Poster Presentations
This series features interdisciplinary peer-reviewed poster presentations by faculty, staff, undergraduates, graduate students, trainees, and family members from the University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies and/or the New Hampshire-Maine Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (NH-ME LEND) Program. Peer review is a process by which something proposed (as for research or publication) is evaluated by a group of experts in the appropriate field. (Definition courtesy of Merriam-Webster.)
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Quality of Life Among Youth with IDD in Parent-Developed Residential Program
Emma Wynne Hill
New Hampshire-Maine Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities Trainee Program (NH-ME LEND)
2018My poster focuses on a research project I am conducting with a team from the Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies. The study is tracking changes in quality of life for six young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) as they transition into an innovative housing program developed by their parents. This new housing offers individuals their own apartments, while also providing access to communal spaces and support staff as needed. Individuals with IDD routinely experience a lower quality of life than those without IDD. Further, the nature of residential settings has been shown to affect resident’s quality of life. For this study, quality of life is being measured in three ways: (1) pre-post administration of the INICO-FEAPS Scale, and pre-post administration of a quantitative survey created for this purpose to parents and residents; (2) structured qualitative interviews of parents and residents; and (3) measures of changes in goals identified in person-centered planning meetings, along with an analysis of the methods and processes used to create those goals. To date, one round of INICO-FEAPS surveys and qualitative interviews has been conducted, and that data is currently being aggregated and thematically coded. Since the project has not yet been completed, my poster will center on its impetus, goals, and process. In addition, it will incorporate results from the first round of qualitative interviews, coupled with preliminary results of the INICO-FEAPS Scale.
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Flippin' Our Brains: Disability Benefits Everyone
Jaimi Clifford and Class DIS 300 Disability: Interaction of Human Diversity and Global Environments
Interdisciplinary Disability Studies
2017Disability is often thought of as an object in need of change. Accordingly, products designed for disabled populations aim to improve function and help individuals adapt to their environments. Curiously and often unrecognized, products designed for the atypical and extreme human often find their way into mainstream use, improving the world for everyone. This presentation analyzes the process of disability product to commercial success. We illustrate the “disability” genesis of products such as Doc Marten footwear, speech-to-text and text-to-speech software and applications, automated doors, and closed captioning.
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Picture vocabulary growth in students with and without disabilities in an early childhood program that targets poor families
Alan B. Cobo-Lewis
2017We compared growth in the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test between children with disabilities and children without disabilities in Educare Central Maine, a highly resourced data-driven Birth-5 early care and education program that targets children at risk of school failure because of socioeconomic factors. Children with disabilities made up 13% of enrollment. Children with disabilities tended to catch up with the typically developing children as they spent more time in Educare.
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Reaching Local Community with the Message of Developmental Milestones and Early Identification of Autism
Hope M. Duncanson
New Hampshire-Maine Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities Trainee Program (NH-ME LEND)
2017This poster presents project activities for a pilot program for effectively distributing Learn the Signs, Act Early materials to a small study group in a community in Maine.
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DHHS Clinical Review Team Formation
Moriah Geer
New Hampshire-Maine Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities Trainee Program (NH-ME LEND)
2017Historically individuals with disabilities were sent to live in institutions, such as Pineland Center. As public opinion about institutionalization and individuals with disabilities began to change the state worked to create programs to allow individuals with disabilities to live in their own communities. These Home and Community Based Services are funded through Medicaid waiver programs such as section 21 and 29.
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Assessing Trainee Understanding of Health Equity & Diversity
Betsy P. Humphreys, Susan Russell, Alan Kurtz, and Rae Sonnenmeier
2017The NH-ME LEND Program engages in quality improvement efforts aimed at increasing trainee’s understanding of health equity and cultural competence. This poster 1) provided an overview of the curricular components related to health equity and diversity, 2) reported on six cohorts of trainees’ self-assessments in these areas, and 3) shared trainees’ personal reflections on their growth. Finally, ongoing program improvements efforts in these areas were discussed.
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NH-ME LEND: Advancing Health Equity for Children and Youth with ASD/NDD and their Families through Continuous Quality Improvement
Betsy Humphreys, Susan Russell, Rae Sonnenmeier, and Alan Kurtz
New Hampshire-Maine Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities Trainee Program (NH-ME LEND)
2017Over the past two decades NH and Maine have experienced rapid growth of racial, ethnic, and linguistic minority populations. New Hampshire’s foreign-born population was 5.7% in 2013, while Maine’s foreign-born population was 3.4% during the same time period (American Immigration Council, 2017). In addition, NH and Maine are designated refugee resettlement areas. NH is now home to refugees from over 40 countries (NH DHHS, 2010) and Maine is home to refugees from over 30 countries (Catholic Charities Refugee and Immigration Services, 2015).
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Improving Effective Interdisciplinary Team Work Using Team-Based Learning within the NH-ME LEND Curriculum: Comparing Years 1 – 3
Alan Kurtz, Rae Sonnenmeier, Betsy P. Humphreys, and Susan Russell
2017This poster provided an update on an ongoing effort by faculty in the New Hampshire-Maine Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (NH-ME LEND) Program to implement Team-Based Learning (TBL). Three years of evaluation data was presented. Changes made to improve the process were identified as well as some of the unique obstacles to implementing TBL in a seminar that was conducted in two classrooms connected through video conferencing and had a high faculty-to-student ratio.
