Welcome
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Welcome to our end-of-the-year issue for CDCI Connects. I want to start by saying thank you to Jeanne Nauheimer for creating this newsletter and her commitment to making each issue interesting, informative, and useful to a diverse audience of readers!
This month concludes the first year of our new 5-year work plan. We challenged ourselves to embed diversity, equity, and inclusion in all of our work. Each of our full-Center meetings this year focused on this goal exploring what we do and what we need to do as individuals and as a Center to move forward. Our Community Advisory Council grew this year from 8 to 13 members, and their leadership is helping us critically examine and improve our work.
To ensure disability is part of diversity work on campus, we have helped create new professional development trainings, provided technical assistance around web content and online course tools, and supported (and celebrated!) the efforts of faculty, staff, and students in embedding better practices into our routines and the university's infrastructure. With our community partners, we created trainings, hosted film screenings, evaluated programs, and applied for grants to address disparities experienced by people with disabilities. Our job is to be a bridge between the university and community, and we are proud to see our mission to teach, support, study, and to share is making an impact in both these settings.
Although it's the end of our year, this work is just beginning. Thank you for your interest in our work!
All my best,
Jesse Suter
Executive Director
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Project Profile: BEST Receives Two New Sub-Awards
 CDCI’s Building Effective Support for Teaching Students (BEST) Project will be awarded funds from two new projects: One to oversee the evaluation of school‐wide restorative approaches at selected schools in the state of Vermont and the other to assess the current status of the Interconnected Systems Framework of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and School Mental Health.
A heartfelt congratulations to the BEST team for these exciting new projects!
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Accessibility Achievement: We Need Your Help!
We've had some really exciting stories about accessibility achievements in the community and on campus this past year, from improved signage, mapping, to students getting involved on campus. Now we need your help to reach another achievement!
CDCI's Early Mobility Project is working to raise $500 to be used to purchase parts and materials for modifying powered toys to improve outcomes for young children with complex disabilities. This project is working to partner with UVM Engineering students to build and adapt toy cars that will give young children the freedom of independent mobility. Can you help us meet our goal?
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Awards & Acknowledgments
We love to celebrate at CDCI! Here are some of the awards and recognition our team received this year.
Giangreco Receives National Recognition for Special Education Research
 The American Educational Research Association recognized Dr. Michael Giangreco with the Distinguished Researcher Award for his body of work researching inclusive education, especially for people with severe and multiple disabilities. Read more about Michael's award.
Rachel Cronin Receives CESS Staff Award
 CDCI's Business Manager Rachel Cronin received the College of Education and Social Services at UVM Staff Award. This award recognizes the positive impact two staff members have on CESS and the larger community who goes above and beyond their duties to promote the values of our institution.
Stirling Peebles wins APSE's Lois Curtis Personal Achievement Award
 The Lois Curtis Award is given to a Person with a Disability to recognize an individual’s personal achievement in advocating for inclusive, individualized, community-based employment and/or independent living. Stirling works for Green Mountain Self-Advocates as part of their team that provides technical assistance to other state self-advocacy groups, for CDCI as Think College's Dissemination Assistant, and runs the Employment Corner Facebook Group, a group dedicated to finding meaningful and adequate employment for people with disabilities, especially young adults and adults transitioning to supported employment.
Partner Awards
 Vermont Leadership in Education Neurodevelopmental Disabilities Program (VT LEND) was awarded the Multicultural Council Award for Leadership in Diversity for their work advancing programs and practices aimed toward increasing the diversity, cultural, and/or linguistic competencies in Vermont and nationally.
 Sefakor Komabu-Pomeyie was awarded the International Service Award from AUCD for her international work including founding "Enlightening and Empowering People with Disabilities (eepdAfrica) to analyze policies, create awareness, advocate for change, and influence policies that affect people with disabilities in Africa." She is a Ph.D. candidate in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at UVM in the College of Education and Social Services. This spring, Sefakor was also acknowledged with UVM's Student Accessibility Service's Defining Excellence award and the Oustanding Graduate Student Award. Congratulations, Sefakor!
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Conference Presentations & Workshops
This year CDCI personnel gave workshops and presented posters at conferences and events around campus and around the world! Here are a few highlights:
- Bryan Dague presented Vermont Transitions from Sheltered Workshops to Inclusive Employment to Postsecondary Education at the European Union Supported Employment Conference in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
- Valerie Wood presented The promise of "big data": Overcoming data sharing challenges through university-government collaboration at the Council on Social Work Education's annual meeting in Orlando, Florida.
- Deb Sharpe, Jesse Suter, and Nicole Villemaire all had posters and Jeanne Nauheimer presented a workshop at this year's AUCD Conference in Washington, D.C.
- Jesse Suter, Winnie Looby, and Ben Wimett teamed up with other Inclusive Excellence experts from around campus to present Building Wider Doors for Inclusive Excellence: Disability in Our Classrooms, Campus, and Community at UVM's Blackboard Jungle.
- Ben Wimett and Jeanne Nauheimer presented Functional Accessibility in Your Space at the College of Education and Social Service's Staff Retreat.
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Upcoming Events
Interested in more events hosted by CDCI, our partners, or our community? Check out CDCI's Event Calendar to find out about more opportunities to learn, connect, and have fun!
We'd like to let our readers know about the events of our friends and partners! If you would like to get the word out about an upcoming event, please email Jeanne Nauheimer.
Tech Tuesday celebrates 29 Years of The Americans with Disabilities Act.
Tuesday, July 9th, 12-2pm.
280 State Drive, Atrium Room A115, Waterbury, VT 05671.
The Vermont Assistive Technology Program is having an open house on Tuesday, July 9th from 12-2pm to celebrate 29 years since the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law. Do you, a friend, family member, or coworker experience challenges to daily activities? Would you or they like to live more independently? Stop by the Waterbury Assistive Technology Tryout center and explore the wide world of assistive technology! Items are all available to try out and to borrow! Our assistive technology access specialists will be on hand to answer any questions and find some AT that match your needs. Our Waterbury Assistive Technology Center is located in the atrium of the Waterbury State Office Complex.
Our AT inventory includes computer workstation adaptations, learning aids such as a smart pen for recording audio while taking notes, devices for hearing impairments and vision loss, switch access, dressing devices, adapted toys and games, and much more!
View the Tech Tuesday Flyer (PDF).
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 Need More CDCI?
We'll be writing our annual report the month of July. If you're interested in seeing more of what we've done in the past, you can check out our 2017-2018 Friendly Annual Report (PDF). Happy reading!
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