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.
This presentation describes the experiences of a mother/advocate/researcher as she navigates the complex world of disability services for her daughter with extensive support needs. This longitudinal case study began five years ago with the analysis of videos and interviews of the mother-daughter dyad interacting with each other and sharing information about how this mother/advocate/researcher found her voice to advocate on behalf of her daughter who was once considered non-verbal. After five years, both mother and daughter have found their respective voices regarding advocacy and self-determination. This updated case study will share new findings on how this mother-daughter dyad has grown in their advocacy for equity at school and in the community.
Alma L. Contreras-Vanegas Ph.D., is an associate professor at Sam Houston State University. There she teaches courses in bilingual education and second language acquisition. Her research interests include: Bilingual children in Special Education (gifted and talented and children... Read More →
William H. Blackwell is an Assistant Professor of Special Education at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. His research focuses on a broad spectrum of strategies for improving educational outcomes for children and adolescents with disabilities.
Friday December 6, 2024 10:00am - 11:00am CST
Imperial 11Hyatt Regency, 601 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70113
Our research centers on historically marginalized families and their experiences during the IEP process, emphasizing the need for opportunities for advocacy and participation. School-based teams need to approach collaboration with families from an asset-based approach (Sauer & Rossetti, 2020) and educators can learn from practices associated with cultural humility to inform their relationships with diverse families (Trainor, 2010). We conducted semi-structured interviews with families and caregivers to gather first-hand accounts of their experience with decision-making and advocacy during IEP development. In particular, we asked participants how they were able to provide input on placements and services for their child. We will present our findings from a qualitative analysis and share the online resources that we developed to empower families by increasing their understanding of special education terminology, their rights under IDEA, and their confidence in advocating for their child.
Katie McCabe is an Assistant Professor in the Exceptional Education Department at Buffalo State University, with a Ph.D. in Special Education and a minor in Qualitative Research Methods from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A former special education teacher in rural Upstate New... Read More →
Friday December 6, 2024 10:00am - 11:00am CST
Celestin Ballroom: Celestin HHyatt Regency, 601 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70113
We examined the social support networks of parents of adults with IDD, including members of their support networks, satisfaction with network members, and supports parents need to be effective caregivers for their adult son or daughter with IDD. Findings point to small social networks and the need for tangible support, social support, help navigating services, and future planning. Findings have important implications for research, practice, and policy.
Assistant Professor of Special Education, California State University Long Beach
Hello! My name is Kelli Sanderson. I am an Assistant Professor of Special Education at California State University, Long Beach. I am also coordinator of the Special Education graduate program and the Applied Disability Studies certificate. I am focused on advocacy and collaboration... Read More →
Friday December 6, 2024 11:15am - 12:15pm CST
Foster 1Hyatt Regency, 601 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70113
Family support is essential for effective augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) implementation. Family level intervention is necessary to ensure this support, but few interventions exist. We will share the development process utilized as part of an IES funded grant to create an aided language modeling intervention for SLPs and families.
Dr. Sarah Douglas is an Associate Professor at Michigan State University where she directs the RADD lab (Research on Autism and Developmental Disabilities). Her work focuses on paraeducator supports, augmentative and alternative communication, children with extensive support needs... Read More →
Friday December 6, 2024 11:15am - 12:15pm CST
Celestin Ballroom: Celestin AHyatt Regency, 601 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70113
During transition planning, the partnerships formed between the family and the school are essential to post-high school success, and family involvement must be prioritized (Kellems & Morningstar, 2010). When family members (i.e., siblings) are involved in transition planning, the comprehensive understanding of the transition-aged youth is enhanced (e.g., Seltzer et. al., 2005). Siblings fulfill beneficial roles within the family unit, and their involvement in transition planning and partnership with their sibling’s teacher can promote positive post-school outcomes in the areas of employment, education, independent living, and more. This poster presentation will discuss what a sibling-teacher partnership is and it’s importance. Moreover, the development and administration of a scale assessing the sibling-teacher partnership will be highlighted. Attendees at this poster presentation will learn ways to support the sibling-teacher partnership for transition-aged youth and family members.
