CENTER INITIATIVES
MARCH 1
Graduate application closes
AUGUST 1
Graduate application opens
Autism Conference & Expo of Georgia
The Autism Conference & Expo is an annual event that provides an opportunity for sharing knowledge and resources about supports for individuals with autism and their families. The Autism Conference & Expo represents the collaboration and contributions of an alliance of leading self-advocates, family members, community partners, state agencies and other stakeholders.
Autism Plan for Georgia
The Maternal and Child Health Bureau awarded two-year grants to develop plans to guide the next steps in supporting children with autism and their families.
Children's Freedom Initiative
The Children’s Freedom Initiative is a collaborative effort to ensure children who live in facilities are given the chance to live with permanent, loving families. We are a coalition of advocates dedicated to creating a Georgia in which no child lives in a facility.
Forestry & Autism
The forestry project represents a collaboration between the Center for Leadership in Disability and a number of university and community partners. This project aims to determine whether being outside under trees affects children with autism spectrum disorder.
Georgia Developmental Disabilities Network
The combined efforts of the University Centers on Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, the Protection and Advocacy Agencies and the Developmental Disabilities Councils was intended to form a network creating positive change in the lives of citizens with disabilities.
Inclusive Spiritual Supports
The Center for Leadership in Disability offers training and technical assistance to faith leaders and congregations on strategies and pragmatic solutions for including individuals with disabilities in congregational life.
Latino Community of Practice
The Latino Community of Practice: Supporting Families with Children and Youth with Disabilities brings together more than 150 Latino-serving diverse, multi-sector professionals, family advocates and partners from metro Atlanta and beyond.
Olmstead Planning Committee
The Olmstead Planning Committee seeks to align the mandates of the Department of Justice Settlement Agreement with the Georgia Olmstead Plan by focusing on initiatives that include more resources for home and community-based services. The Olmstead Planning Committee has identified nine strategic goals to focus on.
Person-Centered Planning
Person-centered planning is a process that empowers people with and without disabilities to know the possibilities of their goals can become realities of their future. The process uses people’s gifts and talents to put them in charge of defining the direction for their lives.
Project SCOPE
Project SCOPE: Supporting Children of the OPioid Epidemic, is a national three-year training initiative intended to build nationwide provider capacity and confidence in applying evidence-based practices in screening, monitoring and interdisciplinary support for children and families diagnosed with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome or who are suspected of being affected by opioid use, trauma or related exposure.
Project ECHO®
Project ECHO is a revolutionary guided-practice model that reduces health disparities in under-served and remote areas of the state, nation and world. Through innovative telementoring, the ECHO model uses a hub-and-spoke knowledge-sharing approach where expert teams lead virtual clinics, amplifying the capacity for providers to deliver best-in-practice care to underserved people in their communities.
Unlock 2.0
The Georgia campaign is a targeted effort to reduce or eliminate the waiting lists for thousands of Georgians with disabilities, the elderly and their families who have a right to home and community-based services. Unlock 2.0 also advocates for a multi-year funding plan for home and community-based services and supports that include transitioning.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for 228,000 members and affiliates who are audiologists; speech-language pathologists; speech, language, and hearing scientists; audiology and speech-language pathology support personnel; and students.
For more information, please contact Dr. Akilah Heggs.
Cultural Competence & Disability
The CLD offers regular trainings on cultural and linguistic competence that demonstrate how to meaningfully engage members from all groups. We train communities to increase inclusion as a value so that individuals with disabilities from all communities have a voice in the decisions that impact them. CLD collaborates with state agencies and with GSU faculty experts on the topic of cultural and linguistic competence to provide these trainings.
For more information, please contact Emily Graybill
Inclusive Digital Expression and Literacy (IDEAL)
IDEAL is focused on the development of media literacy, storytelling, and media production skills, to develop each participating student’s communication skills and media maker “voice” — an empowering identity for anyone in our media-saturated culture, especially for individuals with Intellectual Disabilities whose stories are often overlooked or conveyed by others.
Inclusive Postsecondary Education
The Georgia Inclusive Postsecondary Education Consortium (GaIPSEC) seeks to create opportunities for students who have historically not had access to postsecondary educational opportunities. Members of the Consortium are committed to providing information and training resources for individuals, families, colleges & universities, and agencies to achieve the goal of inclusive postsecondary education (PSE) opportunities for all.
Transition to Adulthood
CLD works on the team to revise the latest Georgia Transition Manual For Students with Disabilities. We train parents, students, administrators, counselors and educators on inclusive post-secondary education options throughout Georgia and the nation, as well as how to prepare students for transitioning into these programs.
