2020 TASH Conference - Virtual Edition

Day 1 Intensives are short-course workshops delivered by teams of national exemplars around a specific topic. Intensives will be delivered in a "live" format to allow attendees to dive into popular topics in more depth.
This year, there will be four tracks with four workshops per track:

1. Employment & Transition
2. Human Rights
3. Inclusive Education
4. TASH Doctoral Students and Early Career Faculty Workshop

Day 1 Intensives will be held on Tuesday, December 1. Registered attendees can select and add their preferred Intensive track to their schedules at any time. Zoom links will be shared closer to the event date.

Day 1 Intensives: Employment & Transition Track

11:15-11:30 AM EST: Welcome and Keynote Address: The Power of Competitive Integrated Employment in Achieving Equity and Opportunity for All
Presenter: Jennifer Johnson

11:30 AM-12:30 PM EST: Promoting Inclusion to Increase Employment for Youth and Young Adults with Disabilities
Presenters: Kathleen Woodward, Kristin Corcoran, Montrel Tennessee, Sandy Jordan, Kelie Hess
Employment remains a critical part of community inclusion for people with disabilities (Administration on Community Living, 2019). This presentation will share how the Administration on Disabilities' Partnerships in Employment grantees formed a group of stakeholders to improve employment outcomes for youth and young adults with disabilities by creating and supporting programs and policies that promote inclusion. Participants will hear from the national evaluator and grantees from DC, South Carolina, and Utah on how they promote inclusion of youth and young adults with disabilities through self-advocacy programs, parent and family engagement, and career and technical education. Presenters will also share success stories of how their states' have involved students with the most significant disabilities in employment opportunities. The presentation will conclude with a discussion on the importance of inclusion of youth and young adults with disabilities in competitive integrated employment.

12:45-2:00 PM EST: Building an Inclusive and Resilient Workforce: Recruitment, Retention and Innovation
Presenters: Susan Brooks, Dale Verstegan
The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the fragility of the Direct Support Professional workforce, and increased the already too high unemployment rate of people with disabilities. Now, more than ever, innovative ideas are needed to tackle these critical issues. The DSP Academy is a training program that certifies people with disabilities as DSP's supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It starts with high expectations and uses principles of customized employment and universal design to prepare people with disabilities for success as a Direct Support Professional, supporting others to achieve their dreams. We will also share our learning from adapting to provide a large portion of the DSP Academy curriculum in a virtual environment. Staff development is most often accomplished through external training organizations. The DSP Academy is a great example of provider organizations adopting and reinforcing the training curriculum. While external training trainers and events should be valued, this approach does not ensure the development of staff skills, competency and improved employment outcomes and presents challenges with sustainability as well.

2:15-3:30 PM EST: Supporting Employment through Supported Decision-Making
Presenter: Erin Leveton, Joan Christopher, Morgan Whitlatch
Talk with DC and MO about how they are braiding the National Supporting Families Community of Practice principles and tools with learning from the National Supported Decision-Making CoP to support self-determination and employment. Hear the national perspective on what's happening to launch and grow supported decision-making and promote self-determination, inclusion, and competitive integrated employment. We will share experiences in MO and DC and then have you share what's happening in your state. Next, we will do a deep dive with family members about how supported decision-making works in practice. Finally, we will facilitate a conversation to share promising practices in engaging self-advocates and families to not only help them envision and plan a good life for themselves and their children, but also to better inform state systems changes through deep engagement with families and to successfully advocate for those changes.

3:45-5:00 PM EST: The Power of Leading a Self-Determined Life Through Person-Centered Planning
Presenters: Kelie Hess, Tricia Jones-Parkin, Aubrey Snyder
As the Utah School to Work Interagency Transition Initiative enters its 5th year of the project, we have identified a need for building self-advocacy skills and focusing on strengthening individualized opportunities and aligning service plans prior to work experiences and going through the process of discovery. The school to work project is introducing person-centered planning tools and the process with students entering their first year of post-high with the goal of 1. Students directing IEP and person-centered planning meetings 2. Aligning goals across service systems and life domains 3. Development and exploration of individualized work and community-based experiences to inform and strengthen the Discovery and Customized Job Development process.