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Partnerships Promoting a Culture of Inclusion in Maine's Early Childhood Workforce
Linda Labas
2017This poster session highlighted the Maine UCEDD’s role as a statewide resource and collaborative partner in advancing inclusive practice in Maine’s early care and education system. It covered the delivery of a continuum of supports for inclusion; examined collaborations that create systemic impact; and reviewed the services needed to increase knowledge, skills and application of practices to improve the quality of early care and education settings in Maine.
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Disability in Advertising
Harli Maxwell, Megan Morey, and Kendall Pike
Interdisciplinary Disability Studies
2017Despite the potency of advertising to influence behavior and cultural memes, it has been unusual until recently to see people with impairments featured in commercials that market mainstream products, ideas, and services. To the contrary, people with obvious impairments typically appear as deficient and only cured or improved by the medical devices, pharmaceuticals and other products that they market. However, over the past decade, efforts to elicit social change, although nascent, are making inroads into marketing and advertising. This presentation analyzes a recent Nike ad in which men with visible impairments are featured as robust athletes. The potential for such efforts to change perceptions of disability from human deficiency to human diversity are discussed.
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Disability Imagery: A Bastion of Social Change
Faith Perez, Renee Stronach, and Class of DIS 450 Disability: Population-Environment
Interdisciplinary Disability Studies
2017In the visual and material culture of the 21st century, image is power. This inquiry used thematic analysis to examine the meanings of disability imagery on a continuum from tragedy to an inevitable and celebrated part of human diversity and provocateur of social change. Five themes emerged: disability as tragic (exclusion, isolation, fear); disability as inspiration porn (disabled people are brave or special just for living); close but not quite (some positive imagery segregation and impairment are foregrounded); and celebration of disability as human diversity (the goal for change).
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Evaluation of the Maine Child Development Services-Part C Improvement Plan
Margaret M. Pierce
New Hampshire-Maine Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities Trainee Program (NH-ME LEND)
2017This poster presents information on the improvement plan for the Maine Child Development Services-Part C.
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Engaging LEND Trainees in a Leadership and Policy Experience
Susan Russell, Betsy P. Humphreys, Alan Kurtz, and Rae Sonnenmeier
2017This poster illustrated how faculty from the New Hampshire-Maine Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (NH-ME LEND) Program re-envisioned and implemented a comprehensive set of leadership, policy and advocacy experiences to further build upon the leadership potential of 23 LEND trainees by intentionally threading leadership skill development throughout the LEND curriculum.
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Primary Care Transition Planning for Young Adults with Special Needs in Maine: A Preliminary Survey of Pediatric Providers
Clelia Sigaud
New Hampshire-Maine Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities Trainee Program (NH-ME LEND)
2017Research suggests that less than half of young adults with special health care needs are prepared for the transition to an adult primary care provider at the age-appropriate time (McManus et al., 2013). Prior research also indicates that having a “usual source of care” and routinized medical services creates a higher likelihood of adult patients receiving preventative and screening health services (Blewett et al., 2008).
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Testing the Effectiveness of Person-Centered Planning in Maine Adults with Developmental Disabilities
Kassie Stevens
New Hampshire-Maine Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities Trainee Program (NH-ME LEND)
2017Person-Centered Planning (PCP) is the required annual planning process for adults receiving developmental services in Maine. This poster looks at the PCP process.
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Usability Study of AFARI™, An Aesthetically Designed Outdoor Fitness Device
Angie Bechard
Social Work and Interdisciplinary Disability Studies
2016“Physical inactivity is the biggest public health problem of the 21st century”, (ACSM, 2011). The elderly population plus individuals with even one disability is estimated at over 77 million, a large percentage of whom do not exercise due to limitations of adaptive mobility equipment (ACSM). AFARI™ fitness support equipment was therefore designed to meet this critical need.
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Computerized Adaptive Assessment of Infant-Toddler Language Development: Demonstration and Validation of an App for Screening
Alan B. Cobo-Lewis, Curtis Meadow, George Markowsky, Barbara Z. Pearson, Shawn A. Collier, and Rebecca E. Eilers
2016We have developed a computerized adaptive test (an app), based on the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDI), that can rapidly gauge infant and toddler language development based on parent report. The app can be very useful in screening for developmental disabilities in IDEA Part C or Section 619. We will demonstrate the app and present validation data for toddlers.
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Co-Design: A Contemporary Path to Innovation and Entrepreneurship for People with Disabilities
Liz DePoy and Stephen F. Gilson
201640 Year History: Began as participatory design. Was aimed at redressing product failure. Today: Co-design engages service and product users as full collaborators in a collective intelligence and invention process at the fuzzy front end of the design process.
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Ready for the Future: Maine Youth with Disabilities Developing Work Skills
Janet May
2016Paid work experience in high school is a strong predictor of positive adult employment outcomes for individuals with developmental disabilities.
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Navigating Distance and Technology: Successfully engaging LEND Trainees from New Hampshire and Maine in a Synchronous Online Team-Based Learning Environment
Susan Russell, Alan Kurtz, Elizabeth Humphreys, and Rae Sonnenmeier
2016The accomplishments and challenges of distance and technology in an online team-based learning environment.
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Improving Effective Interdisciplinary Team Work Using Team-Based Learning within the NH-ME LEND Curriculum: Evaluation from Year 2
Rae Sonnenmeier, Alan Kurtz, Betsy Humphreys, and Susan Russell
2016This poster provided an update on the implementation of Team-Based Learning (TBL) by NH LEND faculty during Academic Year 2015-2016. Improvements to the Readiness Assurance Process included defined learning outcomes, use of reading guides, and improved assessment of trainee knowledge of concepts. Evaluation data from Years 1 and 2 regarding the use of TBL were presented, including positive outcomes and challenges described by faculty and trainees.