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Vanderbilt Kennedy Center well represented at the 2009 Special Education Annual Conference

Updated on 2/26/2009 3:24:56 PM.

Source: Vanderbilt Kennedy Center

By: Courtney Taylor

Many of Vanderbilt Kennedy Center’s faculty, staff, and trainees participated in the 2009 Special Education Annual Conference held February 25-27, 2009 at the Nashville, Airport Marriott.  The title for the 2009 Conference was “Measuring up Though Improved Outcomes.”

For more detailed information on Vanderbilt Kennedy Center representation at the Conference see the list below.

Vanderbilt Kennedy Center affiliated presenters are denoted by an asterisk (*).

For more information about the about the Conference, including a full conference program, visit: http://www.tennessee.gov/education/speced/seannounce.shtml

Presentations:

“Post Secondary Education for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities – An Update in Tennessee”

Sharon Bottorff
The Arc of Williamson County

Elise McMillan, J.D.*
Co-Director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (VKC UCEDD)

Megan Griffin*
Doctoral Candidate in Special Education
Trainee, VKC UCEDD

The Tennessee Task Force for Postsecondary Education for Students with Intellectual Disabilities has been established to plan and support the development of postsecondary programs on Tennessee college campuses. This session discussed current initiatives of the task force, including the pilot project that began in Tennessee in January of 2009 at Vanderbilt University. Session attendees were informed about the need for postsecondary programs on Tennessee college campuses for individuals with intellectual disabilities and became aware of the pilot project underway at Vanderbilt University and future plans for expansion of programs.

To view slides from this presentation, see Postsecondary Education for Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities.

“Student Voices: What Do High Poverty Youth Say About Their Involvement in Their Educational Programs?”

Carolyn Hughes, Ph.D.*
Professor of Special Education, Vanderbilt University

Barbara Washington, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Special Education, Murray State University

Opportunities for self-advocacy are notoriously limited for youth attending high poverty high schools, particularly for students with severe disabilities. The investigators interviewed students, primarily African-Americans, attending a high-poverty urban high school, half of whom were identified with severe disabilities and half who were graduating general education seniors. Findings were compared across the two student groups with respect to their reported involvement in their educational planning and use of self-advocacy skills.  Session presenters discussed the educational implications of those findings.

“Finding Disability Resources”

Ashley Coulter*
Outreach and Training Coordinator, Tennessee Disability Pathfinder

Carole Moore-Slater*
Director, Tennessee Disability Pathfinder

Presenters gave an overview of Tennessee Disability Pathfinder, a statewide bilingual information and assistance project that includes a statewide bilingual HELPline, website resources on a local, state and national level, Hispanic Outreach Program and accessibility training project. They provided practical tips on accessing the online database (statewide agency database and Camino Seguro data of bilingual providers in Middle and West TN), working with families in the Hispanic community and other disability resources. Disability Pathfinder is a project of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center and Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities.