Ensuring that all children, youth, and adults with disabilities, and those receiving educational supports, are valued by and contribute to their communities of choice. |
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“They think I’m a troublemaker”
A new video series launched this summer features frank advice for healthcare professionals, directly from adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities:
“I’ve never been able to find doctors who see past my disabilities,” says Nell Coonen-Kote.
“Sometimes when I speak up for myself it’s a problem,” says Heidi Myhre. “They think I’m a troublemaker.”
The two-part series, In Our Own Words: Improving Care for People with Disabilities, focuses on communication tips and detailed suggestions for providing the most appropriate care settings for people with a variety of disabilities. Working with the communications team at the Institute on Community Integration, and with self advocates connected as health messengers to Special Olympics Minnesota to produce the videos, the Minnesota Disability Law Center is now working to build awareness about them with provider organizations.
Anna Phearman of the MDLC got the idea for the project after experiencing suboptimal care herself as a person with multiple disabilities.
“It was also through listening to clients reaching out with frustrations about their interactions with practitioners that weren’t to the level of engaging a lawyer, but were still presenting a consistent barrier to people having a higher quality of life in the community,” Phearman said.
Read more about the videos. |
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New Exhibition: my life
ICI’s Art for All this month debuts a new exhibition—with a research twist—that presents a window into the daily lives and future dreams of youth with disabilities who are transitioning to adulthood. The exhibition, my life, begins July 26 with a program and reception featuring photos and other media images from participants in Minnesota, Singapore, and the Czech Republic.
Researchers, through special education teachers and others, asked youth with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD) to create photographs, drawings, and video clips depicting some aspect of what is meaningful to them about this time of life. They then followed up with the artists, asking questions about why they chose their subjects and how it reflects their thoughts and lives, said ICI’s Renatá Tichá, who leads Minnesota and Singapore transition projects. Now, they’ll ask for feedback from viewers of the exhibit for their own impressions.
“We may approach art for its beauty or study it for a deeper meaning. Both of these things materialized for this exhibition,” said Nik Fernholz, Art for All program manager.
The July 26 program runs 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Blythe Brenden-Mann Community Center at the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain, 2025 E. River Parkway, Minneapolis. Refreshments will be served, and free parking provided. The exhibit runs July 26 to Sept. 29.
Read more about Art for All’s new exhibition. |
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Impact’s first issue, in 1988, covered case management. One of the editors for that issue, Charlie Lakin, discusses how the publication’s commitment to collaboration and to addressing issues important to people with disabilities have remained. “Impact has become more than what we ever dreamed it would be,” he writes. Check out the 35th Anniversary edition today. |
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NCEO Report 439: The Relationship between Student Placement and AA-AAAS Participation Rates
Authors: Sheryl Lazarus and Marianna K Quanbeck
States that place higher numbers of students in restrictive learning environments also tend to have higher numbers of students taking alternative assessments for math and reading, a new report
from ICI’s National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) shows. The report analyzed data from 2018–19, showing a relationship between states’ student participation rates in alternate assessments based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS) and the percentage of students in more restrictive settings for learning. The 2015 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, known as the Every Student Succeeds Act, placed a 1% cap on student participation in the AA-AAAS. This means that states, districts, and individualized education program teams must carefully consider which students should be included in these assessments. |
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NCEO Report 440: Participation Guidelines and Definitions for Alternate Assessments Based on Alternate Academic Achievement Standards
Authors: Marianna K Quanbeck, Sheryl Lazarus, and Martha L Thurlow
This report
provides an update to previous analyses of the guidelines, definitions, and criteria states have developed for making decisions about alternate assessment based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS) participation. This report provides an analysis of the 2021–22 policies of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. NCEO analyzed criteria that should be used and factors that should not be used to determine participation, the state definitions of “most significant cognitive disabilities,” the information provided to parents about the AA-AAAS, mentions of English learners in materials related to the AA-AAAS, exemption and non-exemption materials regarding participation, and the content areas for which participation decisions are made. Published by NCEO. |
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Schleien Scholarship Accepting Applications
The Jason David Schleien Memorial Scholarship offers $3,000 to qualified students who actively promote the community inclusion of individuals with disabilities, disadvantaged youth, and other underserved populations. These activities could take place in the spring, summer or fall. Students must be enrolled full-time at the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development and report their experiences to the Schleien family after completing the project. Applicants should submit a one-page proposal to ICI’s
Nik Fernholz outlining their interest in the stated examples of areas of study and working with the relevant populations. Read more about this scholarship opportunity. |
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Rebecca Dosch Brown, Brian Abery, and Renáta Tichá. On June 1 and 8, Dosch Brown
(pictured) presented online twice: ”Practices for inclusive environments in CTE programs: Voices from learners with disabilities” and ”Building capacity and accountability for inclusive environments in CTE programs for learners with disabilities.” These hour-long presentations were the second and third sessions of a three-part series on inclusive Career and Technical Education (CTE) with the State of Minnesota CTE Equity Division. Audience members included statewide CTE department staff, instructors, curriculum designers, accessibility resource staff, school and vocational counselors, and employment specialists. Dosch Brown designed series content with Abery,