Transition support is also available for changes in K-12 education, healthcare, and housing.
Universal Mental Health Screening in Schools
The Center for Leadership in Disability (CLD) provides free (grant-funded under the GaDOE’s Project AWARE) training and technical assistance to schools and school districts interested in building the infrastructure for universal behavior screening. The CLD has designed a step-by-step process to guide schools through the universal behavior screening readiness process.
Georgia Inclusive Postsecondary Education Consortium
The Georgia Inclusive Postsecondary Education Consortium (GaIPSEC) seeks to create opportunities for students who have historically not had access to post-secondary educational opportunities. Members of the Consortium are committed to providing information and training resources for individuals, families, colleges & universities, and agencies to achieve the goal of inclusive postsecondary education (PSE) opportunities for all.
AUCD Leadership Academy
The AUCD Leadership Academy is a week-long program designed to enhance the skills of current and emerging leaders from the disability network to build coalitions to improve systems of supports and services. The Leadership Academy seeks participants from UCEDDs, LENDs, and their disability partners to come together to immerse themselves for a week of study, shared experiences, self-evaluation, and skill development.
GaLEND
The Georgia Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (GaLEND) is a one-year interdisciplinary experience for future professionals, disability advocates, and family members to be able to provide coordinated, culturally competent, and family-centered care to children and their families..
My Voice. My Participation. My Board.
We wish to establish a cohort of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities with the skills and perspectives to actively contribute to the work of governance boards and advisory councils for state agencies and not-for-profit organizations in Georgia.
Child Welfare Training Collaboration
The Georgia State University School of Social Work Professional Excellence Program Child Welfare Training Collaborative (CWTC) offers training to community partners (e.g. public child welfare, law enforcement, placement providers, early care and learning, K-12 education, behavioral and physical health, juvenile courts, and other community and government organizations) throughout the state of Georgia. Bringing everyone to the same table creates an opportunity for community partners to have a shared understanding of issues facing children and families and also strengthens collaborations to promote better outcomes for Georgia’s children
AUCD Diversity & Inclusion Toolkit
Special Interest Group (SIG) & Open Dialogues to Promote ED&I at CLD
Dissemination
Publications
- Barger, B., Graybill, E., & Roach, A. T. (under review). Exploring the dimensionality and differential item functioning of the Student Risk Screening Scale-Internalizing and Externalizing 12 (SRSS-IE12). Assessment for Effective Intervention.
- Baumann, S. D., LaFleur, R. C., Graybill, E., Barger, B., Vinoski Thomas, E., Truscott, S. D., & Crimmins, D. (in press). Infusing cultural competence training into a disability leadership program: Perceptions and recommendations. Journal of Cultural Diversity.
- LaFleur, R. C., Truscott, S., Graybill, E., Crenshaw, M., & Crimmins, D. (2018). Improving culturally congruent healthcare for children with disabilities: Stakeholder perspectives of cultural competence training in an interdisciplinary leadership training program. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 29, 101-111. doi: 10.1177/1043659617699065 (refereed)
- Vinoski Thomas, E., Graybill, E., & Murray, M. (in press). Health equity in populations with disabilities. In K.B. Smalley, J.C. Warren, & M.I. Fernandez (Eds.), Health Equity: A Solution-Focused Approach. New York, NY: Springer.
- Graybill, E. (2018). Cultural norms and individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities. In E. Braaten (Ed.) The SAGE encyclopedia of intellectual and developmental disorders. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
- Graybill, E., & Varjas, K. (2017). A commitment to social justice: Professional and ethical issues from a multicultural perspective. In E. C. Lopez, S. G. Nahari, & S. L. Proctor (Eds.), The handbook of multicultural school psychology: An interdisciplinary perspective (2nd Ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
- Crimmins, D., Wheeler, B., Wood, L., Graybill, E., & Goode, T. (2018). Equity, diversity, and inclusion action plan for the UCEDD National Network. Association of University Centers on Disabilities, Silver Spring, MD.