12:45-2:00 PM EST: Building an Inclusive and Resilient Workforce: Recruitment, Retention and Innovation
Presenters: Susan Brooks, Dale Verstegan
The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the fragility of the Direct Support Professional workforce, and increased the already too high unemployment rate of people with disabilities. Now, more than ever, innovative ideas are needed to tackle these critical issues. The DSP Academy is a training program that certifies people with disabilities as DSP's supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It starts with high expectations and uses principles of customized employment and universal design to prepare people with disabilities for success as a Direct Support Professional, supporting others to achieve their dreams. We will also share our learning from adapting to provide a large portion of the DSP Academy curriculum in a virtual environment. Staff development is most often accomplished through external training organizations. The DSP Academy is a great example of provider organizations adopting and reinforcing the training curriculum. While external training trainers and events should be valued, this approach does not ensure the development of staff skills, competency and improved employment outcomes and presents challenges with sustainability as well.

2:15-3:30 PM EST: Supporting Employment through Supported Decision-Making
Presenter: Erin Leveton, Joan Christopher, Morgan Whitlatch
Talk with DC and MO about how they are braiding the National Supporting Families Community of Practice principles and tools with learning from the National Supported Decision-Making CoP to support self-determination and employment. Hear the national perspective on what's happening to launch and grow supported decision-making and promote self-determination, inclusion, and competitive integrated employment. We will share experiences in MO and DC and then have you share what's happening in your state. Next, we will do a deep dive with family members about how supported decision-making works in practice. Finally, we will facilitate a conversation to share promising practices in engaging self-advocates and families to not only help them envision and plan a good life for themselves and their children, but also to better inform state systems changes through deep engagement with families and to successfully advocate for those changes.

3:45-5:00 PM EST: The Power of Leading a Self-Determined Life Through Person-Centered Planning 
Presenters: Kelie Hess, Tricia Jones-Parkin, Aubrey Snyder
As the Utah School to Work Interagency Transition Initiative enters its 5th year of the project, we have identified a need for building self-advocacy skills and focusing on strengthening individualized opportunities and aligning service plans prior to work experiences and going through the process of discovery. The school to work project is introducing person-centered planning tools and the process with students entering their first year of post-high with the goal of 1. Students directing IEP and person-centered planning meetings 2. Aligning goals across service systems and life domains 3. Development and exploration of individualized work and community-based experiences to inform and strengthen the Discovery and Customized Job Development process.

11:30 AM-12:30 PM EST: Promoting Inclusion to Increase Employment for Youth and Young Adults with Disabilities
Presenters: Kathleen Woodward, Kristin Corcoran, Montrel Tennessee, Sandy Jordan, Kelie Hess
Employment remains a critical part of community inclusion for people with disabilities (Administration on Community Living, 2019). This presentation will share how the Administration on Disabilities' Partnerships in Employment grantees formed a group of stakeholders to improve employment outcomes for youth and young adults with disabilities by creating and supporting programs and policies that promote inclusion. Participants will hear from the national evaluator and grantees from DC, South Carolina, and Utah on how they promote inclusion of youth and young adults with disabilities through self-advocacy programs, parent and family engagement, and career and technical education. Presenters will also share success stories of how their states' have involved students with the most significant disabilities in employment opportunities. The presentation will conclude with a discussion on the importance of inclusion of youth and young adults with disabilities in competitive integrated employment.

Day 1 Intensives: Human Rights Track

11:15 AM-12:30 PM EST: Protecting the Rights of People with Disabilities During COVID-19
Presenter: Samantha Crane, Jennifer Mathis, Anita Cameron
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network and the Bazelon Center will describe their work to enforce the right of people with disabilities to access health care during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have reached out to other advocates, including the Disability Visibility Project and Not Dead Yet, as co-presenters. Starting early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous disability advocates raised concerns with hospital and state plans on allocation of scarce medical resources, which either explicitly or effectively deprioritized people with disabilities in need of life-saving care. In response, a coalition of national and local advocates used a variety of strategies to ensure that states and hospitals adopted more equitable policies on allocation of resources. Advocates used similar strategies to address other potentially discriminatory policies, including policies that limited individuals' access to in-person supports while hospitalized.

12:45 - 2:00 PM EST: Supported Decision Making: From Dream to Reality
Presenters: Dana Lloyd, John McCarty
Supported Decision-Making is essential in order for people with disabilities to control all aspects of their lives. This workshop will not only take you on a journey to explore supported decision-making from conception to implementation, as we follow one young man's path to make his own decisions pursue his dreams, but offer practical tools for developing (or assisting someone else to develop) a supported decision-making plan. This workshop will feature a panel of presenters including an Autistic person, an advocate and a parent will share what they have learned from the process of using supported decision making to overturn a guardianship, how to implement those principles and practices, as well as a the role of parents and supporters.

