Develop Abilities

Information Specialist Eric Stoker Interviewed Kari Bushman and Jared Stewart from ScenicView Academy to learn about what autcon is, what will happen at Autcon this year and so much more. If you are a person with Autism and would like to attend this conference please visit: https://www.autconsva.com/

Information Specialist Eric Stoker interviewed Matthew Huskinson, Kenneth Gourdin and Miranda Clegg to learn more about what Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month means to them, a world of possibilities looks like and so much more.

Information Specialist Eric Stoker interviewed Julie Hanna to learn more about the Tetons program that the Utah Developmental Disabilities Council is doing. Julie talks about what participants will learn in the Tetons program along with the different parts of Tetons.

This month is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Information Specialist Eric Stoker interviewed Amber Marsh to learn about her company Aligan, how they are helping people with disabilities find jobs and so much more.

DISCLAIMER OF ENDORSEMENT. UDDC is sharing this information as a community resource only. References to specific products, processes, or services by Aligan, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the UDDC. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the UDDC and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.

Information Specialist Eric Stoker interviewed Sumiko Martinez to learn more about the Autism After 21 report that the Madison House Autism Foundation created, who they interviewed, how they passed out this report and so much more. If you would like to read the Autism After 21 report please visit: https://madisonhouseautism.org/aa21-utah-reports/

DISCLAIMER OF ENDORSEMENT. UDDC is sharing this information as a community resource only. References to specific products, processes, or services by Madison House Autism Foundation, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the UDDC. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the UDDC and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.

Information Specialist Eric Stoker Interviewed Melissa Johnstone from Kyo Care to learn about what services they provide for people with autism, how they are providing therapy for people with autism that are home or going to school, resources they offer for families and so much more. Throughout this episode, you will hear acronyms and we have defined them for you.

ABA: Applied Behavior Analysis

ASD: Autism Spectrum Disorder

BCBA: Board Certified Behavior Analyst

OT: Occupational Therapy

RPT: Registered Behavior Therapist

DISCLAIMER OF ENDORSEMENT. UDDC is sharing this information as a community resource only. References to specific products, process, or service by Kyo Care, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the UDDC. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the UDDC and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.

Information Specialist Eric Stoker interviewed Ashley Donham from the Utah Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health to hear how her organization is helping people with disabilities that are facing mental health crises, give tips and so much more.

Information Specialist Eric Stoker Interviewed Anna Braner, Catherine Price and Calleen Kenney to see how they are teaching people without disabilities about autism, give advice on how to help parents who have kids or adults that have been diagnosed with Autism and so much more.

Information Specialist Eric Stoker interviewed 5 self-advocates with autism. The self-advocates talked about what they are doing, what autism acceptance means to them and to also give advice to people with autism who are starting on their self-advocacy journey.

Information Specialist Eric Stoker Interviewed Courtney Edgington and Lindsey Spoon to see what Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month means to them tell a little bit about them self and to see what beyond the conversation, which is the NACDD theme for DDAM this year, means to them. You will also hear from Brett Williams from the Michigan DD Council and to see what the Michigan DD council is doing to celebrate DDAM.  

Information Specialist Eric Stoker interviewed Joey Hanna the executive director of the Utah Parent Center and Mindy Rivera from Family to Family network to learn all about the Utah Parent Center and their Family to Family Network, what they do, and how they are including self-advocates at the parent center. To learn more about the Utah Parent Center check out their website at https://utahparentcenter.org/ 

If you are a self-advocate or a family member who wants to apply to serve on the Utah Developmental Disabilities Council please click on this link: https://utahddcouncil.org/latest-news/2023-membership-applications-open

In this episode Information Specialist Eric Stoker interviewed staff from the Cache Employment and Training Center in Logan Utah to learn about what they do at the center and to learn more about how the center helps self-advocates live an independent life. 

Information Specialist Eric Stoker interviewed Mary Urie who is the Public Policy Program Support Specialist for the Utah Developmental Disabilities Council to see what bills are happening up at the state capitol in Salt Lake City for you to advocate on, to hear what tips families and self-advocates can use to talk about policy with their legislators and to learn about what is happening at disability advocacy day. 

Information Specialist Eric Stoker interviewed Christian Wouden from West Jordan High School and Kasey Walkenhurst from Farmington High School as they talk about how they are including people with disabilities on their basketball teams and they share advice on what coaches that are doing other sports to include more people with disabilities.  Program Support Specialist Olyvia Burbidge interviewed Eric Stoker and Matt Crowley to hear from them what it is like to be a basketball manager on their high school basketball teams, how their teams includes them and so much more. 

