May 2006 Meeting & Conference

With the generous support of an anonymous donor, the student steering committee met for a second time in May. We continued our work on seeking and maintaining outside funds; began drafting bylaws; continued planning a UC-wide conference on SPEDDR research scheduled for January 22-23, 2007; and continued fulfilling our obligations as an advisory to the faculty.

In addition to planning, we engaged in several research-related activities to address the committee’s focus on bringing research out of the university and into the community. These activities were designed to provide a foundation for future collaboration as well as a springboard to identify current, relevant topics in the field. Primarily, these activities were intended to help us better understand a) how to disseminate research findings to parents and educators, b) how to build positive rapport with the communities in which we engage in research, and c) how to determine significant issues in the field, i.e., What areas do parents and teachers see as needing more research?

• The panel of educators and family members addressed current perceptions of research in the community. They provided insight to the committee on best practice approaches to conducting research in schools and in homes, and advised us on disseminating research findings within the field of SPEDDR. One outcome of this panel was the importance of understanding the perspectives of students with disabilities themselves, something we plan to address in the future.
• Each doctoral student provided an update on his or her own research that was previously presented in January. We identified areas of common interest and potential collaboration across campuses.
• Cintia Gomi, MD (Assistant Project Scientist, Dept. of Ophthalmology, UCSD) presented San Diego Unified School District Vision Instruction Program. Her talk followed-up on a research presentation in January, and focused on investigation of the efficacy of large-scale, expensive interventions currently being implemented in a large school district. She also addressed identification of and intervention for vision-related risk factors among children with reading.
• Daniel Openden, PhD, (Head of Community Training, Koegel Autism Center, UCSB) presented Pivotal Response Treatment for Multiple Families of Children with Autism: Probable Efficacy and Effectiveness of a Group Parent Education Workshop. His talk focused on effective and efficacious methods of disseminating research findings to families of children with autism in rural areas. This research study provided an example of how researchers can deliver research-based services outside the university setting to isolated communities.