The transition to adulthood for youth with disabilities and their families can be challenging, as they learn to navigate new post-school environments, often without the necessary supports. Ideally, youth with disabilities connect to necessary post-school services while they are still in high school. However, families regularly report having limited information on post-high school options, & describe services as fragmented or unavailable (Gibson et al., 2017). The absence of strong post-school connections can inhibit community inclusion and may contribute to poor post-school employment, education, & community living outcomes (Prince et al., 2017; Sanford et al., 2011). To help further understand the personal networks and connectedness of youth, families, and transition team members, this research describes the use of egocentric network methodology and a data collection software to study the networks that families interact with as their youth gets ready to transition out of high school.
When it comes to securing competitive integrated employment (CIE), families may be an integral part of the process. Family members often provide support to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities across a variety of domains, including employment. For families to establish effective partnerships and help promote CIE outcomes, the field needs a more in-depth understanding of the current state of family involvement and its relationship with accessing and supporting employment outcomes. To fill this knowledge gap, a scoping review was conducted. The review revealed facilitators (i.e., advocacy, knowledge of supports and services, family expectations, contributing to obtaining employment, building a support network, and family member working), barriers (i.e., lack of family support, socioeconomic status, lack of knowledge, perceptions on abilities, and family challenges), support needs, and overall familial perspectives on employment outcomes.
Parents and caregivers of children with medical complexities (CMC) and adults with intellectual or developmental disability (AIDD) report feelings of isolation and loneliness, with difficulty in finding and engaging mitigating social supports. Parent Cafes, developed by Be Strong Families, is a model with evaluative proof that participant families improve strength and resilience. Cafes create a safe and supportive environment where participants come together to share experiences, joys, and concerns. The Indiana Complex Care Coordination Collaborative (IC4) developed, implemented, and evaluated monthly statewide virtual parent-led cafes focusing on empowering families to connect in community, learn about resources, and increase protective factors.
A&M partnered with South Dakota to assess the Family Support 360 waiver and the Shared Living component of the CHOICES waiver, and to issue recommendations to maximize impact of these programs in helping to support South Dakotans with I/DD in the most interdependent settings possible. We worked with South Dakota Department of Human services to create a trajectory for the vision for developmental disabilities services. We used the Charting the LifeCourse trajectory tool to map out what was important for both people and their families, and the system. We started with the end in mind: the vision for DD services in South Dakota. Then, we partnered together to identify steps along the path to realizing the vision, including pitfalls to avoid.
Friday December 6, 2024 5:45pm - 7:15pm CST
Storyville HallHyatt Regency, 601 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70113
Family involvement in their children’s education results in positive student outcomes and is structured by the parent participation and consent mandates of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). However, there are well-documented inequities in participation and collaboration between culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) families (e.g., multilingual immigrant families) and school personnel, as well as an overarching sense by families that interactions with school personnel are adversarial rather than collaborative. As a result, implementation of IDEA has resulted in an expectation of advocacy rather than participation. This advocacy expectation perpetuates cultural inequities and overburdens families during the special education process. This study examined family perceptions of special education procedures, interactions with school personnel and legislators, and their own advocacy through 17 focus groups with 72 parents/caregivers of children with disabilities.
Zach Rossetti, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Special Education in the Teaching and Learning Department at Boston University's Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. His research examines the social belonging and participation of people with intellectual and developmental... Read More →
Saturday December 7, 2024 8:45am - 9:45am CST
Imperial 11Hyatt Regency, 601 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70113
This session provides an overview of Vamos DC, a collaborative initiative between District of Columbia government agencies, community-based organizations, and community members to connect more Latino residents with disabilities to services that support community inclusion and positive life outcomes. Vamos DC arose as a community-led solution to the challenge that, although Latinos make up 11% of DC's population, they represented only 2% of those served by the Department on Disability Services (DDS) in 2018. Within four years of Vamos DC's establishment, the number of Latino individuals served by DDS doubled. To achieve these positive results, trust had to be fostered between government agencies and Latino community members, necessitating a power-sharing approach. This session emphasizes the importance of learning from both successes and failures in efforts to share power with communities. Honest feedback, garnered through trust-building efforts, is crucial for effective collaboration.
