Author: HDITrex

Wellness Initiative Employs Self-Advocate Healthy Educators

Posted on | by HDITrex

By Lindsey Mullis, MS, Health & Wellness Coordinator

The task of the health and wellness initiative at HDI is to raise awareness of health disparities and provide health education and motivation techniques for individuals to take charge of their health. This summer, HDI partnered with the Kentucky Division of Developmental Disabilities to offer training for the Healthy Lifestyles curriculum from University of Oregon. Twenty-nine individuals from 12 Kentucky organizations participated in the training with HDI to be certified instructors of the curriculum. Joining the ranks of new Healthy Lifestyle instructors are three young ladies with intellectual disabilities who will work with HDI’s wellness initiative as co-facilitators. They will assist in leading the Healthy Lifestyle workshops within the state in inclusive and integrated settings.

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Kentucky Peer Support/Network Project Announces Fall 2015 Trainings

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By Patti Parsons, Project Coordinator

The Kentucky Peer Support/Network Project announces a revised training schedule at locations throughout the state in July through September, as listed below. School teams will learn about setting up Peer Support (in inclusive classrooms) and Peer Networks (outside the classroom) for students with significant disabilities. The intent of the project is to expand learning and participation in inclusive activities — across classroom and extracurricular settings — for students with significant disabilities, while laying the foundation for genuine friendships between students with and without disabilities.

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College and Career Ready Measures for Students Participating in the Alternate Assessment

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By Jill Griffiths, SPDG-CCR Project Director

Within Kentucky’s Unbridled Learning Accountability Model, the College and Career Ready (CCR) measures for students with significant cognitive disabilities have been revised. The CCR measures now align more closely with those for students in the general assessment. The assessment instruments were expanded beyond the Transition Attainment Record (TAR), and Career Ready accountability was strengthened.

  • The TAR is retained as the measure for College Ready.
  • A new assessment, the Employability Skills Attainment Record, will assess Career Ready: Academic.
  • A Career Work Experience Certification process was developed for Career Ready: Technical.
  • The opportunity for a student participating in the alternate assessment to be both College and Career Ready is now included.

Students will be awarded Career Ready status by the Office of Career and Technical Education.

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Welcoming Kathy Sheppard-Jones as Interim HDI Executive Director

Posted on | by HDITrex

We are pleased to share that on July 1, 2015 Dr. Kathy Sheppard-Jones will officially begin her work as the Interim HDI Director. She has been employed at the University of Kentucky’s Human Development Institute since August 1996. She has served as HDI Training Director since 2010, as well as Principal Investigator for a broad range of projects—including Belonging in the Community, the Kentucky Mentoring Project, the Driver Rehabilitation Center, and UK Home Modification Services. She directs HDI’s Graduate Certificate in Developmental Disabilities and is working to establish a highly innovative Undergraduate Certificate in Universal Design, with the support of 19 faculty across 12 UK Colleges. She is Adjunct faculty in the Department of Early Childhood, Special Education, and Rehabilitation Counseling. We are looking forward to her visionary leadership and ability to collaborate with diverse stakeholders across the lifespan for people with disabilities. Continue reading →

Celebrating the Impact of Harold Kleinert

Posted on | by HDITrex

On July 1, 2015, Dr. Harold Kleinert will retire after decades of dedicated service as the Executive Director of the University of Kentucky’s Human Development Institute. In the past two weeks, we have celebrated his contributions with an HDI All Staff meeting that included a “hostile takeover” with a jeopardy trivia game, top ten list, and brown bag lunches (in honor of Harold’s traditionally frugal apple and cheese sandwich lunches). The university also held a retirement reception on Friday, May 26 that included staff and faculty from the University of Kentucky, our state agency partners, and especially families, their children, and the self-advocates who have worked with us so closely over these years. Thanks also for the planning committees for doing a beautiful job!

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