- Washington, M. (in progress, 2020). Proportional differences between race/ethnicity of school professionals and the school children they serve: Developing metrics for and investigating the predictive validity of educational disparities across time. Dissertation Chair: Stephen Truscott
- Barger, B., Rice, C., Benevides, T., Crimmins, D., Salmon, A.#, & Sanchez, S. (in progress). Are developmental screening and monitoring better together for early Autism identification across race and ethnic groups? Target: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
Presentations
- Graybill, E. (2019, September). Cultural competence in home visiting settings. Podium presentation at the Georgia Home Visiting Institute, Atlanta, GA. (state-based, invited)
- Crimmins, D., Goode, T., Wheeler, B., & Graybill, E. (2018, November). Equity, diversity, and inclusion action plan for the UCEDD national network. Panel presentation at the Association of University Centers on Disabilities Conference, Washington, DC. (national, invited)
- Esch, R., Graybill, E., Ingraham, C., Mesa, D., Martinez, D., Jones, J., Raines, T., Berzins, A., Miranda, A., McCabe, P., Rubinson, F., Song, S., & Shriberg, D. (2016, February). Infusing cultural competence into consultation and professional development. Podium presentation as part of the President’s Strand at the National Association for School Psychologists Annual Convention, New Orleans, LA. (national, refereed)
- Munoz, B., & Graybill, E. (2015, December). Cultural competence in education. Panel presentation at the Georgia Association for Positive Behavior Support Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA. (state-based, refereed)
- Butler, J., & Graybill, E. (2015, September). Culture, family, and disability. Panel presentation at the Parent Mentor Partnership Conference, Macon, GA. (state-based, invited)
- Graybill, E. (2015, July). Strategies for practicing cultural competence as a mental health educator. Podium presentation at the Systems of Care Academy, Stone Mountain, GA. (state-based, refereed)
- Graybill, E., Vinoski, E., Esch, R., Truscott, S., Crenshaw, M., & Crimmins, D. (2015). Cultural competence training in disability leadership programs: Perceptions and recommendations. Paper presented at the Association for University Centers on Disability Annual Conference, Washington, DC.
- Graybill, E. & Huddleston, L. (2017). Cultural competence Series: Part 1- Microaggressions and implicit bias, Part 2- poverty and mental health, Part 3- cultural humility and family centered care. Center for Leadership in Disability, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA.
- Barger, B. (2020, Fall). Differences or Disparities? Methodological considerations for autism research determining why rates differ across sociodemographic groups. Invited Presentation to the Epidemiology Seminar Series at the University of Georgia School of Public Health
- Barger, B., Benevides, T., Rizk, S., Salmon, A. & Sanchez, S. (2020). Implications of developmental screening and monitoring receipt for reducing racial/ethnic disparities in early autism identification. Poster presented to 2020 Annual Meeting for the International Society for Autism Research.
- Barger, B., Salmon, A., & Sanchez, S. (2020, accepted). Racial disparities in the conjoint receipt of screening and monitoring. Poster accepted for the 2020 Association for Maternal and Child Health Programs.
- Barger, B., Moody, E., Rosenberg, S. & Wiggins, L. (2019). Temperament variability among socio-demographic and clinical subgroups of children with autism spectrum disorder in the Study to Explore Early Development. Abstract presented at the 2019 International Meeting for Autism Research, Montreal, Canada.
- Barger B. (2016). Developmental surveillance in Georgia: Surveillance, monitoring, screening, and cultural factors. Invited presentation at the Georgia Autism Conference and Exposition.
- Crimmins, D. (2016). Panelist in Toolkit in action: National Training Initiative – UCEDD Diversity Fellowships. Plenary session at the AIDD Technical Assistance Institute: Arlington, VA.
- Graybill, E., Wells, R., Truscott, S., Esch, R. Heggs, A., Crenshaw, M., & Crimmins, D. (2016). Using Rubrics to measure growth toward cultural competence. In S.D. Truscott (Chair) & A. Roach (Discussant), The use of multiple evaluation methods to address the complexity of outcome measures in interprofessional training programs. Symposium to be presented at the American Evaluation Association, Atlanta, GA.
- Munoz, B., (2017). Latino community of practice. TASH Conference
- Munoz, B. (2018). Latino community practice. Poster presented at the 2018 Community Advisory Council Retreat, Jekyll Island, GA.
- Crimmins, D., & Parent-Johnson, W. (2016). Recruit and retain a diverse trainee pool. Facilitated breakout session at the AIDD Technical Assistance Institute: Arlington, VA.
- Crimmins, D., & Parent-Johnson, W. (2016). Recruit and retain a diverse trainee pool. Facilitated breakout session at the AIDD Technical Assistance Institute: Arlington, VA.
- Crimmins, D., Feinstein, C., & Martin, V. (2015). Partnership with diverse communities. Facilitated breakout session at the AIDD Technical Assistance Institute: Bethesda, MD.
