Project Bridge is the periodic newsletter of the Center for
Disabilities Studies (CDS) within the University of
Delaware’s College of Education and Human Development.
This issue includes project updates from the past few
months and events taking place in June and July.
Please send news and events for the next issue to Katie
Hoffman at khoffman@udel.edu by July 7.
The second
cohort of Career
and Life Studies
Certificate
(CLSC) students
graduated at the
College of
Education and
Human
Development
(CEHD)
convocation
ceremony on
May 31 after
completing the
two-year
program. This
non-residential
UD program
provides
The CLSC class of 2014, photo from newarkpostonline
students with
intellectual disabilities the opportunity to develop skills and become more independent in
employment or education settings, as well as in their daily lives.
CDS faculty and staff, Brian Freedman, Laura Eisenman, Debbie Bain and Wendy Claiser,
joined CEHD Dean Lynn Okagaki in awarding CLSC students their certificates and
congratulating them on this major accomplishment. Each student graduated with a UD
Certificate in Career and Life Studies. From here, students of the class of 2014 have plans to
move forward with continued education and/or employment. The Newark Post published an
article featuring 2014 graduate Trey Howell. After completing an internship through CLSC at
the National 5 and 10 in Newark, he was offered a permanent position there.
As the class of 2014 moves on to pursue new endeavors, another cohort of students will soon
enter the program. The class of 2016 currently has seven students, who will join the secondyear students (class of 2015) in the CLSC program. We continue to accept applications for the
class of 2016.
For more information on CLSC, visit the CDS website or contact Mary Thomas at clscinfo@udel.edu or 302-831-2940.
If you’re among the growing numbers of people who like CDS on
Facebook, you read earlier this month about U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper's
(R-Miss.) Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act, a bill that would
provide "fair and moral pay" to workers with disabilities in sheltered,
segregated workshops. You heard about the increasing number of therapy dogs
accompanying Delaware children during in- and out-patient services at Nemours/Alfred I.
duPont Hospital for Children. And you caught a glimpse of the University of Delaware students
awarded the 2014 Autism Delaware Daniel and Lois Gray Memorial Scholarship.
If you haven’t yet liked CDS on Facebook, what’s keeping you? Please connect with us now!
In June, followers of CDS on Twitter got alerted to the Delaware Foundation
Reaching Citizens (DFRC) annual walk/run to benefit Delawareans with
intellectual disabilities; a webinar focusing on emergency planning for persons
with disabilities, their caregivers, and family members; and the 44th annual
Special Olympics Delaware held at the University of Delaware.
Get social, and follow CDS on Twitter!
CDS Director Beth Mineo attended the annual meeting of the National Joint Committee (NJC)
for the Communication Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities, held this year in Savannah,
Ga. Members of the NJC advocate for individuals with significant communication support
needs resulting from intellectual disability that may coexist with autism, sensory and/or motor
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CDS Director Beth Mineo, second from right, represents the Association of Assistive Technology Act
Programs on the NJC.
limitation. The NJC’s advocacy initiatives include the development of position statements and
technical reports, presentations at national conferences, and the development of pre-service
training and in-service professional development opportunities. The focus of this year’s
meeting was completion of a new guidance document related to assessment and intervention,
and finalization of an update to the NJC’s ever-popular Communication Bill of Rights.
The NJC has also been instrumental in the development of an e-conference, “Improving
Communication of People with Severe Disabilities: Interprofessional Strategies.” The
conference, hosted by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, will run from
June 11-23, 2014. Beth is one of the presenters; her session is titled “Interprofessional
Innovation: Technology, Policy & Practice Discoveries.”
Because of her tenure as a National Institutes of Health (NIH) review panel chair, Beth Mineo
was invited by the Center for Scientific Review at the NIH to chair an orientation session for
individuals newly appointed as chairs of Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business
Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) grant review panels. This session was held on May 27 at
the NIH offices in Bethesda, MD. Beth has served on SBIR/STTR panels for more than 10
years, and was appointed to serve as a panel chair three years ago.
