2024 TASH Conference: Full Schedule

Welcome to the official website for the 2024 TASH Conference!

Each year, the TASH Conference brings together our constituents to share resources and success stories, learn about field-driven best practices, and network within a community engaged in shared values. The Conference is attended by passionate leaders, experts, and advocates from every corner of the disability community. Conference attendees are influential in their fields and communities, and play an important role in the provision of services and supports for individuals and organizations around the world; and include professors and researchers from leading institutions; those involved in local, state, and federal governments and public policy; special and general educators, and school administrators; self-advocates, adult service providers; students, family members, and many others. This year’s conference theme is Celebrate Together: Let the Good Times Roll!

Click on the "Registration and More" tab for additional information about our Conference location, registration, reserving a guest room, sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities, and more! The full Conference schedule is now available for viewing. Registered attendees will receive an invitation to log in and create a personalized schedule.

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3:00pm CST

Neurodiversity Advisory: Grappling with Implications For Practice

Saturday December 7, 2024 3:00pm - 4:00pm CST

3RD Floor - Ballroom: Celestin H

The TASH Neurodiversity Advisory has created a resource articulating the Elements of Neurodiversity Affirming Practice. In this session, participants will use the Elements resource to reflect on current issues in education, employment, communication access, human rights, and community living. We will explore what our practice looks like and doesn't look like when we embrace neurodiversity and advance neurodiversity-affirming practice.

Moderators

Michael McSheehan

Owner/TA Provider, Evolve & Effect, LLC

Michael McSheehan’s life work has been at the intersection of disability and K-12 education. During his twenty years at the University of New Hampshire, he worked on projects for assistive technology, inclusive education, alternate assessment, RTI & PBIS, and MTSS. Michael helped... Read More →

Presenters

Deborah Taub

Owner/CEO, OTL Education Solutions, LLC

Mary Fisher

Professor, Lewis University

Leah Kelley

I am Leah Kelley, EdD, (she/her) an education consultant, writer, activist, parent, and teacher educator, who identifies as Neurodivergent and otherwise disabled. My research interests include connecting disability studies in education (DSE) to educational practice, strength-based... Read More →

Amy Hanreddy

Associate Professor, Special Education, California State University, Northridge

Amy Hanreddy is an associate professor in the Department of Special Education at California State University, Northridge. She teaches about inclusive and collaborative practices, with an emphasis on strategies that provide students with disabilities access to meaningful instruction... Read More →

Robyn Reagan

Vice President of Special Education Services, Villa Esperanza Services

Robyn has been improving systems and supports for children, youth and families for over 25 years. Her first role model was Annie Sullivan, teacher and friend to Helen Keller. She is a lifelong advocate for children who struggle to make their gifts and needs known.Robyn’s experience... Read More →

Jean Gonsier-Gerdin

Professor, Teaching Credentials-Special Education, California State University, Sacramento

Saturday December 7, 2024 3:00pm - 4:00pm CST
3RD Floor - Ballroom: Celestin H Hyatt Regency, 601 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70113

Breakout Sessions

Primary Topic Human Rights
Themes of Interest Discrimination & Ableism
Key Words Ableism, Neurodiversity, Affirming, Rights
Presentation Type General

3:00pm CST

You Don't Look Autistic: Racism, Sexism, and Autistic Communities

Saturday December 7, 2024 3:00pm - 4:00pm CST

2ND Floor - Foster 2

Autism as originally defined by Dr. Sukhareva, and later, Dr. Asperger, was understood as a condition that could be found in any segment of the population, discriminating by neither sex nor ethnicity. However, when Leo Kanner redefined and codified autism diagnosis in the United States, his definition explicitly leaned on then-contemporary sexism, and implicitly on racism and classism, to define â€œrealâ€ autistics. This talk will explore this history and discuss its impact on autistics in the generations since, ranging from ongoing differential access to formal diagnosis, to disproportionate pathologization and violence against BIPOC autistics in institutional settings, to how ideas about "female autism,â€ race, and wealth pervade debates about self-diagnosis. We will then open into a discussion about intersectionality, implicit and explicit bias, and promoting autistic advocacy that centers the concerns of historically marginalized groups.

Presenters

Algernon Lutwak

Northern Light Health

Corissa Pittman

Saturday December 7, 2024 3:00pm - 4:00pm CST
2ND Floor - Foster 2 Hyatt Regency, 601 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70113

Breakout Sessions

Primary Topic Human Rights
Themes of Interest Discrimination & Ableism
Key Words Ableism, Racism, Sexism, Diagnostic Accessibility, Advocacy
Presentation Type General