2:15 - 3:30 PM EST: Leaving State Guardianship: My Life, My Choices
Presenter: Whitney Kays, Maegan Pirtle
This presentation follows the story of Shanae, who was assigned state guardianship many years ago. As a result, major life decisions were chosen for her: where to live, who she lived with, how she spent her day, etc. In 2016, she partnered with Mattingly Edge to imagine and create a fundamentally different lifestyle. In late 2018, one of her biggest dreams became a reality: Shanae moved into her own home and began looking for someone to be her private guardian. This was a long and difficult road, but she persisted! Hear from Shanae and her private guardian on how these and other changes have affected her life. Attendees will also hear from Mattingly Edge, her service provider, to hear how they were able to help make Shanae's dreams become a reality, including having a hands-on approach in recruiting a private guardian, locating a low-income landlord, making her home accessible, and recruiting a team of supporters for Shanae to spend her time pursuing valued social roles.

3:45 - 5:00 PM EST: #BlackDisabledLivesMatter
Presenter: Parris Boyd
This session will give a brief overview of the development of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, why it is important for the disability perspective to be incorporated within it, and how to do that. It is important to recognize that none of us can isolate any particular aspect of our identities that we are marginalized by. This is particularly important for black disabled people who are at the intersection of at least two identities that have higher rates of interaction with the police. Both the disability rights movement as well as the #BlackLivesMatter movement have important implications for their lives, which means that their need to be represented in both movements. The disability movement and #BlackLivesMatter are movements that started in response to inequities within their respective communities. The disability movement is still fighting hard for things like jobs, inclusion and healthcare while the #BlackLivesMatter movement was created in response to police brutality.

3:45 - 5:00 PM EST: #BlackDisabledLivesMatter
Presenter: Parris Boyd
This session will give a brief overview of the development of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, why it is important for the disability perspective to be incorporated within it, and how to do that. It is important to recognize that none of us can isolate any particular aspect of our identities that we are marginalized by. This is particularly important for black disabled people who are at the intersection of at least two identities that have higher rates of interaction with the police. Both the disability rights movement as well as the #BlackLivesMatter movement have important implications for their lives, which means that their need to be represented in both movements. The disability movement and #BlackLivesMatter are movements that started in response to inequities within their respective communities. The disability movement is still fighting hard for things like jobs, inclusion and healthcare while the #BlackLivesMatter movement was created in response to police brutality.

2:15 - 3:30 PM EST: Leaving State Guardianship: My Life, My Choices
Presenter: Whitney Kays, Maegan Pirtle
This presentation follows the story of Shanae, who was assigned state guardianship many years ago. As a result, major life decisions were chosen for her: where to live, who she lived with, how she spent her day, etc. In 2016, she partnered with Mattingly Edge to imagine and create a fundamentally different lifestyle. In late 2018, one of her biggest dreams became a reality: Shanae moved into her own home and began looking for someone to be her private guardian. This was a long and difficult road, but she persisted! Hear from Shanae and her private guardian on how these and other changes have affected her life. Attendees will also hear from Mattingly Edge, her service provider, to hear how they were able to help make Shanae's dreams become a reality, including having a hands-on approach in recruiting a private guardian, locating a low-income landlord, making her home accessible, and recruiting a team of supporters for Shanae to spend her time pursuing valued social roles.

11:15 AM-12:30 PM EST: Protecting the Rights of People with Disabilities During COVID-19
Presenter: Samantha Crane, Jennifer Mathis, Anita Cameron
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network and the Bazelon Center will describe their work to enforce the right of people with disabilities to access health care during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have reached out to other advocates, including the Disability Visibility Project and Not Dead Yet, as co-presenters. Starting early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous disability advocates raised concerns with hospital and state plans on allocation of scarce medical resources, which either explicitly or effectively deprioritized people with disabilities in need of life-saving care. In response, a coalition of national and local advocates used a variety of strategies to ensure that states and hospitals adopted more equitable policies on allocation of resources. Advocates used similar strategies to address other potentially discriminatory policies, including policies that limited individuals' access to in-person supports while hospitalized.

