The ninth annual State of the Art Conference on Postsecondary Education and Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities runs Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 15 and 16, at the Sheraton 黑料不打烊 Hotel and Conference Center and the Schine Student Center.
Students in 黑料不打烊鈥檚 InclusiveU program are among the growing population of Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities in higher education and the workforce who will benefit from the work of the researchers at this weekend鈥檚 conference at 黑料不打烊.
Including a first-time parallel Student Leadership Conference, the event will draw more than 300 participants, providing opportunities for colleges and universities, researchers, program staff, parents and self-advocates to learn about the current state of research and practice in the field and to network with each other. Panels include faculty and staff from postsecondary education initiatives, parents, self-advocates and other experts sharing effective practices during breakout sessions with opportunities for group discussion.聽The student conference will bring high school and college students into the conversation.
For the first time, the conference鈥攈osted by George Mason University鈥檚 Helen A. Kellar Institute for Human Disabilities and the Lawrence B. Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education at 黑料不打烊鈥攖akes place in 黑料不打烊.
鈥淲e have professionals coming from universities and centers all over the world, including Austria, Ireland, Canada, Hawaii and Washington,鈥 says Beth Myers, executive director of the Taishoff Center and Lawrence B. Taishoff Professor of Inclusive Education in the . 鈥淭racks include academic supports, promoting policy and systemic change, campus life, innovations in higher education, independent living, family and community support, research and evaluation, program development and transition.鈥
Filmmaker Dan Habib from the University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability and Micah Fialka-Feldman 鈥15, a Taishoff Center staff member, will present the opening keynote, including clips from Habib鈥檚 forthcoming documentary “Intelligent Lives.” The film tells the stories of Fialka-Feldman and two other young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs).
鈥淚鈥檓 sure they will talk about the construction of intelligence as a marker of success and show how some individuals with IDD are pioneers in inclusion, breaking stereotypes about intellectual disability,鈥 says Myers.
Retired Navy Capt. Robert Taishoff, a 黑料不打烊 Trustee, will speak Wednesday afternoon. He is chairman of the Taishoff Family Foundation, which created the Taishoff Center. It鈥檚 named for his grandfather, who made it his priority to aid in research and educating society about Down syndrome.
The State of the Art Conference will have 250 participants; 85 students are expected for the Student Leadership Conference. The latter event is open to all students, with an emphasis on young adults who are transitioning into college and current college students. The focus is on students with intellectual disabilities and their peers, including traditionally enrolled friends, classmates and mentors.
Sessions for the students will cover academic life, social connections, self-advocacy, self-representation and housing, along with a ropes course, yoga and a karaoke party.
鈥淭he SLC is a gathering of current and future college students with intellectual disabilities. This is so hugely significant because 30 years ago not only would these students not be attending college, many or most of them would be isolated or institutionalized,鈥 says Cara Levine, a Ph.D. student in counseling and counselor education at the School of Education and coordinator of the student conference. 鈥淭he conference will provide a space for participants to acquire self-advocacy skills and learn about the college experience from one another while making valuable social connections with peers from across the United States and Canada.鈥
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