- Gregory, C., Graybill, E., & Jones., C. (2018). Health & Health Equity in Georgia and the South: Challenges & Opportunities. Invited panelist for Examining classroom practices related to social-emotional learning in early childhood settings at the Association of University Centers on Disabilities. Washington, DC.
- Gregory, C., Salmon, A., & Munoz, B. (2019). Cultural competence. 2019 Center for Leadership in Disability Staff Retreat. Dawsonville, GA.
- Munoz, L., & Graybill, E. (2019). Diversity fellowship. Roundtable discussion at the 2019 Community Advisory Council. Dawsonville, GA.
- Graybill, E., Roach, A.T., & DeBlaere, C. (2018). Equity and cultural competence in K-12 schools. Workshop at Muscogee County Schools, Columbus, GA.
Grant Proposals
Funded
- Crimmins, D. (Role: Co-Investigator). Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Training Action Plan). Sub-award from Georgetown University National Center on Cultural Competence for a grant from Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities / Administration on Community Living, Period – 2016-17, Funding – $90,000
- Crimmins, D. (Role: Principal Investigator). Disability Partnership between the Center for Leadership in Disability at Georgia State University and the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine (90DD0664), Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Period – 2009-2012, Funding – $709,000
- Graybill, E. (Role: Principal Investigator). Increasing Access to Youth Mental Health Awareness Training in Hispanic Communities in Georgia. Administration on Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities. Award period: 9/1/2018 to 8/31/2019. Award amount: $50,000
- Goode, T. (Role: Qualitative Lead). Embedding Cultural Diversity and Cultural and Linguistic Competence: A Guide for UCEDD Curricula and Training Activities Project. Administration on Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities. Award period: 9/1/2017 to 8/31/2018. Award amount: $15,000
- Graybill, E. (Role: Principal Investigator). Building a coalition to increase knowledge and awareness about child development and developmental delays in Hispanic communities. Administration on Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities. Award period: 10/1/2016 to 9/30/2017. Award amount: $44,350
- Graybill, E. (Role: Principal Investigator). Building a coalition to increase knowledge and awareness about child development and developmental delays in Hispanic communities. Administration on Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities. Award period: 9/30/2015 to 9/29/2016. Award amount: $37,400
- Barger, B. (Role: Principal Investigator). (2019 – 2020). Does developmental surveillance receipt moderate the relationship between minority status and autism rates? Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Autism Field-Initiated Innovative Research Studies Program, R41. $100,000
Initiatives
Current/Ongoing Initiatives
- Latino Community of Practice
- COVID-19 Research
- 2020 Morehouse School of Medicine Prevention Research Center: Minority Serving Institution Community Engagement Cohort
- MCH Grant
- Inclusive Digital Expression and Literacy (IDEAL) at GSU
- GaDOE Equity Training
Planned Initiatives
- Mass Incarceration of Black and Brown Individuals with Disabilities
- Restorative Practices in Schools to help end the School-to-Prison Pipeline
- Review Internal Curricula for Racial Bias
Past Initiatives
- Partnership with Morehouse School of Medicine & the Satcher Health Leadership Institute
- Georgia LEND – Emphasis on cultural competence/racial-ethnic diversity
- Embedding Project & Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion Plan
- Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion Advisory Team
- Diversity Fellowship/Latino Community of Practice (3 years)
- Project AWARE – Analysis of middle/high school screening and discipline data by race
- Project AWARE – Analysis of elementary screening and discipline data by race
- Cultural Competence training for multiple community groups
- Restorative Practices in Schools
- Georgia Association for Positive Behavior Support
Adult Disability Medical Healthcare (ADMH)
ADMH provides comprehensive, coordinated, person-centered healthcare for teens and adults with developmental disabilities. We strive to empower individuals and their families to become advocates for their own health and wellness needs.
Georgia Statewide Disability & Health
Making health care better for people with disabilities is an important public health goal. The purpose of this 5-year program is to improve the health of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and mobility limitations (ML) in Georgia.
Covid-19 Southeastern SuperHub Program
CLD, in collaboration with the Human Development Institute in KY, leads the Southeastern Regional SuperHub. This SuperHub aims to support rapid identification, dissemination, and implementation of innovative strategies to reach the disability community in eight Southeastern U.S states.
Brief Behavior Questionnaire & Intervention Plan
The BBQuIP allows parents, teachers, and birth-to-five educators to identify the child’s behavior of concerns, the behavior triggers, and the ways in which the adults responses to the child may be contributing to the behavior.