12:45 - 2:00 PM EST: Supported Decision Making: From Dream to Reality
Presenters: Dana Lloyd, John McCarty
Supported Decision-Making is essential in order for people with disabilities to control all aspects of their lives. This workshop will not only take you on a journey to explore supported decision-making from conception to implementation, as we follow one young man's path to make his own decisions pursue his dreams, but offer practical tools for developing (or assisting someone else to develop) a supported decision-making plan. This workshop will feature a panel of presenters including an Autistic person, an advocate and a parent will share what they have learned from the process of using supported decision making to overturn a guardianship, how to implement those principles and practices, as well as a the role of parents and supporters.

Day 1 Intensives: Inclusive Education Track

11:15 AM-12:30 PM EST: Challenging the Stigma of Disability in Education
Presenter: Alan Holdsworth
The session will explore strategies and policies that educators and students can adopt to challenge the stigma of disability in K-12 and in college and university campuses. The focus will be on changing and challenging damaging stereotypes and attitudes that still remain in education. Participants will learn about useful resources and tools that they can use, and will learn about the concept of disability pride and how to introduce this into curriculum and college life and how the language that we use is important in how attitudes about people with disabilities are shaped. The session will be a mixture of presentation, group discussion and Q & A.

12:45-2:00 PM EST: An Inclusive Life Starts with an Inclusive Education: Views from School Administrators
Presenter: Kurt A. Schneider, Jenny Sterpin, Kate Cavanaugh, Joanna Ford, Beth Carmody
This presentation aligns with the 2020 theme, "Feel the Power of Inclusion," by sharing the leadership and determination that school systems have demonstrated in order to pave the way for all people to have an inclusive life. The presenters will share their views on how school districts and individual schools in Illinois are eliciting and hearing the voices of people with disabilities to improve outcomes of students and their non-disabled peers. Presenters will describe their change processes, and how their districts and schools are evolving to develop relationships and networks to create a unified educational system based upon inclusive "TASH" values. The work of Theoharis and Causton-Theoharis (2008, 2014), Capper & Frattura (2008), and Schneider & Sands (2020) outlines a theory of how to create a vision for inclusive education and the related action steps. Through regional and individual district case examples shared, the alignment to such research will be highlighted.

2:15-3:30 PM EST: Equitable and Inclusive IEP Development Workshop
Presenters: Katie McCabe, Jennifer Kurth, Andrea Ruppar, Samantha Toews, Jessica McQueston, Elissa Lockman Turner
Through a series of research studies, we evaluated content in IEPs for students with extensive support needs (ESN). Findings from the studies yielded research to practice implications which have guided the topics for this interactive workshop. Participants in this workshop will develop strategies to produce and implement equitable and inclusive IEPs for students with ESN. The workshop is broken into sections pertaining to each component of the IEPs including: (a) writing strengths-based present levels of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP) statements, (b) enhancing family and student involvement, (c) implementing supplementary aids and services to improve participation in general education, (d) using PLAAFP statements to determine the least restrictive environment by identifying necessary supports to increase general education access, and (e) creating measurable and inclusive goals. This workshop is designed for current educators, families, and teacher educators.

3:45-5:00 PM EST: Meaningful Access to Core Curriculum: IEP Goals, Modifications, Adaptations K-12
Presenter: Kathy Gee
This presentation will provide participants with key knowledge and skills related to understanding how children/youth with the most extensive support needs (ESN) can and should be involved in the core curriculum with their typical peers. The focus will be on process, cognitive scaffolding, IEP goal development, and strategies for supporting meaningful learning within the activities of general education core curricular units. Participants will be introduced to the core standards and how to pull the 'key ideas' and concepts from the standards in order to both develop goals and to provide learning support. Multiple examples will be provided for both elementary and secondary students. Activities will be used to engage participants in problem solving around case examples.

12:45-2:00 PM EST: An Inclusive Life Starts with an Inclusive Education: Views from School Administrators
Presenter: Kurt A. Schneider, Jenny Sterpin, Kate Cavanaugh, Joanna Ford, Beth Carmody
This presentation aligns with the 2020 theme, "Feel the Power of Inclusion," by sharing the leadership and determination that school systems have demonstrated in order to pave the way for all people to have an inclusive life. The presenters will share their views on how school districts and individual schools in Illinois are eliciting and hearing the voices of people with disabilities to improve outcomes of students and their non-disabled peers. Presenters will describe their change processes, and how their districts and schools are evolving to develop relationships and networks to create a unified educational system based upon inclusive "TASH" values. The work of Theoharis and Causton-Theoharis (2008, 2014), Capper & Frattura (2008), and Schneider & Sands (2020) outlines a theory of how to create a vision for inclusive education and the related action steps. Through regional and individual district case examples shared, the alignment to such research will be highlighted.

