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2011 Annual DisABILITIES Conference

Thank you for your interest in submitting a proposal for the 2011 Annual DisAbilities Conference. At this time, the Call for Proposal is closed. 
If you have questions regarding Proposal Submission for the 2011 DisAbilities Conference, please contact us using our online form. 

 

The Edinboro University 2011 Disabilities Conference will occur Thursday, August 4 to Friday, August 5, 2011, on the campus of Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, Edinboro, Pennsylvania. Edinboro University is recognized as a premier institution in meeting the post-secondary needs of college qualified students with moderate to severe disabilities. 

The theme of the annual conference, now in its second year, is “Transition, Independence and Empowerment.” The 2011 conference will focus on transition issues, particularly as they relate to requirements, resources, and requests.

The framework for this year’s conference is modeled after Nancy Schlossberg’s (1989)1 transition theory which describes how students “move in,” “move through,” and “move out” of a four-year post-secondary experience.  Conference tracks will correspond with the following phases of transition:

·         Moving In 

 Emphasis on secondary preparation and planning for moving in to a college or university.  May also include moving in to a community college, other post-secondary training program, supported employment, employment, or other situation.

·         Moving Through

Emphasis on issues related to progressing in higher education, post-secondary training, or supported employment in a successful, satisfying, and independent manner.

·         Moving On

Emphasis on topics related to preparing to leave higher education, post-secondary training, or supported employment for varied individual, community, family, and employment roles.

Each track will emphasize the process and ultimate goal of empowering students with disabilities for successful educational transitions leading to competitive employment and independent living.

We are requesting proposals for multiple presentations that will take place on Thursday, August 4, 2011 and Friday morning, August 5, 2011.

Sessions will be either 60 or 90 minutes in length. 

The focus of the 90-minute sessions should be on topical areas, issues, techniques, and practices related to the areas listed below.  These sessions should be in a workshop format and include a 15-minute presentation on theoretical background, followed by a 60-minute workshop (ideally involving participant interaction).  Fifteen minutes should be allotted for questions and answers.

The 60-minute sessions should focus on a program or service.  These sessions should include a 15-minute description of the agency/institutional mission and function followed by a description of the highlighted program(s)/service(s).  Fifteen minutes should be allotted for questions. Sessions may focus on a particular type of disability (e.g., physical, cognitive, mental health) or address disabilities topics/issues in general.

Please indicate the track with which your presentation corresponds, the desired timeframe, and which of the following topic categories your proposal will address:

  • ·       Transition: Advancing from secondary to post-secondary training, education, or supported employment; from post-secondary training, education or supported employment to independent living and employment (e.g., knowledge, skills, resources, requirements, services needed to a make successful transition).
  • ·        Service delivery: In the secondary, post-secondary, employment or independent-living environment (e.g., technology, resources, accommodations, accessibility, and equity).
  • ·        Life skills: In the secondary, post-secondary, employment, or independent-living environment (e.g., housing, transportation, recreation, social, and medical).
  • ·        Advocacy: In the secondary, post-secondary, employment or independent-living environment (i.e. levels of advocacy including informal (discussions/conversations) and formal (legal, ethical).

 Please submit proposals electronically and include the following information: 

1.      Submitter(s)

a.       Submitter(s) Name(s) and Professional Information
b.      Contact Information
c.       School District/IU, University, Agency

 2.      Presenter(s)

a.       Presenter(s) Name(s) and Professional Information (if different from Submitter)
b.      Contact Information
c.       School District/IU, University, Agency (if different from Submitter)

 3.      Equipment/Technology Needs

 4.     Track, Topic Category, Session Title, Session Length (reorder this to say Session Title, Session Length, Track and Topic Category)

 5.     Brief Description of Presentation/Workshop: a summary paragraph to be used in the conference book.

 6.     Presentation/Workshop (no more than 3 pages) Description should include target audience, learning objectives, agenda and structure/method of the presentation.

Please send presentation proposals electronically to Jennifer Boykin, at jboykin@edinboro.edu by 4:30 p.m. on Monday, May 23, 2011.  In addition, we encourage you to share this opportunity with your colleagues and other interested parties.

All presentations will be considered for continuing education credits for Act 48 Hours and National Certified Counselor Credits (NCC).

The approval of a proposal includes permission to audio and/or video/digital taping of those selected presentations.

Information about Pre-conference Activities on Wednesday, August 3, 2011 will be forthcoming.

We thank you in advance for your participation! 

1. Schlossberg, N. K. (1989). Overwhelmed: Coping with life’s ups and downs. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.