NADD: an association for persons with developmental disabilities and mental hea

NADD: an association for persons with developmental disabilities and mental hea NADD: an association for persons with developmental disabilities and mental health needs

CONFERENCE SESSION SPOTLIGHT! 📢 Reimagining Independence: Technology-Supported Community Living Speakers: Stephanie Kass...
09/09/2026

CONFERENCE SESSION SPOTLIGHT! 📢

Reimagining Independence: Technology-Supported Community Living

Speakers: Stephanie Kassel, PBS ; Billy Shuburte, JD, LCSW ; Twylla Brock

Description: This session presents a technology-supported roommate housing model designed to expand independent community living opportunities for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and co-occurring behavioral health support needs. The model integrates intentional roommate matching, enabling technology, remote supports, and Positive Behavior Supports (PBS) to strengthen consistency across routines, staff teams, and settings while responding to ongoing direct support workforce challenges. Participants will examine how interdisciplinary coordination among housing staff, direct support professionals, behavioral specialists, and remote support teams improves early response to emerging needs and supports greater stability and independence. Practical applications include identifying high-value times for in-person staffing, aligning remote supports with antecedent strategies and skill-building routines, and using simple data to guide adjustments that improve quality of life outcomes. The session also addresses implementation considerations such as staff training needs, coordination across teams, and maintaining person-centered safeguards when integrating enabling technology. Both benefits and limitations of technology-supported shared living models will be discussed so attendees can evaluate how these approaches may translate within their own service environments.

43rd Annual NADD Conference
October 7-9, 2026
Pittsburgh, PA

Learn More & Register: https://thenadd.org/conferences

Every three months, The Link Center hosts shared learning groups for direct support professionals, clinical professional...
09/09/2026

Every three months, The Link Center hosts shared learning groups for direct support professionals, clinical professionals, family members, and people with lived experience. These groups provide opportunities to dive into important topics and tap into your expertise and experiences related to people with cognitive disabilities, including intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and brain injuries, and mental health conditions. These meetings are led by members of our steering committee and project partners.

EXPLORE THE LINK CENTER: thelinkcenter.org

"I explore the special kinds of trauma we helpers are vulnerable to, and how to tell the difference between good old gar...
09/08/2026

"I explore the special kinds of trauma we helpers are vulnerable to, and how to tell the difference between good old garden-variety stress and traumatizing levels of overwhelm and pain. I describe a little of the still largely mysterious terrain of moral injury, that crippling guilt and grief that can come to helpers when they cannot do what they have dedicated themselves to doing, or when they have simply seen too much. "
-Lara Palay, LISW-S

In The Sum of Light, trauma therapist and educator Lara Palay explores the hidden costs of caring: empathetic distress, moral injury, and burnout. Drawing on decades of clinical experience, neuroscience, trauma theory, and lived experience, Palay speaks directly to those in the helping professions who encounter and endure trauma every day.

Through vivid stories, memorable metaphors, and practical wisdom, this book illuminates how trauma can affect helpers even when they are not the ones directly harmed—and how it can slowly erode meaning, hope, and connection if left unaddressed. The Sum of Light offers ways forward: tools for emotional regulation, reconnection, ritual, and self-compassion that make sustained, humane work possible.

Written for clinicians, caregivers, educators, first responders, and anyone who serves on the front lines of human suffering, The Sum of Light affirms a simple truth:

Those who give care also deserve care.

And tending to that truth might be the most important work of all.

About the Author: Lara Palay, LISW-S is a psychotherapist with nearly thirty years in private practice, specializing in trauma and loss. A co-founder of Aldridge Palay Consulting, Ms. Palay also has taught social work graduate students for more than a decade. She is the author of The Way Through: Trauma Responsive Care for Intellectual and Developmental Disability Professionals.

https://the-nadd.myshopify.com/

CONFERENCE SESSION SPOTLIGHT! 📢 National Community of Practice in Substance Use - IDD/A Speakers: Robert Fletcher DSW, ...
09/08/2026

CONFERENCE SESSION SPOTLIGHT! 📢

National Community of Practice in Substance Use - IDD/A

Speakers: Robert Fletcher DSW, ACSW, LCSW, FAAIDD, NADD-CC ; Lori Ann Eldridge

Description: The research literature suggests that the prevalence of substance use is lower in adults with IDD than without IDD; however, they tend to have a greater risk for developing Substance Use Disorder (SUD) if they do use substances. There are a number of risk factors for IDD and SUD including being male, family history of SUD, exposure to peers who use substances and psychiatric co-morbidities.

