August 2023 Leadership in IDD

Perspectives 

Commentary from the Field 

AAIDD International Interest Network’s Plans For 2023-2024

Hatice Uyanik, MA, Co-Chair, AAIDD International Interest Network

Alice Bacherini, MA, Co-Chair, AAIDD International Interest Network

The goal of the AAIDD International Interest Network (IN) is to expand the outreach and dissemination of AAIDD’s work to international communities. To fulfil this charge, its co-chairs carry out activities including preparing posters for conferences, hosting member meetings, and engaging in online/social media outreach. As current co-chairs of the International IN, we follow the steps of previous chairs, relying on their experiences to guide our path and building new activities to further and enhance diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice outcomes for everyone. 

The International IN has planned some exciting activities for the upcoming year! We will increase our understanding of different IDD systems worldwide by completing the following activities:

• Conduct a survey to determine this year’s topic for the IN’s group project. A presentation proposal about the project will  be submitted for the 2024 AAIDD Annual Meeting.
• Co-host a webinar series with the SECP IN on emergency preparation and risk assessment before, during, and after emergencies for people with IDD.
• Propose a special issue of a peer-reviewed journal for the international disability community.

More information will be announced as these activities progress. Please contact one of the current co-chairs (hatice.uy@gmail.com, alice.bacherini@unipg.it)  with your comments, suggestions, or inquiries, and stay tuned to the AAIDD website, subscribe to AAIDD newsletters, and follow us and AAIDD on social media mediums! 

Notables

Recent awards, accolades, appointments, and other honors

Kim Fisher, PhD, FAAIDD, Promoted to Associate Professor at Illinois State University

Craig Escudé, MD, Drops New Podcast Titled IDD Health Matters. Dr. Craig Escudé speaks with a wide range of leaders, self-advocates, agency directors, clinicians, administrators, and others from across the globe involved in designing and facilitating service delivery to people with IDD.

Michael Bloom, MA, MS, FAAIDD, Mentioned in Article "Building an Inclusive Work Culture Can Help BH Agencies in Retention"  Published in Mental Health Weekly.

Guy Caruso, PhD, FAAIDD, Among Authors of Chapters in New Book, Wolf Wolfensberger - The Influence of the Person and his Ideas Today | A Festchrift 

Dan Zhang, PhD, FAAIDD, Promoted to Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at Texas  A&M University 

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