ICI to Enhance Postsecondary Ed

AIM screen name: qbarbourici

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Website: www.communityinclusion.org

Phone: 617-287-4309 

ICI to Enhance Postsecondary Education for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

Boston,MA: For too long youth with developmental disabilities were not given many chancesto attend college. In fact, they were not even expected to participate in mostforms of adult education. However, thirty years of free and appropriate publiceducation under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act have raisedexpectations and encouraged institutes of higher education and school systemsacross the country to create opportunities for these individuals.

As a result of the development of postsecondary education options for youth with developmental disabilities, the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston, in collaboration with seven University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) (University of Minnesota, University of Hawaii, University of Delaware, The Ohio State University, Vanderbilt University, University of South Carolina, and University of California Los Angeles), along with the Association for University Centers on Disabilities has received a grant for $4million, to be distributed over five years, from the federal Administration on Developmental Disabilities to  establish the Consortium for Postsecondary Education for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities.  The Consortium will conduct research, provide training and technical assistance, and disseminate information on promising practices that support individuals with developmental disabilities in gaining access to postsecondary education options and the needed supports to be successful. 

The Consortium will be the nationalresource for knowledge, training and technical assistance, materials, anddissemination about the participation of individuals with developmentaldisabilities in postsecondary education. Developing and testing a NationalTraining Initiative will assist postsecondary education institutions and/orschool districts developing new or expanding existing initiatives for studentswith developmental disabilities by using multimodal approaches with traditionaland non-traditional strategies. ICI will partner with the Administration onDevelopmental Disabilities’ Technical Assistance Centers and other national organizationsfor large-scale dissemination.

TheInstitute for Community Inclusion (ICI) promotes the inclusion of people withdisabilities in their communities through training, consultation, clinical andemployment services, and research. ICI is a University Center of Excellence inDevelopmental Disabilities based at the University of Massachusetts Boston andChildren's Hospital Boston.

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Contact: Quinn Barbour/Institute forCommunity Inclusion