In our work, we frequently talk about the “interactive process,” but what is it exactly? Who should be involved in the process? How does the interactive process intersect with assessing when a fundamental alteration exists? This session will explore the interactive process and its use in evaluating when a fundamental alteration is present. The request for “remote attendance” as an accommodation will be used as an example of how to navigate the interactive process and fundamental alteration exploration.

Continuing its tradition of in-depth professional development programming each February, AHEAD is again offering its 16^th annual Management Institutes online.  As last year, AHEAD is offering the same high caliber presenters and timely topics that you've come to expect in a virtual format that they hope will allow for more participation from those who have not had budget to travel.

This year’s four in-depth Institutes cover a range of topics for disability service professionals, ADA coordinators, student affairs staff and administrators, and anyone working toward equity in higher education. AHEAD’s Management Institutes are facilitated by nationally-recognized faculty and offer opportunities for networking and individual support.

This conference will bring together experts in early childhood development to discuss challenges and opportunities for the care and wellness of young children as they grow up in a pandemic. Speakers will discuss the physical and emotional impacts of COVID-19 on children 0-5 and their families and highlight ways in which early childhood personnel and allied health professionals can better support young children's well-being and development through practice and policy.

Session topics include language development, early childhood policy, infant mental health, research and the intersection of disability and other lived experiences. Breakout sessions will provide opportunities to network and share ideas on how to promote early childhood development as we move through the pandemic.

The intended audience is early childhood personnel and allied health professionals (e.g., speech, social work, psychology, other therapists) working with young children 0-5 years).

Part of the work of disability resource professionals requires making good notes about student interactions. Unfortunately, many practitioners have limited time or aren’t sure what should be recorded, so student “case notes” are not robust, with negative repercussions for students and the office. To help address this, AHEAD published a white paper authored by seven experienced disability professionals titled Documenting Disability Professional and Student Interactions: Reasons and Recommendations for Notes. In this webinar, five of the authors of that paper will offer disability resource professionals a framework for the need, development, use, formatting, and storing of internal notes about students. Plenty of time will be left for Q&A.

Learn about the award-winning financial education curriculum, Money Smart for Older Adults. This webinar will help to familiarize participants with the materials, including new fraud prevention resources and financial caregiving guides.

Money Smart for Older Adults is a free curriculum that includes an instructor guide with presentation content, speaker tips, hands-on activities, presentation slides and a resource guide for participants. All materials are provided free of charge and can be ordered in bulk.

The Access Technology Higher Education Network (ATHEN) is hosting the first ever Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) Accessibility: Starting with Math virtual conference on February 10th and 11th, 2022! Organizers are striving for a diverse conference where experts can share their best practices, solutions, techniques, etc. for accessing and creating accessible STEM content in higher education. This is going to be exciting, novel, resourceful, and enlightening to all who care about accessible content in STEM fields in higher education. There will be 2 concurrent sessions offered each hour so you have reduced FOMO (fear of missing out).

A new model of transition for those on the autism spectrum: Spectrum Innovates Pathway Program (SIPP) is a gateway to higher-ed and the work force for those whose passions include aviation, aerospace and related STEM fields. Attend this virtual info session and learn how SIPP can open the door to your future and the exciting, in-demand careers of tomorrow.

An overview of the special education process, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act laws.

ADA: Faculty Responsibilities Training is a multi-media curriculum that targets faculty. Participants will leave this how-to webinar with an overview of the curriculum, the 30-page faculty training manual, a two-hour professional development PowerPoint, learning outcomes, script, and additional resources for disability resource professionals to take back and customize for their institutions.

The National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) in Collaboration with Foundations for Divergent Minds and the John Hopkins’ Disability Health Research Center are proud to present Decoding Discrimination! Designed to identify discriminatory phrases that have appeared in policies/practices/patient notes throughout the pandemic, this event seeks to gather and share information on how both common and coded language can be used to deprioritize people of color with intellectual & developmental disabilities.

The lived experience of disability varies, both among people with disabilities and among racial and ethnic groups. Dr. Kimberle Crenshaw coined the term “Intersectionality” to describe the experience of living with multiple identities (gender, race, culture, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, immigration status, etc.). While there has been conversation about some intersections (like race and gender) there have been other experiences that are often overlooked. This session will look at the experience of people of color who have disabilities. Participants will have an opportunity to ask the speaker questions following the presentation.

