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.
Feeling stuck? Need new tools to expand possibility for students/job seekers? This workshop offers hands-on practice using Person Centered Planning tools to develop website portfolios for students/job seekers. The goal is to get unstuck, here's how. We'll start with the best practice of Person Centered Planning. Attendees will practice using tools to expand on skills and contributions, integrating a strengths-based approach. We will dig deep to develop strategies for success in education and employment, and then think creatively about new possibilities. Next, we'll explore how to use the information effectively. The second half of the workshop dives into creating website portfolios, which are dynamic resumes and marketing tools showcasing skills, experiences, and achievements. Attendees will set up accounts on Wix Tomorrow, a free platform, and explore tools and editor functions, including generative AI, to develop a sample website. So kick off TASH with us and let the good times roll!
Alison DeYoung has worked in the field of transition and employment since 2008 in various roles as a direct support provider, job developer and special education teacher. She worked as the Lead Instructor of Campus Life with Project FOCUS at the University of Arizona, a model demonstration... Read More →
Thursday December 5, 2024 9:00am - 12:00pm CST
Foster 2Hyatt Regency, 601 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70113
Catalight Research Institute has developed Compass Work. This self-paced program offers participants a unique set of tools to help them find a position that fits their strengths and sets them up for lifelong career success. It is person-centered, strength-based, assessment-driven, and career-focused. It consists of over 30 training elements, including skills assessments, resume building, interviewing, accommodation requests, handling rejections, accepting job offers, and creating a 100-day plan for when they start a new job. It launched in February 2023 and is used by over 100 job seekers, advocates, career coaches, and employment service providers. We will present the program design and the successes candidates and advocates for these candidates have accomplished. We will share how they use the tool and the feedback generated along the way. We will share critical feedback from candidates and advocates. We also plan to give TASH attendees free access to the tool.
Senior Director, Clinical Excellence Planning and Development, Catalight
As the Clinical Excellence Planning and Development Leader at Catalight, I have led new strategies for employment services for neurodiverse adults since December 2021. With over 20 years of experience in process improvement, mentoring, and organizational support, I am passionate about... Read More →
Friday December 6, 2024 11:15am - 12:15pm CST
Imperial 10Hyatt Regency, 601 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70113
In August 2022, federal policy makers collaborated on a joint policy concerning the utilization of Community Engagement services to assist individuals with significant support needs in securing and maintaining employment. Job seekers with limited community life experience often face disadvantages in their quest for employment as they struggle to articulate their passions and strengths. By leveraging Community Engagement alongside the four guideposts of Community Life Engagement developed by the University of Massachusetts Boston Institute on Community Inclusion, providers, job seekers, and their families can chart a part towards employment. This session aims to share anecdotes and strategies illustrating how CE is deployed to aid individuals supports needs who have been isolated or lack experience with community employment in their journey to work. Additionally, the presentation will delve into concepts of the utilization of Community Life Engagement as a wraparound service.
Join this session to learn about an innovative partnership between the LEAD Center and Parent 2 Parent USA (P2P USA), harnessing the input from parent advisors to craft resources to promote employment and career outcomes for their family members with disabilities. Families also identified resources through which they can access essential supports and services. Hear from family leaders and employment subject matter experts from LEAD Center about the pivotal role families play in envisioning and supporting the people with disabilities in their lives across their lifespan as they journey towards competitive integrated employment.
As agencies staffed by people with disabilities, Centers for Independent Living (CILs) are uniquely positioned to provide effective pre-employment transition services (Pre-ETS). During this session presenters from Able South Carolina (Able SC) and the Disability Employment Technical Assistance Center (DETAC) will share how Centers for Independent Living (CILs) can collaborate with state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies and schools to deliver comprehensive pre-ETS, empowering youth and strengthening communities. We will review how the disability rights and independent living movements have shaped the cultural landscape and address five key components of effective transition services: collaboration, accessibility, individualization, disability pride, and problem-solving. Successful transitions benefit the entire community, including businesses, families, and individuals, by promoting a more inclusive workforce and society.
Paraprofessionals are increasingly serving as job coaches at community-based work sites. In this session we share findings from a study that explored the qualifications and responsibilities of job coaches who are employed by schools, the training these job coaches receive to perform their job, and the role of school professionals in directing the activities of job coaches. Discussion will focus on how we can continue to enhance the role, training, and supervision of job coaches who are employed by schools to improve employment outcomes for students with extensive support needs.
Assistant Professor, University of Missouri, St. Louis
Magen is an assistant professor of inclusive education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Her research focuses on the inclusion of students with significant support needs in work-based learning experiences.
