Empowering Self-Advocates and Family Members to Build a More Inclusive Community Through Mentorship

When individuals with disabilities engage in mentorship relationships, they enhance their resilience. Their connections offer advice, guidance, and provide role models who can share their experiences of perseverance and success. Mentorship and peer support empower individuals with disabilities and families to thrive, advocate for change, and contribute to a more inclusive world. This presentation highlights a grant-funded program that facilitates peer-to-peer mentoring, fosters connections, resilience, and empowerment.

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BoggsCast: Envisioning Possibilities for Innovation

Through the voice of lived experience and national experts, BoggsCast educates a broad audience about best practices in the field of developmental disabilities, showcases successes, and helps listeners envision possibilities. This presentation will highlight how The Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities (NJ UCEDD/LEND) utilizes the podcast to bring together the voices of people with disabilities, family members, and students with professionals to promote innovative practice. (Multiple Disciplines)

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Opportunities for Meaningful Inclusion: Experience of Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities with Research

Individuals with disabilities face significant health disparities, particularly in rural communities, and are often excluded from the research process. Little is known about how individuals with disabilities are integrated into research, or how to increase collaboration between community members with disabilities and researchers. This poster will provide strategies aimed to empower individuals with disabilities as co-researchers while promoting more inclusive research practices that leverage their unique perspectives and experiences.

MULDINET Project Experiences Focused on the Intersectionality of Disability and Diversity: Building a Community of Practice Makes Us Stronger Together

This poster describes how the Multicultural Disability Network and Training (MULDINET) project has increased knowledge among community stakeholders working with diverse people with disabilities, and shares insights gained in the process. Guided by a multicultural-multidisciplinary advisory board, the project developed a range of initiatives to create a network of providers who connect regularly to increase their awareness and practical skills working with individuals in the intersection of disability and diversity.

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Autism Spectrum Disorder Prevalence in Immigrant Communities in Minnesota: Data from the MN-ADDM Study

Presents results from the CDC-funded Minnesota-Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network project, which monitors the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children within portions of three counties in Minnesota. This poster presents prevalence data for 4- and 8-year-old children in the Hmong and Somali communities in Minnesota. Early identification can improve outcomes for children with ASD, so understanding pathways to identification in communities informs public health policy.

An Interdisciplinary Focus on Accessibility: Applying Universal Design and Health Promotion Best Practices Across Health Initiatives for People with Disabilities

This presentation discusses ways to apply best practices from education and health promotion disciplines when leading health-related initiatives. Emphasizing these best practices can help to promote accessibility, inclusivity, and sustainability of programming for people with disabilities. In addition to sharing these strategies, this presentation provides examples of accessible practices used across Delaware-based initiatives including the My Life, My Decisions Summit and My Health. My Wellness. Toolkit and Teaching Guide.

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"I Understand You" Accessible Communications Webinar Series: Increasing Capacity for the Production of Cognitively and Digitally Accessible Content

Everyone deserves access to resources and information that can improve their lives. Through the University of Arizona Sonoran Center for Excellence in Disabilities accessible communications webinar series, participants gained awareness of barriers to accessing information, and became equipped with new skills and tools to produce more accessible, inclusive communications.

Making Assent More Meaningful for Individuals with Down Syndrome

Down Syndrome (DS) is one of the most common genetic disorders and carries with it significant comorbidities. Among these comorbidities is intellectual disability which poses a significant barrier to participation in research due to the lack of a meaningful process of assent. This project seeks to evaluate decision making capacity and preferences towards assent to create a framework that promotes a more meaningful and inclusive process.

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Community Collaborations to Train Law Enforcement Officers on Interactions with the Disability Community

This session will highlight positive approaches for training law enforcement officers about interacting with people with disabilities. Participants will learn about building training collaborations within communities that involve members of law enforcement, UCEDDs, disability organizations, mental health professionals, and individuals with developmental disabilities. Core training components and participant reactions and feedback to the training process will be presented.

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Medical Student Perception of Disability Healthcare Needs

While studies demonstrate why PWDs are more likely to receive suboptimal medical care, few studies assess the root cause and grasp how medical students perceive the healthcare needs of the disability community prior to entering the workforce. This study administered a survey across US medical schools to understand these gaps in disability perception and improve medical education on disability. Relevant Disciplines: Health & Wellness; Medical Education; Medicine & Healthcare.

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Unveiling the School-to-Prison Pipeline: Public Health Implications of Harsh Disciplinary Policies

This presentation examines how policies contribute to criminalizing youth instead of supporting their education in the school-to-prison pipeline. Highlighting data on BIPOC, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ youth, and the intersections therein, we discuss systemic factors driving this crisis. We explore successful models of juvenile detention rehabilitation & advocate for resource reallocation towards supportive school and community services. Emphasizing restorative justice, we propose integrating health justice to foster equitable outcomes.

Evidence-Based Programs for People with IDD Across Criminal Justice Intercept Points: A Rapid Evidence Review

This poster presents the results of a rapid evidence review documenting programs, practices, and initiatives related to criminal justice and people with IDD. The review is organized across criminal justice intercept points including community services, law enforcement, initial court hearings and initial detention, jails/courts, reentry, and community corrections. Findings will guide UCEDDs in educating about evidence-based practices for people with IDD who are involved in the criminal justice system.