Last night the Interdisciplinary Training for Early Intervention Professionals Specialist Program (EISP) Cohort had their final class! Congratulations all!

The American Institutes for Research (AIR) is launching a federally funded center that helps leaders to establish and maintain inclusive learning environments and improve outcomes for students who receive services and support under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). AIR and five partners have been awarded a five-year, $15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services to establish and develop the Lead IDEA Center. 

AIR will lead the center in partnership with the University of Connecticut (UConn), True North Evaluation, University of Illinois Chicago’s Center for Urban Education Leadership, Boston University, and the National Association of Elementary School Principals. Abby Foley, senior researcher at AIR, will lead the center as project director. In addition to Bateman, co-principal investigators are Lynn Holdheide, AIR managing technical assistance consultant, and Mary Beth Bruder, UConn professor of pediatrics.

To learn more about this, please click here.

UCEDD staff and students attended the AUCD conference “Emerging Leaders: Shaping the Future” in Washington DC this week.

Presentations:

• OSEP Model Demonstration Project – Developing Identification, Screening, Referral and Tracking Systems for Infants and Toddlers

Posters:

• The use of Intelligence Quotient as an Eligibility Criterion for Intellectual and Developmental Disability Services: A Review of the States
• Accommodations and Accessibility of COVID-19 Vaccinations for People with Disabilities in CT
• Local Health Departments Inclusion of Persons with Disability: Results from a Training Needs Assessment in Connecticut
• The Availability of Information on Accomodations for Students with Disabilities on Medical School Website

Staff and Students also visited Capitol Hill for the Address for Closing Plenary, speakers included Senator Tammy Duckworth, Assistant Secretary Katy Neas, Peter Mills, Chief Legal Aid at Senator Murphy’s office and Senator Bob Casey.

Connecticut has created the CT Transition Community of Practice (CoP) to centralize all activities, resources, and initiatives related to secondary transition and to provide information and support to students, families, and professionals. The CoP is comprised of multiple stakeholder groups that have come together with a single focus: enhancing the transition of youth with disabilities to adult life. Come learn what we are all about! See how your ideas fit into Connecticut’s overall plans and help us plot our course for improving student outcomes. To learn more visit CT SDE or  SERC

 

https://www.epilepsy.com/

Governor Lamont Proclaims October as Disability Employment Awareness Month

Governor Ned Lamont today announced that he has proclaimed October 2023 as Disability Employment Awareness Month in Connecticut in recognition of all Connecticut residents with disabilities in the workplace and in honor of their many accomplishments. #NDEAM #access #equity

“Disability Employment Awareness Month celebrates the important role of workers with disabilities, past and present, and showcases supportive, inclusive employment policies and practices that benefit employers and employees in Connecticut,” Governor Lamont said. “I am proud of the way that Connecticut has been a leader in protecting the rights of people with disabilities when it comes to employment issues, and particularly proud of the many businesses in our state that make every effort to include people of all abilities as valued members of their workforces.”

To read the proclamation

 

FALL 2023 Health Care Challenges for People with Developmental Disabilities Speaker series
The Connecticut Council on Developmental Disabilities, UConn Center for Excellence in
Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) and CT Health Policy Project are inviting you to virtually attend
a series of sessions for leaders and decision makers to examine barriers to health care for those
with developmental and related disabilities. The purpose of these sessions is to collectively develop
recommendations to address these health care inequities.

Tuesday, October 3, 2023 | 1:00pm

To register

     

     

Ann and Rud Turnbull are Marianna and Ross Beach Distinguished Professors Emerita in Special Education. They co-founded and co-directed the Beach Center on Disability at the University of Kansas.

LEND Trainees during this fourth seminar learned about disability as a construct and IDEA.

VIDEO from the ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE ACCESS FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES Informational Forum 

Public Health Committee and Human Services Committees Joint Informational Forum
Access to Health Care for Persons with Disabilities
AGENDA
Wednesday, September 13, 2023
1:00 PM in Room 2C of the LOB and Zoom and YouTube Live
1:00-1:05pm Opening Remarks
1:05-1:35pm Advocates & Consumers
• Ruth Grobe, Secretary, Citizen Coalition for Equal Access
• Dr. Lisa Iezzoni, Harvard Medical School
• Dr. Cindy Miller
• Andrew Bate
• Valerie Rumpf
• Mary Beth Bruder, Director, UCEDD
1:35-1:45pm Connecticut Association of the Deaf
• Luisa Gasco Soboleski, President
• Dr. Harvey Corson, Chair, Education and Legislative Committee
1:45-1:50pm Connecticut State Medical Society
• Robert Russo, Chief Medical Officer
1:50-1:55pm Connecticut Hospital Association
• Karen Buckley, Vice President, Advocacy
• Brian Cournoyer, Director, Government Relations
• Jennifer Cox, Outside Counsel
1:55-2:00pm Radiological Society of Connecticut
• Carla Brathwaite, MS, American College of Radiology
2:00-2:05pm Presentation on Disability-Friendly Services at Medical Facilities
• Raisa Khaled, Intern, Sen. Saud Anwar
2:05-2:35pm Connecticut Council on Development Disabilities
• Walter Glomb, Executive Director
Department of Aging and Disability Services
• Amy Porter, Commissioner
• Suzette DeBeatham-Brown, Deputy Commissioner
• Jennifer Proto, Legislative and Administrative Advisor
Department of Public Health
• Dr. Jody Terranova, Deputy Commissioner
• Barbara Cass, RN, Branch Chief, Healthcare Quality and Safety
Department of Social Services
• Andrea Barton Reeves, Commissioner
• Donna Balaski, DMD, Division of Health Services
Office of Health Strategy
• Cindy Dubuque-Gallo, Legislative Liaison
Office of Policy and Management
• Zani Imetovski, Legislative Associate
2:35-2:55pm Q & A Session
2:55-3:00pm Closing Statements

Announcing the Supported Decision Making Fall Webinar Series!!   The Supported Decision Making Coalition of Connecticut is pleased to present three webinars on Supported Decision Making topics.   All webinars are free. You must register separately for each webinar.   September 20, 2023 6-7:30PM Via Zoom Supported Decision Making and Special Education To register for this webinar, click here.   October 4, 2023 6-7:30PM via Zoom Supported Decision Making and Transition To register for this webinar, click here.   October 18, 2023 6-7:30PM Via Zoom Supported Decision Making and Vocational Rehabilitation To register for this webinar, click here.     The presenter for all three webinars will be JONATHAN MARTINIS, ESQ., J.D.   Jonathan Martinis, Esq., J.D., is the Senior Director for Law and Policy in the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) at Syracuse University. He is based at BBI’s Washington, D.C. office and leads the institute’s national and international efforts. Martinis has over 20 years of experience representing and advocating for people with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Most notably, in 2013, Martinis represented Jenny Hatch in the nationally acclaimed “Justice for Jenny” case. Martinis helped Ms. Hatch secure her right to live where and how she wants, to make her own decisions, and direct her own life. Jenny’s case was the first trial to hold that a person with disabilities has a right to engage in “Supported-Decision Making,” where people work with trusted friends, family members, and professionals to help them understand the situations and choices they face, so they may make their own decisions – rather than be subjected to an unnecessary permanent, plenary or full guardianship.    CHECK OUT SUPPORTED DECISION MAKING PAGE AT WWW.CTSILC.ORG