Ensuring that all children, youth, and adults with disabilities, and those receiving educational supports, are valued by and contribute to their communities of choice. |
|
|
|
New Grant: Custom Jobs, Competitive Pay
The Institute on Community Integration and University of Massachusetts Boston received a $3 million grant from the Minnesota Department of Human Services to design and implement a statewide strategy for connecting Minnesotans with disabilities to better jobs and higher pay.
Designed to help organizations move away from supporting employment that pays subminimum wages, the Minnesota Transformation Initiative (MTI) Technical Assistance Center will design and implement plans to assist nearly two dozen service providers as they expand their customized, integrated employment services. MTI will provide peer-mentoring strategies for job seekers with disabilities and for organizations, along with progress and quality assessments.
“There has been legislative momentum at both the federal and state levels for ending subminimum wages, and this work represents Minnesota’s commitment to being ready for a change,” said Danielle Mahoehney, a community living and employment specialist at the Institute.
An app designed to help individuals make the leap to competitive employment will be developed as part of the grant. The team also will provide outreach and support to families of people with disabilities from diverse backgrounds to assist them as they transition to the new system. Read more about competitive pay for workers with disabilities. |
|
Unlearning Ableism
Why is disability often excluded from conversations about equity, social justice, or diversity?
A team from the Institute on Community Integration presented a Disability Justice Workshop series in two separate forums this month, including one for Minnesota State, the nation’s third-largest system of state colleges and universities. The five-part series engages participants who want to create campuses and other environments that transcend the basic requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“From the beginning, our Minnesota State liaison agreed that to really understand disability justice you don’t just focus on the details of the ADA,” said Rebecca Dosch Brown, interdisciplinary education director at ICI, who led the event. “The ADA is critical, but it is not going to change people’s minds about seeing people with disabilities as less than.”
Her team first presented the series at Minnesota State, then adapted it for a second workshop for the University of Minnesota’s Global Programs and Strategy Alliance.
“We are at a point now in the evolution of disability justice where we can move past the basics and get to a place where we are creating truly inclusive organizations,” said Katrina Simons, a community program specialist at ICI who helped Dosch Brown create and present the series. “It was really exciting to see participants keep coming back week after week to participate in these discussions.”
To learn more about bringing the programming to your organization, contact Dosch Brown at dosch018@umn.edu
Read more about unlearning ableism. |
|
Direct Support Workforce Solutions works closely with organizations to develop and implement workforce strategies that reduce turnover; attract, recruit and retain qualified talent; and engage and prepare their workforce to deliver high-quality services. Visit dsworkforcesolutions.com to learn more. |
|
Reconsidering LRE: Students with the Most Significant Cognitive Disabilities and the Persistence of Separate Schools
Authors: Harold Kleinert and Jacqui Kearns
This report has highlighted an important and persistent challenge: Many students with the most significant cognitive disabilities in the U.S. still attend separate schools. However, the huge variance across states in placement rates of students with significant disabilities is evidence that the severity of disability or intensity of support needs is not
the driving factor in these discussions. For states, districts, and schools that want to examine their own placement rates for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, this report has presented both a case study and a set of recommendations that may help them address this challenge. This report includes embedded interview clips with Kentucky educators who were part of the closure of separate schools in that state. Published by ICI’s TIES Center. |
|
Employment and Participation in Meaningful Activities for Persons with Disabilities in Bhutan: Results from a National Survey
Authors: Matthew Schuelka, Renáta Tichá, Brian Abery,
Kezang Sherab, and Ura Sonam Tshewang
This report was conducted in late 2019, as part of a project on employment and meaningful participation of youth with disabilities in Bhutan titled, “Understanding, Developing, and Supporting Meaningful Work for Youth with Disabilities in Bhutan: Networks, Communities, and Transitions,” funded by the UK government and managed by the University of Minnesota's Institute on Community Integration, Royal Thimphu College (Bhutan), and the University of Birmingham (UK). The survey was Phase One of the project and included 216 youth with disabilities (average age 23) across 17 out of 20 dzongkhags
[districts] in Bhutan. Fieldwork surveys and interviews were conducted in-person using Geographic Information Systems [GIS]-enabled technology. |
|
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. |
|
ICI Web Site Survey
