WV LEND acquires grant to increase leadership and mentorship opportunities for people with disabilities and their families
New grant will create a Lived Experience Advisory committee, symposium, training and more.
Tuesday, October 10, 2023
The West Virginia University Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (WV LEND) program has been awarded a grant to increase leadership and mentorship opportunities for people with lived experiences with disabilities and their families. WV LEND prepares students, self-advocates, community members and families to be leaders in the fields of disability education, research, advocacy and policy.
This Focused Assistance to Support Training (FAST) grant from the Interdisciplinary Technical Assistance Center (ITAC) at the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) will allow the WV LEND team to create a Lived Experience Advisory Committee, a Lived Experience Symposium and a Lived Experience Train-the-Trainer curriculum to enhance self-advocate and family trainee experiences, embracing the motto “Nothing for us, without us”.
The proposed Lived Experience Advisory Committee will be composed of people with disabilities and family members of people with disabilities. A speaker series will culminate in the Lived Experience Symposium in the spring of 2024, featuring disability leaders and panelists from the committee. A lived experiences series guidebook that features activities for trainees will also be created. The committee will also lead and develop a Train-the-Trainer Lived Experience curriculum to be shared with the disability community via two online training modules.
“We are excited to develop new programming working alongside people with lived experiences. WV LEND and other LEND programs across the U.S. will benefit from this unique project with training modules and perspectives geared towards understanding lived experiences with disabilities as a person with a disability and as a family member,” said Amy Burt, Department of Disability Studies Associate Professor and LEND Fellowship Training Specialist.
The Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) grant is funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/Health Resources and Services Administration/Maternal and Child Health Bureau.