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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This colloquium centers youth and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and complex support needs as essential research partners within six participatory research projects, including inclusive research, participatory action research, community-based participatory research, and youth participatory action research. Each research team embodies the processes and principles of participatory research by how they center and amplify youth and adult experiences and perspectives to influence the policies, practices, scholarship, and systems that impact them most. Authentic equity, justice, access, and inclusion cannot be actualized without the epistemic agency of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and complex support needs. This session calls for more participatory research controlled by them from theorization to dissemination.
This proposed four-hour session consists of 6 research paper presentations that will last 25 minutes each. We will reserve 10 minutes total for the session chair’s introduction and closing as well as 10 minutes for discussant remarks. There will also be a 10 minute break. This allows for 10 minutes for questions/discussion, dialogue/resource sharing with attendees after each presentation.
5 minutes: Introduction to the overall session and speakers, Colloquium Chair – Hasan Ko
25 minutes: “What Matters Most to Adults with Disabilities in Their Daily Lives: A Nationwide Project” - Paul Betz, Thomas Caswell, Whitley Daper, David Frye, Jess Kilpeck, Hasan Ko, Mark Utter, Nicole Villemaire, Emily Anderson, and Amanda Miller 10 minutes: Questions and discussion
25 minutes: “Participatory Action Research on the Service Planning Experiences of Massachusetts Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities” – Anne Fracht and Hezzy Smith 10 minutes: Questions and discussion
25 minutes: “Person Centered Planning and Home Community-Based Services on the Move” – David Taylor, Chaquetta Stuckey, and Anne Fracht 10 minutes: Questions and discussion
10 minutes: Break
25 minutes: “Collaborating With And Promoting Youth Voices in Research With Youth With Cerebral Palsy Who Do Not Speak And Who Use AAC” – Ramona Schwartz-Johnston 10 minutes: Questions and discussion
25 minutes: “Applying Inclusive Methods to Shed Light on the COVID-19 Pandemic Experiences of Group Home Residents with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in Massachusetts” – Anne Fracht and Hezzy Smith 10 minutes: Questions and discussion
25 minutes: “Working Together as an Inclusive Team” – Pauline Bosma and Oscar Hughes 10 minutes: Questions and discussion
10 minutes: Remarks, Discussant – Amanda L. Miller
While there is lots of research on the experiences and outcomes of people with disabilities, findings are not often shared in ways that are accessible and supportive of advocacy efforts. Advocacy methods that include quality data are often highly effective in steering the changes advocates hope to see; however, community engagement with disability data, including the collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of data, is usually minimal. This can result in a disconnect between what researchers and policymakers feel is important to advocates and what advocates feel is important for their community. This session will feature an overview of existing efforts related to collecting and strengthening disability data and how these efforts are currently supporting advocacy. Then, we will have a rousing discussion with attendees about the most critical ways to enhance engagement with the disability community to support use of disability data in local, state, and national advocacy,
Many autistic adults express dissatisfaction with their K-12 school experiences and face social rejection more often than their non-autistic peers. However, autistic youth’s voices are rarely included in educational research or policy-making. In this study, we examined autistic people’s perceptions of ableism in American K-12 school systems through interviews with 19 autistic adolescents and adults in a qualitative, community-participatory study. We found seven major themes in these interviews: Erasure Conformity Isolation Oppression Hidden curriculum Misaligned school priorities Authority Our research highlights the systemic barriers autistic people face in educational settings that either go unnoticed or are intentionally ignored. We examine the impact of said barriers on outcomes and experiences that extend beyond the classroom. Specifically, we examine these themes’ negative impacts on identity formation, self-advocacy, and self-acceptance for autistic student
Traditionally, AAC researchers have defined topics for investigation. However, it is important to include AAC users in research to ensure that it addresses their needs and priorities and that it results in increased awareness and uptake to improve outcomes. This scoping review aimed to identify whether AAC users have been involved in the research conducted to address issues related to adults with cerebral palsy who use AAC, and, if so, in what types of studies. Through a systematic search, only 34 data-based studies from the last twenty years were identified that focused on adults with CP who used AAC. Nine of those studies involved an AAC user in at least one research process (conceptualization of the problem, determining research methods, collecting study data, analyzing study data, and disseminating study findings). To improve the outcomes of research, there is an urgent need to involve AAC users in studies conducted to understand and support their needs.
I am interested in partnering with individuals with disabilities to inform research directions within the augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) community. I have a deep interest in disability justice, self-determination, and the transition into adulthood for individuals... Read More →
Friday December 6, 2024 5:45pm - 7:15pm CST
3RD Floor - Storyville HallHyatt Regency, 601 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70113
This presentation will focus on practical methods researchers can use to include individuals with intellectual disability in qualitative research. This requires reconceptualizing the communication difference. Some challenges impede the inclusion of those individuals in qualitative research that mainly uses interviewing. For example, expected methodological issues and challenges include sampling, informed consent, and participant fatigue, as well as the quantity and quality/credibility of the data. Solutions to address these challenges will be discussed point by point. Additionally, strategies to facilitate hearing voices from participants with intellectual disabilities will be covered, including dyadic interviewing, visual/audio methods, and accessible focus groups. Finally, helpful tips for interviewing people with intellectual disabilities will be presented, focusing on building rapport and trust, effective questioning, triangulation, and interview scheduling.
This research investigates inclusive practices for rural students with complex support needs (CSN) and examines staff perceptions about their roles in facilitating an inclusive service delivery model. This study addresses concerns about inconsistent inclusive practices within one rural school district. Data collection included content analysis of IEPs, classroom observations, and interviews with special educators and administrators. Findings reveal that students with CSN lacked inclusive placements, highlighting a culture of low expectations and insufficient individualized support in general education settings. Additionally, special education spaces often perpetuated ableist structures, undermining inclusive opportunities. This research underscores the importance of targeted training and resources to promote inclusive practices in rural schools, contributing to the broader understanding of how rural contexts impact inclusive education for students with CSN.
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 →
Saturday December 7, 2024 10:00am - 11:00am CST
4TH Floor - Imperial 12Hyatt Regency, 601 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70113
Simply placing students with significant disabilities in the same educational environment with peers does not result in meaningful inclusion. FLIP Recess (Focusing on Learning, Interaction, and Play at Recess) is an intervention designed to increase interactions, interactive play, and social connections for elementary students with significant disabilities at recess. In a randomized controlled trial of FLIP Recess, we measured social interactions, interactive play, social skills and social connections through over 600 observations of children at recess and survey data from teachers, parents, and students. Interim findings from over 80 participants show that FLIP Recess produces large effects on all of these outcomes, and that effects generalized to other times of the school day and outside of school. We will share outcome data from the randomized controlled trial as well as practical implications for teachers, paraeducators, and related service personnel.
