Center for Disabilities Studies

This feature story highlights the internship and employment preparation opportunities available to students in CDS’s Career and Life Studies Certificate (CLSC), a two-year postsecondary program for young adults with intellectual disabilities. It focuses on three recent CLSC graduates, Catherine Lin, Mike Massello and Ian Snitch, all of whom were hired by the employers they interned with. The students and their supporters emphasize how the positions have helped them grow and become more confident.

CDS Director Beth Mineo told a state Senate committee considering expanding Medicaid dental coverage to adults that doing so would bring about healthier outcomes by making oral health care affordable to people with disabilities. The committee reported out the bill, which now awaits a Senate vote.

Panelists at a CDS event illuminated Delaware’s supported decision-making agreement, a legal process that enables an adult with a disability to affirm his or her right to make decisions about medical care, finance and other significant matters and identify trusted advisors.

Individuals with disabilities often can build core strength through hippotherapy, a treatment strategy for physical, occupational and speech therapy clients, said speakers at CDS’s Lunchtime Learning presentation on Thursday. An occupational therapist explained the process is tied to horses’ consistent, symmetrical gait, and the parents of a four-year-old client highlighted their daughter’s improved coordination, balance and self-confidence. A UD professor said few studies have focused on hippotherapy’s effects on individuals with developmental disabilities, but the existing data show benefits to sensory processing and social skills.

Daniel Lanier, a second-year student in UD’s Career and Life Studies Certificate (CLSC) program, reveals his goals to write and produce music professionally in a feature story. Lanier, who has autism, also intends to advocate for civil rights, particularly inclusion and accessibility in the education system. CLSC’s program manager says Lanier has taken advantage of opportunities on campus to grow as a self-advocate and leader, including involvement in UD’s Center for Black Culture.