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.
Join Project ACTION!, DC’s self-advocacy coalition, to explore successful advocacy strategies to ensure your voice is heard as you advocate to shape the services you receive, in your relationships, to get high-quality healthcare, in your workplace, and to create partnerships. Using their 30+ years of experience, Project ACTION! members will engage participants in discussions, role plays and leadership training activities using strategies they found useful so people can represent their own interests and the interests of others. Project ACTION! members will share their experiences working with advisors and serving on over 30 boards, committees and workgroups focused on systems change, human rights and policy development. In this interactive session, learn how to identify decision-making boards on which you want to be represented, lead your individual service planning meeting, advocate for the support you might need to effectively serve on boards, recruit members and allies, and more.
Thelma Green is the Treasurer and Past Co-President of Project ACTION!, the District’s self-advocacy coalition of adults with developmental disabilities. Green is a strong self-advocate who has trained locally and across the country on a variety of topics including supported decision-making... Read More →
Vanessa Monroe is a District of Columbia resident and Project ACTION! member. Vanessa is also a talented artist who works of out Art Enables studios in Washington, DC. She has sold many of her art pieces. She is also a strong self-advocate and speaks up for issues that are of... Read More →
Donna Thornton is a strong self-advocate and presenter. She worked for over 30 years at the National Institutes of Health and retired in 2018. She is a passionate mentor to people new to self-advocacy. She believes everyone should have the right and supports to pursue a career... Read More →
Thomas Mangrum, Jr., is a strong communicator and self-advocate who is passionate about helping others to be the best they can be. He loves learning new information and sharing it with other self-advocates, his friends and neighbors. He is an excellent presenter having trained locally... Read More →
Thursday December 5, 2024 10:00am - 12:00pm CST
Celestin Ballroom: Celestin HHyatt Regency, 601 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70113
In this presentation, we advocate for student-led Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for transition-age adults with intellectual disabilities (ages 18-21). Transitioning from school to adulthood is critical, and empowering these individuals to participate in their IEPs is essential. Research highlights the importance of self-determination, self-advocacy, and engagement for better outcomes in education, employment, and independent living. Our approach includes providing direct instruction for self-advocacy skills, fostering collaboration between students, families, educators, and community agencies, and enhancing communication to improve participation. The presentation includes a student from a post-secondary transition program who adopted a person-centered IEP approach.
We have created tools for students, families, and professionals that help leverage the IDEA evaluation process to not simply establish eligibility for Special Education, but as a guide to an IEP team, to a school, or even to a school district on how to support learners with extensive support needs in general education in a way that centers and respects the student and guarantees meaningful access, progress and engagement, is anti-ableist, and sets up the foundation for authentic relationships. There is a way to use the mandated documentation in anti-ableist, respectful, and strength-driven ways that center the student and their preferences, meaningful engagement, and authentic relationships, reframe the evaluation process as more humanistic, inclusive, empowering, and authentic, and that will help the evaluation team to reframe their ideas of Disability and Special Education.
Self-advocacy is an essential component of transition planning for youth with disabilities. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) mandates students with disabilities are included in transition planning to the greatest extent possible. Additionally, the Workforce and Innovation Act (WIOA, 2014) requires specific pre-employment transition services, one of which includes self-advocacy training. Despite federal requirements, youth with disabilities often report not being active members of their transition planning and self-advocacy is often tied to school and work-based settings. Our research team investigated self-advocacy experiences of transition-aged youth with disabilities through one-on-one interviews led by researches with and without disabilities. Key findings highlight youths’ advocacy experiences across settings, how they are empowered to advocate, and their suggested improvements to special education for other students with disabilities.
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.
