Advertise on podcast: Mental Health Crossroads

In this episode, we once again caught up with the Boston University Research Team, including Ariel Schwartz, Jesse, Alix, and Jenna. What makes this team unique is the involvement of young adults self-advocates in every step of the research process, using a method called participatory action research. In this episode, they talk about they recent project into how young adults choose to disclose their mental health status in the workplace and the results of that decision. This is the last episode in the MHDD series, but please follow our new podcast: DDNJ Author Insights https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/ddnj/ for more great podcasting.   *Music Credit: Music for our podcast is licensed from Marmoset Music. Artist: Johnny Clay; Song "Looking Down the Road"

In this episode we hear from David Jones, who is the Director, Office of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (OIDD) and Acting Director, Office of Disability Services Innovation (ODSI); Administration for Community Living, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.   Prior to joining ACL in July 2020, David served in two federal agencies focused on disability employment and programs. At the U.S. Department of Labor, David oversaw the administration of Disability Employment Initiative grants and technical assistance contracts to help strengthen the capacity of American Job Centers serve people with disabilities. At the U.S. Department of Education, David monitored state Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) agencies and was a Program Officer for two Protection and Advocacy programs (PAIR and PAAT). Prior to his career focus on the disability mission work, David served within the Inspector General (IG) community for three federal agencies and the United Way of America. Originally from Pennsylvania, David holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Bucknell University and a Masters of Public Administration from George Mason University.   Transcripts of this episode are available in English and Spanish.   https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/wioa     Visit our website at www.MHDDcenter.org for more information about our work.   *Music Credit: Music for our podcast is licensed from Marmoset Music. Artist: Johnny Clay; Song "Looking Down the Road"    

In part two of our two-part interview with Margaret Gilbride, JD, CT, we talk about grief and loss and how these experiences can impact people with IDD.    Margaret is the Director of Transition, Employment and Aging at The Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities. She is a graduate of Indiana University Law School and a certified death educator. Margaret has worked in the disability field for thirty years in a variety of capacities, primarily focused on either increasing access to competitive employment for transitioning youth and adults with significant disabilities or acknowledgment and support for the grief shouldered by people with I/DD as a result of multiple life losses, including deaths of loved ones. She serves as President of National APSE and is Immediate Past President for New Jersey’s APSE Chapter. Additionally she is a Governor’s appointee to both the New Jersey Commission on National Community Service and Volunteerism and the State Rehabilitation Council. She successfully completed a previous appointment to the New Jersey Governor’s Advisory Council on End-of-Life issues. For the last twelve years Margaret has been researching and training on the impact aging as well as grief and loss have on people with developmental disabilities as well as bioethical issues in healthcare and end-of-life treatment particular to this population.   Transcript are available in English and in Spanish.       Resources mentioned in this interview include:   http://rwjms.umdnj.edu/departments_institutes/boggscenter/links/documents/RespondingtoGriefReactionsIDD.pdf http://rwjms.umdnj.edu/departments_institutes/boggscenter/links/documents/RitualizingGriefIDD.pdf http://rwjms.umdnj.edu/departments_institutes/boggscenter/links/documents/GriefIDDResourceList.pdf http://rwjms.umdnj.edu/departments_institutes/boggscenter/links/documents/HelpingGriefIDD.pdf   Visit our website at www.MHDDcenter.org for more information about our work.   *Music Credit: Music for our podcast is licensed from Marmoset Music. Artist: Johnny Clay; Song "Looking Down the Road"

In part one of our two-part interview with Margaret Gilbride, JD, CT, we talk about grief and loss and how these experiences can impact people with IDD.    Margaret is the Director of Transition, Employment and Aging at The Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities. She is a graduate of Indiana University Law School and a certified death educator. Margaret has worked in the disability field for thirty years in a variety of capacities, primarily focused on either increasing access to competitive employment for transitioning youth and adults with significant disabilities or acknowledgment and support for the grief shouldered by people with I/DD as a result of multiple life losses, including deaths of loved ones. She serves as President of National APSE and is Immediate Past President for New Jersey’s APSE Chapter. Additionally she is a Governor’s appointee to both the New Jersey Commission on National Community Service and Volunteerism and the State Rehabilitation Council. She successfully completed a previous appointment to the New Jersey Governor’s Advisory Council on End-of-Life issues. For the last twelve years Margaret has been researching and training on the impact aging as well as grief and loss have on people with developmental disabilities as well as bioethical issues in healthcare and end-of-life treatment particular to this population.   Transcript are available in English and in Spanish.       Resources mentioned in this interview include:   http://rwjms.umdnj.edu/departments_institutes/boggscenter/links/documents/RespondingtoGriefReactionsIDD.pdf http://rwjms.umdnj.edu/departments_institutes/boggscenter/links/documents/RitualizingGriefIDD.pdf http://rwjms.umdnj.edu/departments_institutes/boggscenter/links/documents/GriefIDDResourceList.pdf http://rwjms.umdnj.edu/departments_institutes/boggscenter/links/documents/HelpingGriefIDD.pdf   Visit our website at www.MHDDcenter.org for more information about our work.   *Music Credit: Music for our podcast is licensed from Marmoset Music. Artist: Johnny Clay; Song "Looking Down the Road"

