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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Federally funded parent centers across the country have been emphasizing youth leadership for students with disability labels for the past several years. This presentation describes one state parent center’s youth and young adult leadership initiative. MPACT (Missouri Parents Act) is Missouri’s federally funded parent training and information center and our leadership programming includes a youth and young adult leadership council, professional development for all staff on youth leadership, and youth leadership strategies infused throughout our transition training materials. Audience members will learn about the value of leadership programming, leadership strategies and resources from parent centers, and strategies for making organizations more supportive of youth leadership. Youth who take on leadership roles now will later be empowered citizens working towards a more equitable and inclusive society.
Nonspeaking and minimally-speaking learners are among the most marginalized students in school settings. Historically, students without spoken communication have been segregated to self-contained learning environments that offer students little to no choice in their education. While families and advocates still routinely have to fight for access, inclusion, and equity in schools, communities like ours have come together to build learning environments that meet the expressed needs of our nonspeaking and minimally-speaking students. By listening to and learning from these individuals, Reach Every Voice has designed multiple learning environments that our students describe as “a space created with disability celebrated [that] feels like a friend’s hug folding me in its warmth.†This presentation explores how communities around the nation have successfully designed learning environments driven by the voiced desires of their nonspeaking and minimally-speaking students.
Lisa Mihalich Quinn, M.A / M.Ed. is a licensed special educator with more than 15 years of experience making academic content accessible for neurodiverse students and learners who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). She is a former Maryland Public Schools teacher... Read More →
Over the last few decades, Anne has had a diversity of opportunities as a special educator in elementary and secondary settings. She has also worked at the Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education (MCIE) to further inclusion for all students. For over a decade, Anne worked as a... Read More →
Parenting, or the act of caring for a very young child, is a social occupation that, initially is a survival mechanism for the child. Parent and child are interdependent in a way unlike any other relationship. Parenting a child with extensive support needs adds an extensive layer to this relationship with the adult taking on multiple additional roles in a day. Because of this, the majority of time spent together is working towards a goal leaving little time for the parent to engage with their child just for the sake of doing together. Through examples from a case study, I argue that there is value in non-goal oriented doing for children with extensive support needs and their caregivers. Cherishing children with extensive support needs as their whole complete human selves is important and leads to stronger relationships, communication and meaningful engagement. By doing together for the sake of doing, structures and spaces allow for opportunities to grow belong and do.
