Importance of and Tips on Hiring Autistic People

This poster will explain the importance of hiring autistic, an often untapped population as they are victims of an up to 85-percent unemployment rate. This poster will highlight the strengths of autistic employees, discuss how often these people are not given a chance, and provide ways how employers can be more inclusive in their hiring procedures. It is relevant to employment and all organizations and hiring managers.

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Human Trafficking and People with Disabilities: What Have We Learned and Accomplished this Past Year?

Human trafficking and cartel activity continues to be a significant problem in our American communities, especially for people with disabilities. This is in regards to drug use, recruitment of people with disabilities, and crimes committed against those with disabilities. Come see how Arizona is helping to lead the fight against this crisis and what has been done about it over the past year.

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Transitional Recovery Residences: A Snapshot Into Availability and Accessibility in West Virginia

Transitional recovery residences are one popular way for individuals to work towards sobriety. These programs are often embedded in communities and neighborhoods and frequently utilize pre-existing homes and buildings. The retrofitting of these locations typically limits their accessibility. Recovery facilities are thus not equipped to provide services to individuals with disabilities, despite the prevalence of addiction within this population. In West Virginia, this challenge is on stark display.

• Download AUCD Poster 2024 (Recovery Residences).pdf

Student and Parent Transitions Toward Independence: Findings from the Country Roads IPSE Program

The Country Roads Program is a two-year transitional program designed to increase student (18-26 years) independence and capacity for collegiate work or entry into the workforce. The program duration has been proven effective for increasing skills and occupational planning, but produces a short period for parents to acclimate. The purpose of this study was to assess the factors associated with a successful familial transition toward independent roles.

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Direct Aid Support for Families: Importance of Considering Basic Need Support in Service Coordination Programs

The accountable communities model emphasizes a need to attend to individuals' basic needs to enhance medical services and improve adult and child health outcomes. This study applies the model to women and children exposed to substances in a rural setting. Our findings reveal that direct aid is feasible and an effective way to enroll and sustain service delivery to vulnerable groups in underserved areas.

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At Odds or Working in Conjunction: Agency and Interdependence Shaping Healthcare Transition and Mental Healthcare Experiences Among Youth with IDD

This presentation and synthesis involve a life course and social-ecological theoretical framing of existing literature surrounding healthcare transition and mental healthcare experiences among youth with IDD by attending to the constructs of interdependence and agency. These findings provided a nuanced perspective and critical implications for healthcare providers, research, practices, and policies to attend to interdependence and agency to improve healthcare equity and engagement for youth with IDD.

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Needed Supports of People on Waiting Lists for Home and Community Based Services Waivers in Kansas

The Kansas UCEDD led a project to survey people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and people with physical disabilities on the waiting list for Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) waiver services. This presentation will describe survey development activities, findings, and recommendations for services from the survey.

Always Fresh. Always Relevant Frontline Initiative: Using Data to Include More Readers and Listeners in the Direct Support Workforce

Frontline Initiative is the exclusive magazine for direct support professionals (z.umn.edu/FrontlineInitiative). DSPs are often considered entry level workers rather than skilled professionals. The mission of FI is to advance the knowledge of DSPs in quality direct support. We used data to increase readership, accessibility, and relevance of our content. This poster describes ways we listened and responded to DSPs to ensure we create resources that engage them.

Supporting Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: Caseload Policies and Practices Across the United States

This presentation will first describe what case management of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities is in the US. Furthermore, it will describe the responsibilities that case managers have. Then, it will discuss caseload policies of states across the US, highlighting states that have caseload caps for specific populations of people with IDD.

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Documenting an Iterative Approach to Accessible Mixed Methods Research Design for Students with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities in Inclusive Post-Secondary Education Programs

We document the second step in an iterative design process that builds upon best practices for inclusive research design in the context of a longitudinal evaluation of a post-secondary education program for young adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities. We utilized feedback from participants to update our protocol of inclusive research practices previously developed for a program needs assessment. Improvements include a more accessible consent process and additional supports in study completion.

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Regional Transition Navigator Services: A Look into Three Years of Operations

Regional Transition Navigator Services (RTNS) works with individuals in West Virginia, aged 14-25 who have experienced or are at risk of severe mental illness, severe emotional disturbance or substance use disorder. RTNS has continued to explore rural recruiting methods, find relevant resources offered around WV, as well as serve emerging adults around the state. Examining these effects over the last three years will allow our program to continue building.

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Pre-Apprenticeship Through a Universal Design Lens: Opportunities for Equity and Inclusion in the Early Childhood Education Workforce

Maine is experiencing a workforce crisis in early childhood education and care. Home to multiple diverse groups, including people with disabilities and an increasing immigrant community, Maine UCEDD staff collaborated to create innovative and inclusive pathways to increase self-determined employment in ECEC. Learn how we explored a universally designed pre-apprenticeship model that supports and honors all while eliminating barriers to equitable employment.

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Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Users Report on the Peer Support Experiences that Helped Them Learn AAC

Over 100 AAC users responded to the largest survey gathering data about their peer support experiences. Questions included: Have other AAC users helped you develop AAC skills? Would you like more mentoring from other AAC users? These data, often not sought from AAC users, will help form a national plan to recommend AAC peer supports. This session is relevant to all disciplines and people who use or need peer support.

• Download AUCD2024_Poster_AAC Peer Support Experiences_final.pdf