CCIDS Presents Research and Work-in-Progress at 2023 AUCD Conference

The following CCIDS faculty, staff and a 2023 graduate of the NH-ME LEND Program presented their research or reported on their work-in-progress at the November 5-8, 2023 Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) Conference in Washington, DC. This year’s conference theme was Emerging Leaders: Shaping the Future.

Alan Cobo-Lewis, Ph.D., presented his peer-reviewed poster developed with Alan Kurtz, Ph.D., Is there less restraint and isolation of students after TCI quality improvement and fidelity assessment?

Poster Description: Cobo-Lewis and Kurtz tested the Quality Improvement and Fidelity Assessment Process (QIFAP) in Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI) at residential and school settings to see whether QIFAP was associated with a drop in restraint and isolation of students.

Michelle Fong, B.A., presented her peer-reviewed poster, Mind the Gap! Advancing Data Equity to Improve Population Health Equity for People with Disabilities.

Poster Description: Public health data gaps, common for people with disabilities, cause health disparities by veiling lived experience and creating an incomplete evidence base for health decision-making. When data gaps prevented the determination of COVID-19-related health equity for Maine’s population with neurodevelopmental disabilities, analyzing and addressing the drivers of data inequities became this project’s focus. A broad literature search, stakeholder interviews, webinars, and legal research turned up major themes and actionable recommendations.

Marnie Morneault, M.Ed., presented the NH-ME LEND Program’s peer-reviewed poster, Advancing a Universally Designed (UD) Curriculum: How NH-ME LEND is Creating  an Accessible Program for All, developed by Susan Zimmerman, Ph.D., with contributors Kathleen Bates, B.A., Amy Frechette, B.A., Marnie Morneault, M.Ed., Stacy Driscoll, M.Ed., Susan Russell, M.S., and Betsy Humphreys, Ph.D.

Poster Description: To meet the recent requirement for LEND programs to develop a Self-Advocacy Discipline, faculty and staff members of the NH-ME LEND Program established a workgroup to consider how best to support trainees and faculty, including those with disabilities. The focus of the group evolved to include universally designed (UD) principles into the curriculum to accommodate the wide range of learning styles of all NH-ME LEND trainees.

Founded in 1971, AUCD is a network of interdisciplinary centers advancing policy and practice for and with individuals with intellectual, developmental and other disabilities, their families, and communities.