Sheryl Lazarus of the Institute on Community Integration has been elected secretary-treasurer of the Inclusion and Accommodation in Educational Assessment Significant Interest Group (SIG) of the American Education Research Association (AERA).
Rutzen participates in White House briefing
Kurt Rutzen, Institute on Community Integration staffer, was one of 150 leaders from The Arc organization who met with a variety of senior White House officials at a Community Leaders Briefing on February 10 in Washington, D.C. Kurt, as an Arc of the United States board member, was among those invited to ask questions and discuss issues facing people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the session. Held exclusively for The Arc, a national organization that advocates for and serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families, the meeting included an unannounced visit from President Obama, during which he spoke of his commitment to people with disabilities.
Moore serves on Minnesota Department of Human Services committee
On January 25, Tim Moore, Research Associate at the Institute on Community Integration and a LEND post-doctoral Fellow, was selected to serve on the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) advisory committee charged with re-writing Rule 40, which governs the use of aversive and deprivation procedures in licensed facilities in Minnesota that serve persons with developmental disabilities.
ICI staff speak at conferences
Staff from the Institute on Community Integration presented at three conferences around the country this past month. On November 8, Amy Hewitt and Kelly Nye-Lengerman spoke on understanding and building socially inclusive communities in the African nation of Zambia at the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) annual conference in Washington, D.C. Jean Ness co-presented on The Young American Indian Entrepreneur curriculum and culture-based arts integration at the National Indian Education Association conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico on October 29. Sharon Mulé co-presented a workshop on internships and e-mentoring for persons with disabilities at the Arc of Minnesota Conference on November 4-5 at Breezy Point Resort. She also facilitated panel discussions on innovative postsecondary education options for students with disabilities, and parent perspectives on friendship-building for young children with disabilities.
Timmons Appointed to Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities
Joe Timmons, Institute on Community Integration, has been appointed to represent the Institute on the Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities. His term runs October 2011 to January 2014. He replaces Derek Nord, whose 3-year term on the council ended earlier this year.
ICI collaborates on study of autism in Minneapolis Somali community
The Institute on Community Integration (ICI), the University’s Department of Pediatrics and Department of Educational Psychology, and the Minnesota Department of Health are collaborating on a project to determine whether there are true differences in the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) between Somali and non-Somali children in Minneapolis. The year-long study is one effort to provide answers to reports from advocates in the Somali community that children of Somali descent living in the city have, in the past few years, been classified as having ASD at a higher-than-usual rate. To learn more, see the November issue of the Institute’s staff newsletter, FYI.
Global Resource Center supports inclusive education around the world
Serbia, Macedonia, Bangladesh, and Tanzania are just some of the places in which the Global Resource Center for Inclusive Education at the Institute on Community Integration has been working to support inclusion of all young people, including those with disabilities, in their nation’s educational systems. Since 2006 the center has assisted education agencies around the globe to make “Education for All” a reality and work toward systemic improvement of their education programs, practices, and policies that affect underserved and disadvantaged populations. To learn more, see the September issue of the institute’s staff newsletter, FYI.
Film about self-advocates wins international awards
Jerry Smith, filmmaker and media director in the Institute on Community Integration, has won two awards for We Have Choices, the documentary that RTC Media produced with the Self-Advocacy Association of New York State.
Smith received the highest honor from the Silver Telly Council, a judging and oversight body that receives over 13,000 competition entries from around the world every year. In May, We Have Choices received a second award, this time a Platinum Award at the 2011 Hermes Creative Awards (another international competition), in the documentary category.
The film, which is about people with disabilities who advocate for themselves, can be viewed at http://rtc.umn.edu/rtcmedia/wehavechoices/.
Hewitt new director of Research and Training Center on Community Living
Amy Hewitt, Ph.D., has been selected as the new director of the Research and Training Center on Community Living (RTC) in the University of Minnesota’s Institute on Community Integration (ICI). She will assume the new role effective August 15, 2011, succeeding Charlie Lakin, Ph.D., who has been appointed director of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research in the U.S. Department of Education.