Stacy Dymond is professor of special education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses on curriculum issues related to educating secondary and transition-age students with severe intellectual disabilities in inclusive school and community settings... Read More →
Friday December 6, 2024 3:25pm - 4:20pm CST
Imperial 5DHyatt Regency, 601 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70113
Work experience, whether paid or unpaid, enables students with disabilities to learn job skills in the real world and clarify their career path. Despite the benefits of work experiences, many educational programs struggle to provide work experiences in the community due to issues surrounding transportation. In this session we will share 12 creative strategies for transporting students with disabilities to community-based work sites and provide tips to consider when selecting strategies. Come join us to discuss this important topic and share your creative solutions for obtaining transportation!
Stacy Dymond is professor of special education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses on curriculum issues related to educating secondary and transition-age students with severe intellectual disabilities in inclusive school and community settings... Read More →
Friday December 6, 2024 4:35pm - 5:30pm CST
Celestin Ballroom: Celestin FHyatt Regency, 601 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70113
This presentation offers evidence-based solutions to bridge the significant gap between current practices and best practices in transition planning for adult independence, job skills, self-advocacy, technology, and post-secondary education. By adopting a growth mindset with strengths-based approach to student-centered transition planning, schools can effectively implement the practical steps detailed in our Transition Matrix. Steps are designed to enhance potential for personal fulfillment, employment, financial stability, independence, and community integration. Participants will receive a comprehensive road map for transition planning. Will’s personal journey from school to employment is a powerful testament to the impact of supportive interventions. His experience underscores challenges students face in being recognized as productive members of society. With tools and supports from LSU PAYCheck program, Will successfully secured competitively integrated employment.
Too often, qualified workers with disabilities struggle to find work because the organizations that support them focus primarily on “them.†We must focus equally on preparing employers to successfully source, onboard, and retain employees with disabilities. Join DETAC and Jonathan “Jon†Taylor, Executive Director of the Arkansas Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities, to discuss employer engagement and outreach to advance competitive integrated employment (CIE) for people with disabilities. Jon Taylor was previously a retail field manager with a decade of successful experience in CIE. In this session, Jon will recount his experiences and offer practical tips for how DD Councils, job developers, self-advocates, and other stakeholders can engage with employers to advance CIE and economic outcomes for people with disabilities. The session will review the philosophy of Employment First, emphasize the importance of partnerships, and share DETAC resources.
This session will review a Career and Technical Education (CTE) microcredential pilot project in Indiana in both Early Childhood and Automechanics Pathways. These microcredentials were created using industry standards so that they can be utilized so students with disabilities can earn microcredentials of skillsets. The microcredentials can be utilized by students as part of portfolio requirements for the Indiana alternate diploma and to obtain future employment, as the student will be able to list the microcredentials on their resumes and present them to future employers. We will discuss literature that supports microcredentials for students with disabilities, the microcredential design process, and future steps.
This session will review a Career and Technical Education (CTE) microcredential pilot project in Indiana in both Early Childhood and Automechanics Pathways. These microcredentials were created using industry standards so that they can be utilized so students with disabilities can earn microcredentials of skillsets. The microcredentials can be utilized by students as part of portfolio requirements for the Indiana alternate diploma and to obtain future employment, as the student will be able to list the microcredentials on their resumes and present them to future employers. We will discuss literature that supports microcredentials for students with disabilities, the microcredential design process, and future steps.
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.
Transitioning from childhood to adulthood is a major life event. For parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) the process may seem especially challenging. As parents consider their child’s support needs, they may have concerns and questions about post-school options, including options related to employment. The Individualized Education Program (IEP) team therefore plays an important role in helping to connect parents with the information they need to support their child’s transition to adulthood.
Policy requirements and incentives emphasize interagency collaboration (IDEA, 2004; WIOA, 2014). Despite evidence of interagency collaboration improving postsecondary outcomes for students with disabilities, there are noted challenges in collaboration (Saleh et al., 2019). Difficulties exist despite the prevalence of conceptual interagency collaboration models (Kwiatek et al., 2023). Reconceptualizing research on interagency collaboration to emphasize collaboration theory will provide new insights into the process of interagency collaboration that may better address barriers to interagency collaboration (Thomson & Perry, 2006; Wood & Gray,1991). An exploratory qualitative study was conducted using collaboration theory. Vocational rehabilitation counselors in Central Illinois were asked to describe the process of collaboration in the provision of school-to-work employment-focused transition services. The results of the exploratory study are discussed.
The purpose of this proposal is to discuss the current status on competitive integrated employment for individual with the highest support needs and review progress made but also why we continue to remain stuck in helping get significantly challenged people out of segregated setting and into real work for real pay, be it in community companies, self employment or even partially remote working conditions. We present the barrier and offer constructive suggestions to make changes now.
