Latest newsletter from the Human Development Institute.
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A Word from the Executive Director
As we say good bye to another school year, we are very pleased with closing the book on the 2019 Spring Seminar Series, and our Spring Institute in Assistive Technology. This conference was attended by over 140 faculty, medical residents, students, researchers, staff and community practitioners. HDI also took part in the University’s first online giving campaign. With the generous support of so many friends of HDI, we surpassed our goal and came in third amongst all small projects. This funding will help us provide training on assistive technology for people in the bluegrass.
We also continue to reflect on HDI’s 50 years at the University of Kentucky. You’ll see several profiles in this newsletter of folks who are part of the fabric of the Institute over the past decades. I also hope you’ve had a chance to interact with our series of posters that have been shared on our Facebook page celebrating Black History Month throughout the month of February. These visually stunning images were created by our own Brittany Granville. If you missed them, make sure to like the Human Development Institute on Facebook!
I want to also send best wishes to all of our graduating research assistants, and certificate and practicum students. I hope that your time spent at HDI has been meaningful and helps you as you take the next steps in your journey. Remember that you always have the network of our University Center on Disability to call upon, as you will always be an important part of our national network that builds inclusive communities around the country.
Kathy Sheppard-Jones
One Day for UK
One day. One gift. One enormous impact.
I’m overwhelmed by the generosity of our staff, students and community support. It’s just one more reason that HDI is such an amazing place. Thank you for your efforts to build inclusive communities every day. We are UK. —Kathy Sheppard-Jones, HDI Executive Director
On April 17, the University of Kentucky rallied its alumni, friends and fans to support One Day for UK, a 24- hour day of giving where donors supported the college, unit or cause of their choice. Thanks to your generous support, HDI crushed our original goal and raised $3,616 in one day to make sure people with disabilities have access to adaptive equipment at HDI CATS! We even won 3rd place on the small unit leaderboard to receive an extra $500! We absolutely could not have done it without you and appreciate you all so much and that you care about this important work.
Please consider making a donation today to support the good work at HDI as we support families and professionals every day!
Latest Fund for Excellence Awards: March 2019
The Human Development Institute (HDI) established the Fund for Excellence for the development of innovative programs, services or products to address the needs of individuals with developmental disabilities and their families, for which funding is not currently available. In the January, 2019 funding cycle, HDI awarded two Fund for Excellence projects:
Dr. Elaine Eisenbaum’s Music for All Inclusive Summer Music Camp, with Lindsey Mullis, Megan Jasperson, Dr. Chithra Adams, Dr. Olivia Swedberg Yinger, Austin Robinson, and Dr. Martina Vasil
Stephanie Meredith’s Prenatal and Postnatal Medical Outreach Modules to Improve the Genetic Diagnosis Experience for Families, with Dr. Harold Kleinert, Julie Chien, and Angela Trepanier
2019 Spring Institute in Assistive Technology on March 28
On March 28, HDI Center for Assistive Technology Services hosted the 2019 Spring Institute in Assistive Technology conference at the UK Student Center. The event featured sessions by experts in assistive technology, a user panel, and hands on demonstrations of a variety of AT devices. It was aimed at students, researchers, faculty, staff, community members and self-advocates.
Details:
March 28, 2019 from 8:30am - 4:30pm
Gatton Student Center Ballroom, University of Kentucky
Featuring
Dr. Rory Cooper, University of Pittsburgh; Rosi Cooper, University of Pittsburgh; Dr. Phillip Rumrill, Kent State University; Dr. Jarod Giger, University of Kentucky
You can now order Disability Dont Mean Cant - #DDMC #2: Busting Down Barriers The Project Cheer Episode online!
Did you know the characters in this comic are real life people? Bring your copy to our next event to hopefully get some autographs!
Spring Seminar: Employment for Youth with Disabilities: Seeing a Brighter Future
"As an employer, I've been fortunate to have employees with intellectual disabilities who meaningfully contribute to our programs, and as a mother, I have been so proud of my own son with Down syndrome as he has worked in the community at a grocery store and is also working toward a career as a photographer, and I don't think these are isolated cases of what success can look like. People with intellectual disabilities have much to offer when given the opportunity!” – Stephanie Meredith
Our Spring Seminar on “Employment for Youth with Disabilities: Seeing a Brighter Future” was held on Thursday, March 21, 2019 from 6:30 – 8:30pm ET, and it's available now online.
Spring Seminar: Service Animals and the Americans with Disabilities Act
“Each day in the United States service dogs provide an invaluable service for their handlers. Whether it is assisting someone who is blind to navigate busy streets, or alerting a handler with diabetes that their blood sugar has dipped dangerously low, service animals are essential partners in everyday life. There remains a great deal of confusion on the part of the public as to what is and is not a service animal as well as the rights and responsibilities handlers and business have under the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws. This seminar will answer those questions.” – Barry Whaley
The last session of our Spring Seminar series was held on Friday, April 19, 2019 from 1:00 – 3:00pm EST about “Service Animals and the Americans with Disabilities Act .”
Summer Leadership Camp Experience 2019
We welcome all Kentucky high school upperclassmen with disabilities to apply for camp. Campers are accepted with priority, including students with disabilities, who are entering high school juniors and seniors in the Fall 2019 and those with articulated plans to enter any type of postsecondary education upon exiting high school. Interviews with the Camp Director will take place starting in April 2019. Please include a letter of recommendation from your high school
teacher/counselor, or from your Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor in the application.