There is a lack of services for individuals who have SUD co-occurring with IDD because staff from either the SUD or IDD systems are not trained to work with people who have IDD co-occurring with SUD. What is needed to improve outcomes includes training for staff as well as individualized care that considers risk factors, mental health conditions, and substance use.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health and Human Services established a National SU-IDD/A Community of Practice (CoP) in 2025 to address these problems. The CoP is a learning community that is composed of people who have common interests in the intersection of SUD and IDD/A (IDD and co-occurring autism). CoP members meet virtually monthly to learn from one another, share resources, develop trainings, and support research. The CoP develops strategies to improve services and develops materials for families, self-advocates and professionals.

43rd Annual NADD Conference
October 7-9, 2026
Pittsburgh, PA

Learn More & Register: https://thenadd.org/conferences

Conference registration rates increase after September 16. Register now to secure your spot at the current rate 📢 📢 L...
09/07/2026

Conference registration rates increase after September 16. Register now to secure your spot at the current rate 📢 📢

Learn More: https://thenadd.org/conferences/

LINK Center Featured Resource: Understanding the Criminal Legal System "Understanding the Criminal Legal System" is a gu...
09/06/2026

LINK Center Featured Resource: Understanding the Criminal Legal System
"Understanding the Criminal Legal System" is a guide for people with disabilities and mental health support needs, and the people who support them. This resource provides a roadmap for understanding and navigating a complex legal landscape, offering actionable advocacy, intervention, and support strategies at every stage of the legal process.

You may also be interested in:
https://www.nami.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/NAMI-Navigating-the-Criminal-Justice-System-Guide.pdf

LEARN MORE:
https://thelinkcenter.org/resources/

I cannot do all the good that the world needs. But the world needs all the good that I can do.― Jana Stanfield thenadd.o...
09/05/2026

I cannot do all the good that the world needs. But the world needs all the good that I can do.
― Jana Stanfield

thenadd.org

UPCOMING NADD VIRTUAL TRAINING SERIES 📢We invite you to join us for an upcoming webinar series focused on supporting ch...
09/04/2026

UPCOMING NADD VIRTUAL TRAINING SERIES 📢

We invite you to join us for an upcoming webinar series focused on supporting children with complex behavioral needs. This series will offer practical knowledge and strategies to strengthen your work with children and families facing complex challenges.

Six Webinar Training Sessions:
Children with complex behavioral health conditions, especially those who exhibit serious and dangerous behaviors, require more than isolated interventions—they need coordinated, trauma-informed, person-centered systems of care. This six-part webinar series guides participants from understanding the neuroscience of emotional dysregulation through creating safe environments and implementing effective treatments, to embedding supports into everyday life, building organizational capacity, and coordinating services across systems. Participants will gain practical strategies to improve outcomes, strengthen resilience, and provide compassionate, evidence-informed care for children with the most complex behavioral health challenges.

SEPTEMBER 17 - NOVEMBER 19, 2026 | 1-3 PM ET

Six focused sessions. One coordinated approach to stronger systems of care.
Session 1 - Understanding the Foundation: The Neuroscience of Complex Behavioral Health
September 17
1:00pm-3:00pm EST
Presenters: Nancy Thaler and Brian Tallant

Session 2 - A Safe Place: Creating the Foundation for Healing
October 1
1:00pm-3:00pm EST
Presenters: Beth Barol and Brian Tallant

Session 3 - Treatment to Heal
October 15
1:00pm-3:00pm EST
Presenters: Beth Barol and Brian Tallant

Session 4 - Opportunity to Grow: Embedding Treatment into Everyday Life
October 29
1:00pm-3:00pm EST
Presenters: Judy Beadle Brown and Brian Tallant

Session 5 - Implementation: What Providers Need to Succeed
November 12
1:00pm-3:00pm EST
Presenters: Thane Dykstra and Chris Martin

Session 6 - Keeping It All Together: Building Systems of Care
November 19
1:00pm-3:00pm EST
Presenters: Bruce Davis and Brian Tallant

Registration Fee:
$295 for the full series or $75 per individual session

REGISTER NOW: https://thenadd.org/event-list/

CONFERENCE SESSION SPOTLIGHT! 📢 Autism & Gender Diversity: Supporting the Neurodiverse Community Speaker: Shawn McGill,...
09/03/2026

CONFERENCE SESSION SPOTLIGHT! 📢

Autism & Gender Diversity: Supporting the Neurodiverse Community

Speaker: Shawn McGill, MSW, LSW

Description: This training examines the connection between autism and gender diversity, focusing on why autistic individuals may express gender variance more often and how to provide meaningful, affirming support. Participants will learn key concepts related to neurodiversity, gender identity, and gender expression, while exploring common barriers faced by autistic and gender-diverse people. Using practical examples and inclusive strategies, this session highlights specific actions individuals, teams, and organizations can take to build safer, more supportive environments. The training emphasizes respect, self-determination, and practical application to better support autistic people who express gender variance in community settings.

43rd Annual NADD Conference
October 7-9, 2026
Pittsburgh, PA

Learn More & Register: https://thenadd.org/conferences

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