Senior Research Scientist, Virginia Commonwealth University
Paul Wehman, Ph.D. has been a tenured faculty member with Virginia Commonwealth University since 1976. Originally with the VCU School of Education, he moved to a joint appointment with SOE and the School of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and has now returned to an exclusive... Read More →
Saturday December 7, 2024 8:45am - 9:45am CST
Imperial 10Hyatt Regency, 601 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70113
Transition educators can be integral in supporting students with extensive support needs, including intellectual disability (ID) as they pursue meaningful post-school employment. One unique pathway to achieve employment involves creating a small business and pursuing self-employment. Self-employment occurs when an individual works for themself rather than working for an employer. Individuals with disabilities are more likely to pursue self-employment than individuals without disabilities, however, transition educators may be less familiar with self-employment and less prepared to support students with ID and their families achieve self-employment. In addition to describing five strategies that transition educators can use to increase awareness about self-employment while students are in high school, this structured discussion will also feature two parents and two self-advocates who started their businesses with the support of
This panel discussion delves into the multifaceted landscape of Customized Employment (CE), and efforts to catalog its use as a workable tool for provider transformation and expansion of Competitive Integrated Employment (CIE). The members of the panel were all participants in a Case Study through the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) investigating how Customized Employment is successfully implemented in the community, and each brings a unique perspective, shedding light on the collaborative efforts required to facilitate meaningful employment outcomes. Through shared experiences, practical strategies, and interactive dialogue, attendees will gain valuable insights into fostering a more inclusive and supportive employment environment for individuals with disabilities and learn about efforts through ODEP's CIE initiatives to better understand the successful utilization of Customized Employment implementation across the country.
This presentation will provide an overview of the Illinois Sub-Minimum Wage to Competitive Integrated Employment (SWTCIE) Project. SWTCIE is a project administered by the Illinois Department of Human Services/Division of Rehabilitation Services. The project will address the need to expand opportunities for Illinoisans with disabilities to obtain high-quality competitive integrated employment that leads to economic security, & assist & encourage employers to fully include individuals with disabilities into their workforce. SWTCIE aims to achieve systems change by establishing the efficacy of a replicable and scalable model that increases opportunities for individuals with disabilities to transition from subminimum wage employment to competitive integrated employment and redirect to competitive integrated employment those individuals contemplating subminimum wage employment. The project outcomes are to enhance quality of life & increase independence & inclusion among SWTCIE participants.
Over 30 million people worldwide have taken the Gallup CliftonStrengths assessment and have learned the critical link between talent and strengths, as well as the wisdom in leveraging strengths instead of trying to “fix†weaknesses. In the disability community, starting with strengths and leveraging abilities is the foundation for Individualized Educational Plans (IEPs) at school, and Individual Plans for Employment (IPEs) at work. This session will describe how to leverage the CliftonStrengths assessment and coaching approach in the workplace. CliftonStrengths provides a common language for disabled and nondisabled employees and their managers to work together and provide an optimal and inclusive environment for all employees.
Dr. Jennifer Camota Luebke is a visionary and strategic President and CEO of Relay Resources, a leading social enterprise in the Pacific Northwest that cultivates meaningful employment for people with disabilities. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees for the national United... Read More →
Saturday December 7, 2024 10:00am - 11:00am CST
Foster 2Hyatt Regency, 601 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70113
This will be the presentation of the findings of a study about the use of technology (specifically QR codes) by individuals with ID in the workplace. The participants in the study were post secondary aged students who were enrolled in an inclusive post secondary program. The students were working at inclusive on-campus jobs, supported by job coaches. The students all had access to, and were proficient in the use of, cell phones. QR codes were used to link students to individualized supports (e.g. videos, or task checklists) to reinforce skill development and increase independence in the workplace. The QR codes were easily be embedded at the worksites, limiting the need for hard copy lists or charts for students or coaches to manage. Pre and post intervention data will be presented and will include student and job coach feedback and task completion data.
This session offers the latest research relevant to the barriers and facilitators of transition from sheltered 14c employment to competitive, integrated employment via the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA, 2014). Given Indiana's clear movement towards investment in Employment First philosophy, this session is relevant for service providers, families, and people with disabilities considering transition. This session features research highlighting commonly reported concerns and fears around transition, as well as potential strategies to remediate these common challenges. This session will also review interviews of people with disabilities in Indiana who have successfully moved to competitive integrated employment (CIE), are in the process of transitioning from sheltered employment to CIE, and the staff who are assisting in these transitions.
Developing worksites for students with disabilities in the community is not an easy feat. You’ll leave this workshop with strategies on how to develop job opportunities and explore potential worksites in your community. The session will address practical strategies for identifying job sites, connecting with businesses, evaluating the appropriateness of a potential worksite, and securing school-business partnerships.
Training Specialist, Illinois Center for Transition and Work - UIUC
I am a training specialist with the University of Illinois. My background is mostly in transition to work for people with significant disabilities. I am passionate about finding paid employment for youth with disabilities where they can earn a wage and be independent.
Saturday December 7, 2024 4:15pm - 5:15pm CST
Imperial 11Hyatt Regency, 601 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70113