Members of the CDS Assistive Technology unit recently presented at conferences.
Dan Fendler, Assistive Technology Manager, presented at the M-Enabling Summit in
Washington D.C. on June 9. Dan was a panelist in a session titled “Mobile Innovation Forum
and App Forum – Special Educators,” which covered the main advances of mobile apps and
services for students with disabilities. Members of the audience were then invited to share
information about apps that they have found useful.
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CDS’s Dan Fendler with session
facilitator Amy Goldman, co-executive
director of the Institute on Disabilities at
Temple University
Suzanne Milbourne, Project Director of Delaware
Early Childhood Assistive Technology Model
Demonstration, addressed the North Carolina
Inclusion Institute on May 12. Joining Suzanne in
leading the session, “Demystify Assistive Technology
and Inspire the Assistive Technologist in You!
Promoting Participation, Development and Enjoyment
Among Young Children
through Assistive
Technology and Related
Strategies,” were
representatives from other
assistive technology model
demonstration projects:
Susan Mistrett, of FYI-360
Let’s Participate; and
Bridget Gilormini, of
PACER Simon Technology
Center.
CDS’s Suzanne Milbourne
Medicaid Mental/Behavioral/Emotional Health Care Call, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Families and
representatives from the Division of Prevention and Behavioral Health Services, Disabilities
Law Program, Medicaid, Delaware Physicians Care Inc., United Healthcare and other
agencies participate in these calls to address your questions and concerns. For information,
contact Ann Phillips at annp@defv.org. Additional call-in dates may be found on the Delaware
Family Voices website.
When in Doubt, Rule It Out: Medical Problems and Aggressive Behaviors of Individuals
with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) Webinar.
Common medical problems of individuals with disabilities and side effects will be presented,
along with tips on how to increase early detection. Learn more and register on the webinar’s
webpage.
All In! at Delaware Children’s Museum, 550 Justison Street, Wilmington, DE, 5–8 p.m.
Family SHADE and Delaware Children’s Museum (DCM) are hosting an inclusion night at the
museum. Families will have an opportunity to explore sensory labeled exhibits to support
people who are sensory avoiding or sensory seeking. More information about the event is
available on the Family SHADE website.
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Caroline’s Cart is a shopping cart created by a mother of a
child with special needs for children and adults with
disabilities. It provides parents and caregivers a viable
option to transport someone through a store while grocery
shopping, without simultaneously having to maneuver a
wheelchair and a traditional grocery cart.
Starting in June, Caroline’s Carts will be available at all
ShopRite stores, including those in Delaware. Find a
complete list of Delaware locations on the Caroline’s Cart
website.
Caroline and Drew Ann Long, the
inventor of Caroline’s Cart
This section is dedicated to informing you about advocacy efforts and new or pending
legislation or policies that relate to individuals with disabilities.
Delaware would likely see more students participating in portfolio assessment rather than
standard or alternate assessments if SB229 becomes law. The controversial bill from Sen.
Nicole Poore and several co-sponsors would permit “the state’s most severely cognitively
disabled students,” with the consent of their parents, IEP teams, and school districts, to receive
special exemptions from taking either of the state’s standardized assessments. The bill has
passed the Senate, and been reported out of the Education Committee in the House.
For more information, visit the website for this bill.
The University of Delaware’s Center for Disabilities Studies is located at 461 Wyoming Road,
Newark, Delaware, 19716. Please call us at 302-831-6974 or 302-831-4689 (TDD), send an
email to ud-cds@udel.edu or visit our website at www.udel.edu/cds. You’ll also find CDS on
Facebook at www.facebook.com/UDelCDS.
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Notice of Non-discrimination, Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action
The University of Delaware is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. For the
University’s complete non-discrimination statement, visit the UD Legal Notices website page at
http://www.udel.edu/aboutus/legalnotices.html.
Core funding for the Center for Disabilities Studies originates from Grant # 90DD0688-02-00
from the Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AIDD). AIDD is part of
the Administration for Community Living, a branch within the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services.
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