Hewitt has worked at the RTC for the past 20 years and has an extensive background of research, publishing, and training in the areas of services, supports, and policies impacting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She has served as coordinator of the College of Education and Human Development’s Certificate in Disability Policy and Services, jointly offered through ICI and the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development, and is also co-director of the Minnesota LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Other Disabilities), a joint program of the Department of Pediatrics and ICI. She and her many colleagues within the RTC look forward to continuing to build upon the strong foundation for the center’s internationally-respected work developed under Lakin’s decades of leadership.
Altman, Christensen, and Vang present on Universal Design at conference
Jason Altman, Laurene Christensen, and Mai Vang of the Institute on Community Integration presented at the Minnesota Council for Exceptional Children conference on March 3. Their session was titled, “Universal Design and Accommodations in Classroom Assessment.”
A focus on autism in Zambia
A delegation from the Institute on Community Integration (ICI) will fly to Zambia on March 30 for two weeks of work with disability rights leaders developing and improving services and supports for people with disabilities and their families. The trip is part of the work of the Twin Cities Zambia Disability Connection — a partnership of ICI, Arc Greater Twin Cities, Fraser, Opportunity Partners, and Zambian disability rights leaders — which was formed in 2008.
This will be the fourth time ICI staff have traveled to Zambia (Zambian delegations visited the Twin Cities in 2008 and 2010), and it will be the first time there has been an emphasis on autism. “The last time our Zambian colleagues were here they had a chance to visit the autism spectrum disorders clinic at the University and a number of autism-specific programs in Minnesota,” notes Amy Hewitt, project director. “They asked us to help them build autism expertise in Zambia. This trip is hopefully the first of many exchanges that will focus on autism.” To learn more, see the ICI staff newsletter.
Stout interviewed on Iowa Public Radio about school lunch as socializing experience
Karen Stout, a Research Associate at the Institute on Community Integration, was interviewed by Iowa Public Radio on December 17, 2010, about school lunch as a socializing experience of schooling. In the interview, she discussed school lunch as an opportunity to teach valued goals of schooling such as sharing, making friends, and taking turns.
Moore receives award to present at Gatlinburg conference
Tim Moore, a Research and LEND Post-doctoral Fellow at the college’s Institute on Community Integration, has received the Theodore Tjossem Post-doctoral Award from the Gatlinburg Conference on Research and Theory in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. The award covers travel and expenses associated with his March 3 presentation, “Adherence to Treatment in a Behavioral Intervention Curriculum: The Effects of Parent Perception,” at the conference in San Antonio, Texas.
Rutzen Named to National Board of The Arc of the United States
Kurt Rutzen of the Research and Training Center on Community Living at the Institute on Community Integration has been named one of the new national board members of The Arc of the United States.
American Evaluation Assoc. selects Nord for commemorative issue
Derek Nord, Research Associate at the Institute on Community Integration, was one of 10 young evaluators selected from 150 submissions to contribute to the 25th anniversary edition of the American Evaluation Association‘s (AEA) New Directions for Evaluation commemorative issue. Nord’s submission will address the challenging future of, and strategies for, evaluating online training and education programs.
Augustine Joins “Prevention Researcher” Advisory Board
Kay Augustine, a Project Coordinator at the Institute on Community Integration, has been selected to serve on the advisory board for Prevention Researcher, a multidisciplinary journal focusing on successful adolescent development, at-risk youth successful adolescent development, and at-risk youth.
ICI’s Check & Connect in The Huffington Post
Check & Connect, a school-engagement program of the Institute on Community Integration (ICI), was highlighted in “Solving the Mental Health Crisis for Our Children,” a May 6 article in The Huffington Post written by former First Lady Rosalynn Carter.
Read more about Check & Connect in the spring 2009 issue of Connect.
Community integration expert testifies before Minnesota House committee
Amy Hewitt, Ph.D, of the Research and Training Center on Community Living at the Institute on Community Integration, testified on consumer-directed community supports for people with disabilities before the Minnesota House Health and Human Services Policy and Oversight committee on February 9.
Altman presents at assistive technology conference
Jason Altman of the National Center on Educational Outcomes at the Institute on Community Integration presented “Exploring Assistive Technology Issues in the Instruction and Assessment of Students with Visual Impairments” at the Assistive Technology Industry Association’s annual conference in Orlando, January 28.