Join Dr. Toby Tomlinson Baker, Dr. Monica McHale Small, and Cindy Cipoletti, CEO of LDA, for a free webinar on the RISE Act, a bipartisan bill that would smooth the transition from high school to higher education for students with learning and other disabilities.

The RISE Act of 2021 amends the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA), to ensure that students with disabilities will thrive in college. If passed, it will streamline the process to qualify for disability services and require colleges to accept a variety of forms of documentation of a disability, including an Individualized Education Program (IEP), 504 Plan, notice from a doctor, or evaluation by a psychologist.

Join to learn more about this important piece of legislation, and learn what you can do to support the RISE Act.

Northstar Career Academy presents Higher Education and Post-Secondary Programs: What you Need to Know as a Student with Disabilities. Come and learn about DEA vs. ADA: How Accommodations work after High School Graduation, Degree Programs vs. Non-Degree Programs: Consider the Options, How to Individualize your Timeline: Beyond the Four-Year Mentality.

Transition Assessment is a critical part of the transition planning process for students with disabilities. Unfortunately, finding valid, reliable, and appropriate transition assessment for students with an intellectual or developmental disability can be difficult. This webinar will review the requirements of transition assessment and provide recommendations of appropriate assessment to use with students with higher support needs.

In celebration of National Entrepreneurship Week, join National Disability Institute (NDI) on Thursday, February 17, from 3:00-4:30 p.m. ET, for the webinar, Entrepreneurs with Disabilities: An Emerging Force.

Hear from entrepreneurs with disabilities about their journey to business success. Learn about NDI’s new SBA-funded Community Navigator Pilot Program (CNPP) that is expanding the eco-system for entrepreneurs with disabilities through collaborative partnerships with more than 25 organizations in the greater Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia area.

Good Blood, Bad Blood is a landmark publication in the history of the treatment of people with disabilities in this country. Written in a compelling narrative style, it tells the story of the impact of the American eugenics movement. Good Blood, Bad Blood tells the true story of the impact on the woman in Goddard’s book, who had been given the pseudonym Deborah Kallikak, and who became the poster child for the cultural fear generated by American eugenicists, such as Charles Benedict Davenport. They, in turn, provided the Nazi regime with the “evidence” to take the eugenic horror to its ultimate conclusion.

In anticipation of the second edition's release as well as in memoriam co-author J. David Smith, AAIDD is hosting a webinar with co-author Michael Wehmeyer in which he will discuss the inspiration, creation, and impact of this essential piece of literature in the field of IDD.

The Access to Exchange Summit (AES) is a short but impactful course designed to teach young people with disabilities everything they should know about participating in an international exchange program. National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange (NCDE) will explain how to identify opportunities, negotiate reasonable accommodations, stay healthy and pay for it all.

Almost 2 years into a global pandemic, we are burned out on the term ‘burnout’; it doesn’t accurately capture the stark erosion of morale in our profession. A perfect storm of turbulence factors have us swirling: a widening gap in college readiness and resilience skills for students coming from high school; increasingly demanding parents and complicated, customized accommodation requests; rising costs and the consumerization of ‘the college experience’; understaffed and under-resourced offices trying to do more with less as we pivot and flex – all set against a backdrop of political unrest, social discord, and a high-anxiety pandemic that drove us to shared isolation. By “claiming our crisis” and more accurately naming our response – demoralization – we will explore how we can wield new tools to restore some balance and satisfaction back to the important work we do.

NAMI Ask the Expert Webinar welcomes Diana Chao, founder of the largest global youth-for-youth mental health nonprofit, Letters to Strangers (L2S) who will share her personal story as a first-generation Chinese-American immigrant navigating a bipolar disorder diagnosis and healing through writing letters. This presentation — which features spoken word, conceptual art and letters written by young people around the world — addresses the complexities of mental health in underrepresented communities and speaks to the power that even the smallest acts of kindness can have.

Diana will also share actionable strategies for maintaining mental wellbeing gathered from eight years of interviews and frontline interventions.

After the presentation, NAMI’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ken Duckworth will moderate a Q&A session.