In this second part of our interview with James Steed, he talks about his personal background, mental health, and how he got involved in self-advocacy work. James Steed is a self-advocate from Pocatello, Idaho who has lived all across the western U.S. James was one of the founders of the self-advocacy movement in his home state of Idaho, and is the former chair of the Idaho Developmental Disabilities Council. James currently lives in Utah, and is a member of the Utah UCEDD Community Advisory Council and is a member of the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities National Training Center Advisory Board. Full transcripts are available in English and in Spanish. Visit our website at www.MHDDcenter.org for more information about our work.   *Music Credit: Music for our podcast is licensed from Marmoset Music. Artist: Johnny Clay; Song "Looking Down the Road"

In this episode Matt Wappett interviews James Steed about his personal background, mental health, and how he got involved in self-advocacy work. James Steed is a self-advocate from Pocatello, Idaho who has lived all across the western U.S. James was one of the founders of the self-advocacy movement in his home state of Idaho, and is the former chair of the Idaho Developmental Disabilities Council. James currently lives in Utah, and is a member of the Utah UCEDD Community Advisory Council and is a member of the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities National Training Center Advisory Board. Full transcripts are available in English and in Spanish. Visit our website at www.MHDDcenter.org for more information about our work.   *Music Credit: Music for our podcast is licensed from Marmoset Music. Artist: Johnny Clay; Song "Looking Down the Road"

In this episode, host Tatiana Perilla interviews Loui Lord Nelson, Ph.D., owner and lead consultant at The UDL Approach, about Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and how this contributes to mental health.   Loui Lord Nelson, Ph.D. is an internationally recognized educational consultant in the area of Universal Design for Learning and is the host of the popular podcasts UDL in 15 Minutes and UDL Research in 15 Minutes. A former special educator, she completed a post-doctoral fellowship with CAST and Boston College. While there, she wrote the best-selling book Design and Deliver: Planning and Teaching Using Universal Design for Learning which was based on her work as the UDL Coordinator for Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation in Columbus, Indiana from 2007 – 2012. The second edition of that book will come out in February of 2021. Since 2013, she has provided long-term training and workshops across the US and internationally including Austria, Australia, Belgium, Japan, Malawi, Singapore, and Uganda. Other publications include a co-authored a chapter for the book Research-based Practices for Educating Students with Intellectual Disability titled “The role of technology in implementing universal design for learning” and a co-authored book titled, Culturally Responsive Design for English Learners: The UDL Approach. Her third book about UDL is interactive. It is titled A Tree for All: Your Coloring Book of UDL Principles and Practice. Building on that theme of interaction, she also created a card game called Go Fishing with UDL. Loui lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with her husband and 5 (yes, 5) cats and enjoys running, reading, and traveling.   www.cast.org www.udl-irn.org www.theudlapproach.com www.mhddcenter.org English Transcript Spanish Transcript     *Music Credit: Music for our podcast is licensed from Marmoset Music. Artist: Johnny Clay; Song "Looking Down the Road"

In this episode Matt Wappett interviews Julie Christensen about employment and mental health. Julie J. Christensen, MSW, PhD, is the Director of Policy & Advocacy and Interim Executive Director at the Association of People Supporting Employment First (APSE). She also currently serves as the Senior Disability Policy Advisor for the Harkin Institute at Drake University. Prior to joining APSE, Dr. Christensen was the Director of Iowa’s University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) at the University of Iowa, where she held a research faculty appointment in the Carver College of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Christensen received her undergraduate degrees in advertising and music from Syracuse University, and a Masters in Social Work from Roberts Wesleyan College and her Ph.D. in Health Practice Research at the University of Rochester. APSE website Transcript (English) Transcript (Spanish) *Music Credit: Music for our podcast is licensed from Marmoset Music. Artist: Johnny Clay; Song "Looking Down the Road"  