Tichá, and CTE staff. |
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Barbara Kleist. On June 12–14, Kleist
presented and moderated a panel discussion at the i2i Center for Integrative Health Critical Connections People Data Care Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina. The session was titled, “From unrecognized to essential: Emerging trends and best practices in direct support workforce recruitment and retention in a post-pandemic world.” This session included a viewing of the ICI film Invaluable: The Unrecognized Profession of Direct Support,
followed by a panel discussion on workforce challenges with leaders from North Carolina, the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, and the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals. Audience members included people who use services, organization leaders, policymakers, and others. |
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Brian Begin and Sherry Healey. On June 12–15, Begin
(left) received the Wendy M. Wood Rising Leader Award at the 2023 National APSE Conference in Columbus, Ohio. Healey (not pictured) and Begin also helped present ”MTI: A Statewide Approach for Employment Professionals to Support Competitive Integrated Employment” at the conference. |
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Jennifer Hall-Lande. On June 13–14, Hall-Lande (pictured),
Jessica Simacek, Andrea Castillo,
and others presented the poster, “Improving Autism Services: Enhancing Cultural Perspectives’ and Engagement among Diverse Community Based Providers,” at the national 2023 Peer-to-Peer Exchange sponsored by SPHARC (State Public Health Autism Resource Center) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. On June 25–28, Hall-Lande presented the poster, “Estimating Prevalence of Spina Bifida in the U.S. Using Administrative Databases,” at this year’s national conference of the Society for Birth Defects Research and Prevention in Charleston, South Carolina. The poster’s authors included Hall-Lande, Julie Bershadsky,
Sandra Pettingell, Sheryl Larson, Libby Hallas, and others. |
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Chet Tschetter and Megan Sanders. On June 15, Tschetter (pictured) and
Sanders presented the virtual frontline supervisor trainings, “Understanding Training Methods,” to frontline supervisors from the Community Provider Network of Rhode Island. |
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Roger Stancliffe. On June 22, Stancliffe,
in collaboration with Philadelphia Coordinated Health Care, presented a webinar on ”End of life for people with intellectual and developmental disability.” |
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BiKé Ojomo and Macdonald Metzger. On June 24, Ojomo (pictured) and
Metzger attended the Central Minnesota Autism Resource Fair in Elk River. The fair gave families an opportunity to learn about resources to support children and adults with autism and related conditions. Ojomo and Metzger staffed an ICI/MNLEND table at the fair where they interacted with over 30 families and shared informational materials and gift items. |
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National Center on Educational Outcomes. On June 26–28, ICI’s NCEO
staff delivered numerous presentations at the Council of Chief State School Officers’ annual National Conference on Student Assessment in New Orleans. NCEO director Sheryl Lazarus (pictured) presented, “Balancing test security and accessibility for state assessments: Policies for ensuring the validity of assessment results for students with disabilities.” Lazarus and Andrew Hinkle
presented, “Including students with disabilities in K–2 academic assessments.” Hinkle also presented, “Ensuring appropriate alternate assessment participation through successful IEP monitoring.” Lazarus and Virginia Ressa presented, “Creating and sustaining inclusive balanced assessment systems that support all students.” Ressa and Kascinda Fleming
presented, “What do students prefer? Considering student perceptions and preferences when selecting accommodations.” Martha Thurlow and Marianna Quanbeck presented, “Eligibility guidelines for alternate assessments – Revisions and results!” Thurlow and
Yi-Chen Wu presented, “Success stories in meeting the 1% AA-AAAS Participation Cap: A longitudinal view.” Wu and Kristin Liu presented, “Examining instructional and assessment data on accessibility decisions for English Learners.”
Fleming, Hinkle, Lazarus, Liu, Quanbeck, Ressa, Thurlow, and Linda Goldstone also participated in the post-conference forum, “What Does Meaningful Accessibility Really Mean?” Debbie Hansen,
Darrell Peterson, and Kathy Strunk worked on logistics and planning for the forum. |
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Amy Hewitt. On June 28, Governor Tim Walz reappointed Hewitt to the Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities for another three-year term. |
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“Let’s Try a Different Way”
Wrapping up her MNLEND fellowship at ICI this spring, Agnes Cole was also juggling an administrative role at an area service provider and running her own non-profit organization dedicated to supporting people with disabilities to access services.
As a fellow getting to know some of the ongoing research projects at the Institute on Community Integration, she was particularly intrigued with the work of the Residential Information System Project. RISP is a longitudinal study of supports and services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). It is one of three Longitudinal Data Projects of National Significance funded by the Administration on Community Living, and it tracks the living arrangements of people with IDD who are receiving services.
“What really struck me was the large number of people who want to have their disability services delivered at home,” she said. “The waiting lists for receiving home and community-based services (as opposed to large institutions or intermediate care facilities) is so long. We need to allow family members to take care of their loved ones, and many are not even aware of their options.”
Read more about Cole. |
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The University of Minnesota stands on Miní Sóta Makhóčhe, the rightful homelands of the Dakhóta Oyáte. ICI recognizes that the U.S. did not uphold its end of these land treaties. It is the current and continued displacement of the Dakhóta Oyáte
that allows the University to remain today. At ICI, we affirm our commitment to address systemic racism, ableism and all other inequalities and forms of oppression to ensure inclusive communities. |
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