Please take a moment to let us know what you think of the ICI website (https://ici.umn.edu/) and how it can better serve you in the future. The short one-question survey takes only a few moments to complete and can be found at https://umn.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0D4v82keKDehnV3. Thank you! |
|
Marius Massie, Eileen Klemm, and Ann Thompson: On April 6–9, Massie (pictured) presented, “Building family skills through strength-based engagement and problem-solving,” at the 2022 National School Social Work Conference in Chicago. On April 13–16,
Klemm presented, “Check & Connect: Monitoring and increasing students' academic, behavioral, cognitive, and affective engagement,” at the 19th International Conference on Positive Behavior Support in San Diego. Thompson exhibited at both conferences. |
|
Jennifer Hall-Lande, Libby Hallas, and Andrea Castillo. On April 11, Hall-Lande (pictured) and
Hallas were among the presenters on the sustainability of self-directed supports at the ANCOR conference in Miami. On April 12, Hall-Lande and Castillo
were among the presenters on early screening and developmental monitoring at the Minnesota Autism Symposium. On April 18, Hall-Lande and Amy Esler presented on the Autism Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) and the Learn The Signs, Act Early (LTSAE) projects to the University of Minnesota Autism Initiative, which is a team of University of Minnesota autism researchers. On April 21, Hall-Lande co-presented a webinar hosted by the Minnesota Autism Interagency Committee on the importance of early and accurate identification and access to services with medical and educational identification. |
|
Barbara Kleist and Megan Sanders. On April 12, Kleist and Sanders, in partnership with a Tennessee funder, presented, ”Boosting Your Recruitment Through Apprenticeship: The Research and the Reality,” at the ANCOR Conference in Miami. |
|
Jessica Simacek, Muna Khalif, Adele Dimian, Tanya Misgen, and Anne Floyd. On April 12, Simacek (pictured),
Khalif, and Dimian
presented, “Telehealth to improve flexible service delivery pathways for autistic children, youth, and adults,” at the MN Autism Resource Symposium. Simacek serves as the Director of the ICI-led TeleOutreach Center and the TeleOutreach Research Core at the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain. On April 13–16, Simacek presented, “Connecting PBS facilitators through telehealth: Team training for IDD organizations across regions,” at the Association for Positive Behavior Support (APBS) international conference in San Diego. On April 19, Simacek, Dimian, Khalif, and Misgen
developed and presented (with the Minnesota Department of Human Services), “Supporting Individuals and Families in Their Homes and Communities via Telehealth,” for the Telehealth and Remote Positive Support Practices Training series. On April 27, Floyd, Khalif, and Simacek were among the presenters of “Addressing Barriers to support and service access for autistic children and families“ at the 27th annual Minnesota Autism Conference. |
|
Renáta Tichá and Matthew Schuelka. On April 18–22, during the annual meeting of CIES (the Comparative and International Education Society) in Minneapolis,
Tichá (pictured) presented, “Using the Socio-Ecological Framework to promote inclusion in Armenia, Ukraine, and Czech Republic.” During the same meeting, Schuelka
co-presented, “The impact of micro-grants and inclusion coordinators on youth with disabilities: Evidence from an education and employment project in Bhutan.” During CIES, Schuelka also screened at the Minneapolis Institute of Art the film that he co-produced, Dreams of Birds Flying in the Sky. A documentary about people with disabilities in the Himalayan country of Bhutan, the film (view trailer
) won Critic’s Choice Award at the Druk International Film Festival in Bhutan. In India, the film was awarded Best Documentary at the Kanchenjunga International Film Festival and was selected for the IndieFILM awards. The film is still making the rounds in film festivals, but the public should be able to purchase it late this year or early next, with the proceeds going towards a scholarship/grant fund for people with disabilities in Bhutan. |
|
Yi-Chen Wu, David Johnson, and Martha Thurlow. On April 23, Wu, Johnson, and Thurlow
presented, ”Parent and youth expectations on post-school outcomes for youth with disabilities,” at the National Council on Measurement in Education in Education (NCME) conference in San Diego. |
|
Bryan Boyce
Cow Tipping Press founder Bryan Boyce (
MNLEND, 2020-21) recently wrapped another series of the organization’s writing courses for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), bringing the cumulative number of students served to nearly 600. Boyce has begun offering courses beyond Minnesota’s borders, a result of the surge in interest for online learning due to the pandemic.
“We teach and publish writing by people with disabilities and see that as a new or different way of thinking about, valuing, and uplifting the voices of this diverse population,” Boyce said. “It’s exponential the amount of writing that is done about people with IDD versus by people with IDD.” Read more about Boyce. |
|
|
|
This email was sent to ICI staff by Institute on Community Integration, 2025 East River Parkway, Minneapolis, MN, 55414, USA. The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.
mass email privacy statement | |
|
|
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. |
|
|
|
|
|
|