, UC Davis, University of Pennsylvania, University of Rochester, Drexel University, University of Kansas, University of Washington and each site's local community partners working to increase equity in access to ASD information and interventions for families of children with ASD.

4/16/2021

Advocates in the Making

While on the path to adulthood, all young people need to learn to advocate for themselves. In other words, they need to find their voices. For young people with disabilities, learning to advocate for themselves is crucial in becoming more independent and reaching their life goals. The Institute for Disability Studies (IDS) Transition to Adulthood Programs have recognized the need to have advocacy at the core of all curriculum and services.

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