GAPBS
The Georgia Association for Positive Behavior Support (GAPBS) is a network of the national Association for Positive Behavior Support (APBS; apbs.org). The purpose of the GAPBS network is to increase the visibility of positive behavior support in our state. The network aims to provide a collaborative statewide effort to disseminate positive behavior support practices.
Home & Community-based Positive Behavior Support
The GSU-CLD Positive Behavior Support Team develops and delivers the Positive Behavior Visual Support training series, which offers web-based and live training modules – such as Family Coaching-Pyramid Model, Parents Interacting with Infants (PIWI), and Tier III: Understanding and Addressing Challenging Behaviors Training (Tier III Training)] – and provides ongoing training and technical assistance for the Master Cadres in the five Statewide Systemic Improvement Plan (SIPP) districts as well as for three newly targeted SIPP health districts.
The five SIPP Districts include: Columbus, Coastal, Gwinnett, Dalton, and Dublin.
The three newly targeted SIPP Districts include: Cobb-Douglas, Fulton, and Dekalb.
AREAS OF FOCUS
Motivation Assessment Scale
* This project is currently pending. Please check back later. *
School-based Positive Behavior Support
Faculty and staff at the CLD provide two models of training on positive behavior support in schools. One model includes one-time training providing an overview of the positive behavior support framework. The second model involves more intensive, onsite support that spans across several months to the entire academic year. CLD has several contracts with school systems across the state using the more intensive model of training.
AUCD: Children's Mental Health Champions
Early childhood is a critical period for long-term health and well-being. Children’s Mental Health Champions will develop and test strategies for building partnerships to promote identification, screening, referral, and intervention for children who may need services to address problem behavior.
Learn the Signs. Act Early.
This project aims to improve systems of support of children birth to five in the state of Georgia by developing and coordinating a Learn the Signs. Act Early. (LTSAE) Act Early Ambassador-led (or co-led) state/territory team (i.e. the Act Early GA Team).
Universal Behavior Screening in Schools
The Center for Leadership in Disability (CLD) provides free (grant-funded under the GaDOE’s Project AWARE) training and technical assistance to schools and school districts interested in building the infrastructure for universal behavior screening. The CLD has designed a step-by-step process to guide schools through the universal behavior screening readiness process. The CLD will also provide guidance on which universal screener districts should use to align with their district’s needs.
Youth Mental Health First Aid
Youth Mental Health First Aid USA is an six-hour public education program which introduces participants to the unique risk factors and warning signs of mental health problems in adolescents, builds understanding of the importance of early intervention, and teaches individuals how to help an adolescent in crisis or experiencing a mental health challenge.
Mental Health Awareness Training (MHAT) Project: Identifying and Responding to Youth Mental Health Needs (IRY)
Mental Health Awareness Training (MHAT) Project: Identifying and Responding to Youth Mental Health Needs (IRY). IRY is a community-academic partnership that aims to increase the community’s capacity to identify mental health concerns of youth ages 12-18 and improve their access to needed supports and services.
The PEERS® Curriculum is a 16-week evidence-based social skills intervention for motivated individuals, who are interested in learning new ways of making and keeping friends.
Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education (CARE) is a professional development program for special education teachers
Students Enhancing Their Advocacy is a one-year advocacy training program for inclusive postsecondary education (IPSE) students. Students selected for this program will receive training and mentorship related to advocacy, leadership, and professionalism.
The graduate-level interdisciplinary personnel preparation program for Early Speech, Physical and Occupational Therapy Services (Early SPOTS) focuses on effective early intervention services for infants and young children with significant disabilities and their families. This project will ensure a group of fully credentialed related services personnel, speech-language pathologists (SLPs), physical therapists (PTs) and occupational therapists (OTs), will have the knowledge and skills derived from evidence-based practice to be successful in serving infants and toddlers with significant disabilities and their families.
Opportunities for Students & Recent Graduates
The Georgia Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities is a one-year interdisciplinary experience for future professionals, disability advocates and family members to be able to provide coordinated, culturally competent and family-centered care to children and their families.
The CLD faculty and partners provide a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses on topics surrounding disabilities at GSU.
IDEAL is an inclusive post-secondary program for students with mild intellectual disabilities focused on the development of media literacy, storytelling, and media production skills. This program helps participating student’s communication skills and media maker “voice” — an empowering identity for anyone in our media-saturated culture, especially for individuals with Intellectual Disabilities whose stories are often overlooked or conveyed by others.
Contact Us
Address
Center for Leadership in Disability
Urban Life Building
140 Decatur Street SE
Suite 140
Atlanta, GA 30303