In this Episode Information Specialist Eric Stoker Interviewed Bryn Peterson from the Division of Services for People with Disabilities and Hillary Hase from Utah State University's Institute for Disability Research Policy and Practice as they talked about how their organizations help people with disabilities find jobs and supports they offer for after employment.  

In this Episode Information Specialist Eric Stoker Interviewed Kayci Lynam and Carrie Varner as they talked about their jobs and what they do and also what they do for fun when they are not working.  

Information Specialist, Eric Stoker, interviewed Representative Cheryl Acton from the Utah State Legislature, Hillary Hase from Utah State University’s IDRPP, Mirca Divercian from Camp Kostopulos and Andy Curry from Roads to Independence. They talked about what they were doing when the ADA was passed, how the ADA has impacted the work they are doing and so much more.

Information Specialist, Eric Stoker, interviewed Deanna Wall and Mindy Rivera from the Utah Parent Center to hear how the ADA has impacted their kids life and theirs along with hearing their stories about where they were when the ADA was passed.

Information Specialist, Eric Stoker, interviewed Jenna Mosher, Will Farrior and Robert Jones to hear how the Americans with disabilities act has impacted their life and what still needs to be improved.

In this episode Information Specialist Eric Stoker talks to the Advocacy Leadership Policy Success program alumni on their experience in the program, what they learned, and why others should sign up for the 2022-2023 ALPS cohort! 

Information Specialist Eric Stoker Interviewed Libby Oseguera, Olyvia Burbidge and Aurora Brinkman to learn about what happened at the Disability Policy Seminar they went to in March 2022. 

Today Eric talks with Rita Bouillon, Principal of South Valley School, about how she got started in advocacy and what South Valley School is all about! Fun fact, our host attended South Valley after he graduated from High School! 

Information Specialist Eric Stoker Interviews DD council staff to learn more about what they do and also learn more about how they got into the dd council field. 

Eric let's listeners know that season 2 is coming up. 

[TBD]

In this episode, Eric Stoker discusses healthy relationships with Jennie Ostermiller. They discuss how to recognize healthy relationship, and how to break down barriers and stereotypes that individuals with disabilities face when exploring relationship possibilities. 

To learn more about healthy relationships and download a free workbook, visit the the Partnership 4 Safety webpage, a Program of The Arc of Spokane, by clicking here: http://arcwhatcom.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Healthy-Relationship-Workbook.pdf

Note: The opinions expressed in this podcast and the provided resources belong solely to the individual and do not constitute endorsement by the Utah Developmental Disabilities Council and are provided only as a resource to the community.

The history of self-advocacy starts many years ago, when cultural shifts pushed individuals who lived with differences into work houses, asylums, and institutions. Eric Stoker, UDDC Information Specialist, and Dr. Matthew Wappett, Director for the Center for Persons with Disabilities at Utah State University, explore how self-advocates have had to develop abilities to change this cultural norm, and they discuss how these skills will be necessary to continue to challenge barriers that self-advocates face today.

Learn more about the history of disabilities, visit the Parellels in Time website with interactive sections for each era. https://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels/index.html

Learn more about Dr. Matthew Wappett on the Center for Persons with Disabilities' website. https://cpd.usu.edu/staff/?id=1371

This is a project of the Utah Developmental Disabilities Council. www.utahddcouncil.org

UDDC Projects, including this website, are funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration on Community Living. https://acl.gov/

Trailer Transcript:

Good morning everyone! My name is Eric Stoker and I’m the  Information Specialist for the Utah Developmental Disabilities Council, and welcome to the introduction of the UDDC’s new podcast called Develop Abilities. We chose this name because at the Utah DD Council we believe in developing abilities and focusing on living with disabilities. It’s even in the Council’s name! If you cover up “mental” from Developmental, and “dis” from Disabilities you get “Develop Abilities.”

The reason we are doing a podcast is because we want to share and teach people with disabilities and other self-advocates about different topics that impact a person with a disabilities lives and fun things to do as well along with finding your voice. There are so many great advocates out there doing this and developing their own abilities. There are family members and advocates helping to strengthen our communities. There are lawmakers and friends who want to see the world be the best it can be, and we want to share those stories with you!

In this podcast we will talk about disability history, relationships, adaptive recreation and Independent Living and so much more. We want to talk about all the things that matter to people living with disabilities, from the everyday visits to the grocery store and the big life events like moving out or getting married.

If you have any other topics that you would like to see on this podcast please email us at uddc@utah.gov and we will make sure that we put it on our list. I just want to let everyone know that our first episode is coming up and the topic will be on disability history so stay tuned for that. I look forward to being your host for that episode and I have a great cohost lined up. Have a great day everyone and see you when our first podcast comes out.