Welcome to the 2020 TASH Conference - Virtual Edition website! We’re so glad you are here!
Each year, the TASH Conference brings together individuals with significant disabilities and their allies to share resources and success stories, learn about field-driven best practices, and network within a community engaged in shared values. The conference is attended by passionate advocates, leaders, and subject matter experts from every corner of the disability community. Conference attendees play an important role in supporting individuals with significant disabilities to overcome various barriers in order to live their best lives. Central to this work is the premise that individuals reach their optimal potential only when they are given the opportunity to live, work and thrive across the lifespan in the same communities we are all members of. The conference is intentionally designed to support the interests of professors and researchers from leading institutions; those involved in local, state, and federal governments and public policy; special and general educators, and school administrators; home and community-based service providers; students, family members, and most importantly, self-advocates with lived experience.
This year, while we are taking the conference virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we believe that our unique approach to providing exceptional first-rate content and building strong community ties and connections across various stakeholders will yield an extraordinary event! We have taken extra steps to bring people closer together during these times, as well as to create an amazing virtual environment that expands our knowledge, spurs our creative thinking, and focuses on healthy living and having fun! Our conference theme, Feel the Power of Inclusion, reinforces the importance of our continued commitment to promoting a world of equity and opportunity for all, and is predicated on the value of bringing together diverse perspectives and experiences in an effort to build strong human connectivity and spur collective action.
Need technical assistance during the conference? Please email our support staff at helpdesk@tash.org.
Data were reviewed for one mid-Atlantic state that has 115 traditional school districts representing 100 county-wide districts and 15 city school districts. The state provides targets for the percentage of all students with IEPs educated within the (a) regular classroom for over 80% of the day, (b) regular classroom for less than 40% of the day, and (c) those taught in alternate settings (e.g. hospital, homebound, residential). According to the most recent state data (2018-2019), 39% of the 115 districts are not meeting the target for placement in regular classes for over 80% of the day. In fact, little movement has been observed across placements over the previous three school years. Researchers attempt to identify variables (e.g. SES, school and community population demographics, identified disabilities, professional development) that might correlate with the lack of movement toward less restrictive settings for all students with IEPs.