In this episode, host Tatiana Perilla interviews Maria (Conchita) Hernandez Legorreta. Conchita was born in Mexico and grew up in California. She advocates for the rights of students who are blind and their parents in the public-school setting in the United States and abroad through a lens of intersectionality focusing on social justice. Conchita received her Bachelor's degree from Saint Mary’s College of California, majoring in International Studies, Spanish, and History. She then went on to Louisiana Tech University where she received her Master’s in Teaching with a focus on teaching students who are blind. As well, Conchita earned a master’s certificate in working with students who are deaf-blind from Northern Illinois University. She is currently a Doctoral student at George Washington University pursuing a degree in Special Education. Conchita has been published in Future Reflections and Rooted in Rights. Conchita keeps up with research in special education and serves as a peer reviewer on the Journal of Blindness Innovation and Research. Conchita conducts workshops on best practices for educators and professionals in the field of disability and advocacy in the United States and internationally. Conchita worked in the rehabilitation field in Nebraska where she set up innovative programming for adults with disabilities. Conchita is the founder and Chair of METAS (Mentoring Engaging and Teaching All Students) a non-profit organization that trains educators in Latin America that work with students with visual impairments and other disabilities. In this role she engages lawmakers in policy discussions around people with disabilities and inclusion. Conchita is also a co-founder of the National Coalition of Latinx with Disabilities that seeks to amplify the voices of Latinx individuals in the disability rights movement. Currently, Conchita works as the Maryland Blind and Low Vision Specialist. Conchita strives to be a voice for change for educators, professionals and advocates to make full inclusion a reality for people with disabilities in Latin America.   Full transcripts are available in English and in Spanish.   Twitter: @Conchitahdz Article in Refinery 29 Disability Visibility podcast Tuesdays with Liz: Disability and Employment Allure Magazine The Heumann Perspective Rooted in Rights     *Music Credit: Music for our podcast is licensed from Marmoset Music. Artist: Johnny Clay; Song "Looking Down the Road"  

This week, executive director of the CPD and member of the MHDD team, interviews Mary Giliberti about mental health and policy. Make sure to check out the Mental Health America website for tons of great resources mentioned in this episode. Full transcripts are available in English and in Spanish below.   BIO: Mary Giliberti is the Executive Vice President of Policy at Mental Health America. Mary focuses on federal policy to promote prevention, early intervention, integration, and recovery. Prior to joining MHA in 2019, she was the Chief Executive Officer of The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). She also has worked in the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Serves and as disability counsel to the United States Senate Health, Education and Labor Committee. After graduating from Yale Law School, she clerked for Judge Phyllis Kravitch on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and received a Skadden Fellowship to work at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law.   Links:   English Transcript Spanish Transcript   MHA website MHDD website       *Music Credit: Music for our podcast is licensed from Marmoset Music. Artist: Johnny Clay; Song "Looking Down the Road"

In this episode we interview Sue Reeves, the director of the Aggies Elevated program. Aggies Elevated is a federally designated Comprehensive Transition Program (CTP) at Utah State University that offers a two-year certificate in Integrated College and Community Studies for young adults with intellectual disabilities. Sue discusses the program’s organization, highlights some of their successes, and shares lessons learned.  Sue also discusses how CTPs support students with intellectual disabilities manage their mental health and develop skills needed to graduate college and transition into the workforce. A full transcript of the interview is available here in English and in Spanish. Bio: Sue Reeves holds a BS in Journalism and a Master's degree in Rehabilitation Counseling. She is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor, a Licensed Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, and is completing requirements for licensure as a Clinical Mental Health Counselor. She is the director of Aggies Elevated, an inclusive two-year certificate program for students with intellectual disabilities, at Utah State University. She became interested in the intersection of mental health and intellectual/developmental disabilities as an MRC intern with Aggies Elevated. In her spare time, she tends to rabbits, chickens, a cat named Dog, and her partner on their farm at the south end of Cache Valley.   Links https://diverseeducation.com/article/197099/ https://aggieselevated.usu.edu/ https://www.mhddcenter.org/     *Music Credit: Music for our podcast is licensed from Marmoset Music. Artist: Johnny Clay; Song "Looking Down the Road"

In this episode Tatiana Perilla from the MHDD-NTC has a conversation with Mark Smith, from the Munroe-Myer Institute at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He shares his path to his current professional role and many of the things he has learned in his career. Full transcripts of this interview are available in English and Spanish.   BIO: Mark A. Smith first and foremost is the sibling to and parent of family members with disabilities. He received his Bachelors Degree in Psychology from the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 1989 and his M.S. in School Psychology from the University of Nebraska in 1995. Prior to joining the Nebraska University Center on Disabilities at the Munroe-Meyer Institute as an Assistant Professor in 2003, Mark served as School Psychologist in local school districts and as a Behavioral Therapist with disability providers and private clinics. Mark’s primary area of interests to date have included early childhood services, Special Education, Family Support, leadership, and Disability Policy and Legislation at the local and national levels. Over the past 45 years of working in disability services, Mark has been involved in directing and evaluating several projects designed to improve community resources and services for individuals with disabilities and their families, including relocating individuals from institutional to community care. He has also been involved in writing, teaching, and developing and providing training on a wide variety of disability related issues and has engaged in policy analysis and development at the state and national level as a member of the AUCD and DEC Policy Committees and Executive Boards. His research interests include systemic change initiatives designed to promote community inclusive practices in support of individuals with disabilities and their families, general disability policy and programming, community planning for inclusion and accessibility for individuals with disabilities who are members of marginalized groups. Mark and his family live in Omaha, Nebraska and enjoy cycling, going for long walks with their dogs, and playing music.   Links: English transcript Spanish transcript Mark's profile and contact information MHDD National Training Center     *Music Credit: Music for our podcast is licensed from Marmoset Music. Artist: Johnny Clay; Song "Looking Down the Road"