LEND trainee Angela Mitchell with Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester

Delaware schools were on display at “Lift Your Voice,” the 2017 Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) conference held Nov. 5-8 in Washington, D.C. CDS staff members showcased several of the Center’s grade school, secondary school and college programs that serve students with disabilities and promote community inclusion.

The conference featured presentations, special interest group meetings and poster symposia from AUCD’s 67 University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research and Service.

Debby Boyer and Niki Roberts of CDS’s School Age unit conducted an interactive presentation on addressing behavioral concerns in Individualized Education Programs. They also presented a poster on a social-skills curriculum for secondary schools called Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills.

Laura Eisenman, the faculty coordinator for the CDS-administered Disability Studies minor at UD, led a special interest group meeting to acquaint representatives of other universities with the program.

Audrey Rossi, CDS’s coordinator of the Delaware National Core Indicators (NCI) surveys, which are administered to people with disabilities receiving state services, participated in a panel discussion of ways NCI data can help state agencies provide more effective, community-based support.

Samantha Leonard, an undergraduate researcher, presented findings from her project, indicating young adults with intellectual disabilities have smaller social networks than their typically developing peers.

Brian Freedman and Wes Garton of CDS’s Transition, Education and Employment Model unit presented a poster on Edge Extension, a college prep program for high schoolers with disabilities.

And CDS’s Amy Brown and Megan Conway presented a poster tracking the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a flexible and individualized teaching strategy, in a Delaware middle school’s English classes.