The Intentional and Meaningful Inclusion of Self-Advocates as
Mentors and Colleagues in a LEND Program: Accommodations and
Lessons LearnedEmily Graybill, PhD, Steve Truscott, PsyD, Daniel
Crimmins, PhD, Erin Vinoski, MPH, Kerrian Baker, Mark Crenshaw,
MTS, & Akilah Heggs, MA
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BackgroundLeadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related
Disabilities (LEND) programs provide interdisciplinary leadership
training to advanced students and professionals in a range of
disability-serving disciplines, including Psychology, Public
Health, Physical & Occupational Therapy, Social Work, Medicine,
Speech & Language Therapy, and Nutrition, among others. LENDs
also recognize Family as a discipline, understanding that family
members of people with disabilities (PWD) provide unique expertise
to share within an interdisciplinary setting. The Georgia LEND
(GaLEND) Program is among the subset of LENDs that intentionally
includes self-advocates (SA) with disabilities as trainees. This
poster describes a few of the processes developed and lessons
learned in accommodating SA trainees in our 2014-15 GaLEND
cohort.
Methodology In Summer 2014, program faculty and staff met with
each SA
trainee to discuss needed accommodations and develop a plan to
ensure their equal access to the GaLEND curriculum.
Accommodations provided by program faculty and staff were
tracked monthly by one GaLEND evaluation team member. A description
of the accommodation was provided along with the names of the
faculty member and SA trainee and the date.
At the end of the training year, accommodations were coded into
categories, as described in the Legend to the right.
A timeline was developed, below, to assist the team in
visualizing the types and consistency of accommodations
provided.
Recommendations for process improvement were developed based on
the timeline and trainee feedback.
Interpretations and Lessons LearnedIncorporating Trainee
Feedback Receiving feedback from trainees is critical in this
process. One trainee made it clear in
her first week of GaLEND that we needed to be intentional and
systematic in seeking it. Our trainee requested modified content in
advance and peer support Feedback was subsequently offered only 3
times during the rest of the year. Through this lesson, we
understood the need for a more systematic analysis of the
accommodations process, and developed a qualitative research
study on trainee perceptions of the accommodations process. These
data are now being analyzed.
Peer and Faculty Support We realized midyear that peer support
was not enough for SA trainees, primarily
because Learning Partners were not adequately trained and
oriented to the process. This year, we plan to have a specific
training for Learning Partners at the beginning of
the year, and plan to incorporate direct faculty support
starting in September.
2014-2015 ACCOMMODATIONS TIMELINE
Consistency Accommodations are needed throughout the year in
each of our three LEND courses.
We were great about providing modified content in advance at the
beginning of the year, but, as shown in the visual timeline, this
diminished as the year progressed. In addition, accommodations were
not provided equally by all GaLEND faculty.
In 2015-16, we plan to provide updates and discuss needed
accommodations at a monthly GaLEND faculty meeting to ensure
faculty compliance with the process.
Requests for Guest Speakers GaLEND hosts many notable guest
speakers throughout the training year. Requests for
advance content were sent to all speakers, however, not all
requests were met because of speakers busy schedules.
This year, requests will be sent at least 6 weeks in advance
with reminders two weeks ahead of time.
LEGEND= Content provided in advance
= Content modified
= Support provided by Peer
= Support provided by Faculty/Staff
= Materials requested from guest speakers
= Feedback received from SA trainees
Role of SA Trainees SA trainees build their leadership skills,
develop an
understanding of systems of care, and increase their clinical
knowledge of disability through their full participation in the
GaLEND curriculum.
As mentors, they share their lived experience with disability
while providing their perspectives on how to improve services and
supports for PWD.
As colleagues, SA trainees work alongside GaLEND faculty to
identify accommodations to the GaLEND curriculum that SA trainees
may need.