11:15 AM-12:30 PM EST: Challenging the Stigma of Disability in Education
Presenter: Alan Holdsworth
The session will explore strategies and policies that educators and students can adopt to challenge the stigma of disability in K-12 and in college and university campuses. The focus will be on changing and challenging damaging stereotypes and attitudes that still remain in education. Participants will learn about useful resources and tools that they can use, and will learn about the concept of disability pride and how to introduce this into curriculum and college life and how the language that we use is important in how attitudes about people with disabilities are shaped. The session will be a mixture of presentation, group discussion and Q & A.

2:15-3:30 PM EST: Equitable and Inclusive IEP Development Workshop
Presenters: Katie McCabe, Jennifer Kurth, Andrea Ruppar, Samantha Toews, Jessica McQueston, Elissa Lockman Turner

Through a series of research studies, we evaluated content in IEPs for students with extensive support needs (ESN). Findings from the studies yielded research to practice implications which have guided the topics for this interactive workshop. Participants in this workshop will develop strategies to produce and implement equitable and inclusive IEPs for students with ESN.

The workshop is broken into sections pertaining to each component of the IEPs including: (a) writing strengths-based present levels of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP) statements, (b) enhancing family and student involvement, (c) implementing supplementary aids and services to improve participation in general education, (d) using PLAAFP statements to determine the least restrictive environment by identifying necessary supports to increase general education access, and (e) creating measurable and inclusive goals. This workshop is designed for current educators, families, and teacher educators.

3:45-5:00 PM EST: Meaningful Access to Core Curriculum: IEP Goals, Modifications, Adaptations K-12
Presenter: Kathy Gee
This presentation will provide participants with key knowledge and skills related to understanding how children/youth with the most extensive support needs (ESN) can and should be involved in the core curriculum with their typical peers. The focus will be on process, cognitive scaffolding, IEP goal development, and strategies for supporting meaningful learning within the activities of general education core curricular units. Participants will be introduced to the core standards and how to pull the 'key ideas' and concepts from the standards in order to both develop goals and to provide learning support. Multiple examples will be provided for both elementary and secondary students. Activities will be used to engage participants in problem solving around case examples.

This year, the TASH Early Career Researcher Network is hosting an intensive workshop focused on topics that are essential for early career researchers. Nationally recognized faculty will lead five “mini-sessions” that address the following topics: early career grant writing, interviewing, achieving balance in academia, shifting a research agenda from early career to mid- career, and publishing manuscripts.

11:15 AM-12:10 PM EST: Achieving Balance: Research, Teaching, Service, and Work/Life Balance
Presenters: Jennifer Kurth, Andrea Ruppar

12:25-1:20 PM EST: Early Career Grant Writing
Presenter: Carly Roberts

1:35-2:30 PM EST: Tips for Publishing and Reviewing Manuscripts in RPSD
Presenters: Martin Agran, Stacy Dymond, Fred Spooner

2:45-3:40 PM EST: Interviewing for Faculty Positions: Virtual Interviews and the Job Search Process
Presenters: Shari Hopkins, April Regester, Jessica McQueston

3:55-4:50 PM EST: Developing and Sustaining a Research Agenda – Shifting from Early Career to Mid-Career
Presenters: Virginia Walker, Matthew Brock

11:15 AM-12:10 PM EST: Achieving Balance: Research, Teaching, Service, and Work/Life Balance
Presenters: Jennifer Kurth, Andrea Ruppar

3:55-4:50 PM EST: Developing and Sustaining a Research Agenda – Shifting from Early Career to Mid-Career
Presenters: Virginia Walker, Matthew Brock

12:25-1:20 PM EST: Early Career Grant Writing
Presenter: Carly Roberts

2:45-3:40 PM EST: Interviewing for Faculty Positions: Virtual Interviews and the Job Search Process
Presenters: Shari Hopkins, April Regester, Jessica McQueston

1:35-2:30 PM EST: Tips for Publishing and Reviewing Manuscripts in RPSD
Presenters: Martin Agran, Stacy Dymond, Fred Spooner