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5976
Two Roads Diverged: Living Life Inclusively for Individuals with Classic Autism
Thursday, July 26, 2012: 8:30 AM-10:00 AM
Atlas Ballroom (Town and Country Resort and Convention Center)
Borrowing from Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken,” Ann will use her family story with a focus on her son, Jay, to emphasize how families can divert from the segregation road to the inclusion road. She will describe a group solution-finding process that she and her family used, Group Action Planning, which involves forming reliable alliances to generate energy and joy in creating supports for inclusive living. She will bring Group Action Planning alive through video clips of her family and their reliable allies.
Presenter:
Ann Turnbull, Ed.D.
Co-Founder, Co-Director, Distinguished Professor
Beach Center on Disability - University of Kansas
Dr. Ann Turnbull has been a professor, teacher, researcher, and advocate for individuals with disabilities, their families, and service providers for more than 35 years. In 1988, she was the co-founder of the Beach Center on Disability which is a vital hub of national and international research and development on contemporary issues impacting the quality of life for individuals with disabilities and their families. In 1987, the National Down Syndrome Congress presented its National Research Award to the Beach Center. Ann has been the Principal Investigator on over 25 federally funded research grants and has authored 33 books, including 2 leading textbooks in the field of special education. She has also authored over 250 articles and chapters. In 1999, she was selected as one of 36 individuals who "changed the course of history for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the 20th century." Ann has provided leadership in national professional and family organizations, including being the President of the American Association on Intellectual Disabilities. She has received the University of Kansas’ highest awards for graduate education, as well as for research. She was selected in 1990 for the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy International Leadership Award, as well as for The Arc’s Distinguished Research Award in 2004. In addition to her professional credentials, she is the parent of three children, one of whom, Jay (1967-2009), was an adult son with multiple disabilities who had what Ann describes as an "enviable life" in terms of his inclusion; productivity; and contributions to his family, friends, and community.