The registration deadline is June 21, 2019. The cost of the program is $50 to secure your reservation and T-shirt. The Summer Leadership Experience is an overnight camp. Campers will spend 3 overnights in a UK residence hall. The number of camp participants is limited. The camp will begin at 1 pm on Sunday, July 7 and will end at 5 pm on Wednesday, July 10, 2019. Meals will be included.
Elizabeth Biggs receives the Maurice A. Clay Award as outstanding graduate senior in the College of Social Work
Elizabeth Biggs, who works as an HDI practicum student under the supervision of Bev Harp, received the Maurice A. Clay Award which recognized her as the outstanding graduate senior of the College of Social Work.
Working with Elizabeth this semester has been a great experience. Her research skills and attention to detail have benefited the project (ISAW) immensely. Her openness to new ideas and her ability to engage meaningfully with people from diverse backgrounds will make her an excellent social worker. Elizabeth will be greatly missed by her friends and colleagues at Coldstream. We all wish her the very best in her life and career! —Bev Harp
HDI Projects for Education & an Insider Perspective from Mike Abell: Part 1 &2
Amanda Kelley Corbin
Dr. Mike Abell has worked in special education since 1991 and has experience with students with disabilities from preschool to post-secondary transition. He has worked on projects dealing with behavior supports and behavior intervention programs in schools, and he has worked to help school districts incorporate assistive technology and universal design for learning principles in classrooms.
For the past seven years, Dr. Abell has been at HDI. He served as a director for the Mid-South Regional Resource Center, a technical assistance center that supported nine state education departments and their office of special education to comply with federal policies and procedures. This involved assisting state staff with policy development, support, data collection, analyses, and professional development on new and research-based practices. Over the past four years at HDI, Dr. Abell has worked on the IDEA Technical Assistance Data Center and the Kentucky State Personnel Development Grant. Learn more about these education projects at HDI!
HDI 50th Anniversary Calendar of Events
Come celebrate HDI’s 50th Anniversary with us this year! We are so excited to connect with all of our HDI friends throughout the years, so please come join us for any or all of these events! We’ll provide more details as plans are finalized for each of these events.
- April 17, 2019: UK Day of Giving for HDI
- Summer: Happy Hour at CATS for young professionals
- October 12, 2019: 5K Walk, Run, Roll at Coldstream Campus
- November 2,2019: HDI 50th Anniversary Gala at Gatton Student Center
Other ways we’re celebrating this year include:
- HDI 50th anniversary spotlights on students, staff, individuals, and families over the years
- Creating a virtual timeline of HDI history
HDI 50th Anniversary Spotlight on Clyde David and Susan Burberry
To us, HDI means hope. When all is dark, HDI is a bright light leading, teaching, and training those who find that their purpose is to work with those who are unable to fit into the mainstream. Every year as we attend the annual meeting, we are greeted by familiar and new faces, all who are dedicated to a purpose much larger than themselves. —Clyde David and Susan Burberry
HDI 50th Anniversary Spotlight on Sonja Feist-Price
HDI is an indispensable resource for our state and the Commonwealth and serves as a very important reason why we are the University FOR Kentucky. —Sonja Feist-Price, UK Vice President for Institutional Diversity and Rehabilitation Counseling Faculty Member
HDI 50th Anniversary Spotlight on Marlene B Huff
HDI is only a few buildings from the outside. From the inside, it is filled with experts in the disability movement. It is envied by other states and sometimes taken for granted by Kentuckians. Each individualrepresents a unique compilation of people whose heartfelt work is as diverse as persons with disabilities themselves. Love the work! Here’s to the next 50 years! —Marlene B Huff, Former Associate Director of the KEI
HDI 50th Anniversary Spotlight on Tony Lobianco
My advice for current and future staff and students at HDI is that there are many ways to address issues that we come across in our work, and the diverse ways of considering approaches that our staff have is one of HDI’s most valuable resources. — Tony Lobianco, Principal Investigator/Project Director of the Kentucky Post School Outcomes Center
HDI 50th Anniversary Spotlight on Brent Garrett
HDI meant opportunity for me. One was the focus on increasing opportunities for individuals with disabilities in schools and in the community, the focus that brought us all together. But there was also the opportunity for personal growth. It’s amazing how many HDI employees furthered their education while working more than full-time, supporting families, and trying to find time to have fun. So many HDI employees were also leaders in their field, volunteering time to serve on committees or in leadership positions in professional organizations. —Brent Garrett, HDI Principal Investigator and Staff
HDI 50th Anniversary Spotlight on Debra Harley
To me, HDI means community – a community of consumers and professionals working for the common good. — Debra Harley, Developmental Disabilities Certificate Program Faculty
HDI 50th Anniversary Spotlight on Allie Rhodes
I was blessed to be a part of an organization that works to make life better for ALL individuals through collaboration with organizations across many different fields. Having won the Paul Kevin Burberry award is one of my greatest accomplishments because of what it represents ... To know that I had a small part in demonstrating this positively affects many of the decisions I make today. —Allie Rhodes
HDI 50th Anniversary Spotlight on Ken Olsen
My advice to current and future staff and students at HDI is only to fully embrace the interdisciplinary approach and to learn as much as you can about the other disciplines. As clinic director, I initiated a series of training events to acquaint students with all the disciplines, PT, OT, Pediatrics, etc. In truth, the one who learned the most was me. —Ken Olsen, Former Director of Mid South Regional Resource Center
HDI 50th Anniversary Spotlight on Norb Ryan
Being a part of HDI not only helped me grow professionally but allowed me to meet a remarkable group of people. Those people and the HDI projects will continue today and, in the future, to have a positive impact in the state as well as nationally. —Norb Ryan, HDI Staff and Advisory Council Member
