The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is the largest international professional organization focused on high quality education for children and youth with exceptionalities with more than 22,000 members. Within CEC, the Division of Research (DR) advances research across all areas of disability and giftedness. The DR recognizes one Distinguished Early Career Research Award annually to a scholar who has made outstanding scientific contributions within 10 years following receipt of a doctoral degree. The award is co-sponsored by the Hammill Institute on Disabilities and is presented at the DR reception held during the annual CEC Convention.
Dr. Sara McDaniel has been named the recipient of the DR 2020 Distinguished Early Career Research Award. She received her doctorate in 2011 in special education from Georgia State University, and completed Internships at Vanderbilt University and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Southeast Division. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education and Multiple Disabilities at the University of Alabama. Dr. McDaniel is one of the most promising young scholars in the area of emotional and behavioral disorders. Her emerging focus on reducing youth violence and racism and discrimination is gaining considerable recognition in the United States. She has published extensively in journals, such as the Journal of Applied Psychology in Schools, Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, Behavioral Disorders, and Elementary School Journal. She has also published multiple book chapters, and makes numerous presentations yearly at national conferences. Additionally, she has been able to secure a highly competitive R01 grant from the National Institute of Health: Youth Violence Prevention Interventions that Incorporate Racism/Discrimination Prevention. This project is a 5-year randomized control trial of Coping Power versus Comping Power+, which includes racism and discrimination content. SWPBIS will be leveraged to include much-needed adaptations. Dr. McDaniel’s scholarly accomplishments are particularly impressive in light of the service she provides to the fields of special and general education.
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EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT!
Dr. White and colleagues recently published an article showing that their college transition readiness program for students with ASD was effective. Check out the article to learn more about supporting college students with ASD! Results from this randomized controlled trial of the Stepped Transition in Education Program for Students with ASD (STEPS) showed that secondary and postsecondary students demonstrated improvements following participation in STEPS. Read the article to find out more about the program and findings: https://autismcluster.ua.edu/uploads/1/1/9/9/119949731/improving_transition_to_adulthood_for_students_with_autism_a_randomized_controlled_trial_of_steps.pdf Congratulations to Dr. Andrea Glenn for receiving a grant from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) at the National Institute of Health (NIH), as a co-PI for the study “A Mindfulness and Peer Mentoring Program to Improve Adherence to Medication Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorders.”
Dr. Glenn is a part of an interdisciplinary team that is examining the feasibility and acceptability of the program, as well as its effectiveness in reducing relapse and cravings. We are so proud to have you at the CYDI, Dr. Glenn! Check out the flyer to find the show times, and make sure to come to Tuscaloosa Academy to see what the SENSE team has been working hard on all summer! See you at the theater!
SENSE Theatre wrapped up the most recent cohort just a few weeks ago. Check out this amazing article written about the transformative experiences within this intervention!
Here's just an excerpt: "The changes in her boys’ habits, behaviors and interactions became more noticeable each day. For instance, McKade was enthusiastic about rehearsals and memorized the names of all cast members. ''Even today, when we got to rehearsal, McKade said to me, ‘come inside and meet all of my friends,’'" Read the full article here: https://www.ua.edu/news/2019/06/come-inside-and-meet-all-of-my-friends/ Our trailblazing Center Director, Dr. Susan White, recently published an article highlighting the implementation of a program she designed in Nairobi, Kenya!
With very limited work being done on translational science on this front in Africa, we are so proud of the work Dr. White has done to bridge the gap! The intervention's success supports similar treatment models for developing countries. Check out the publication to learn more: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-019-04045-6 Dr. Sara McDaniel, a CYDI-affiliated faculty member, and Dr. John Lochman, Director Emeritus of the CYDI, just received a $2.4 million grant to create an intervention that lowers aggression in middle-school students and reduces implicit biases in teachers that lead to disproportionate school discipline.
Check out their article in the UA News Center below! https://www.ua.edu/…/nih-to-fund-ua-study-of-student-aggre…/ February was a busy month in our Center! Graduate and undergraduate students along with our Center Director, Dr. Susan White, attended the Alabama Autism Conference on February 22 at the Bryant Conference Center.
Two of our graduate students, Alexis Brewe and Grace Lee Simmons, presented an overview of EASE, a free one-on-one interventions designed to help teens and young adults with ASD manage their emotions. Interested in getting involved? See our "Research Projects" tab to learn more about EASE. In addition to presenting research, our students got to meet Ivanova Smith, a self-advocate from the state of Washington who shared their testimony and ways that we can all advocate for those with ASD! Happy International Women's Day! We are honored to have Dr. Susan White as the Director of the Center for Youth Development and Intervention! Dr. White moved this past summer to join the University of Alabama as the Doddridge Saxon Endowed Chairholder and Director of CYDI. She spent the last 10 years at Virginia Tech where she co-directed the university's Autism Clinic and directed the Child Assessment Clinic.
What do you study and why? Most of my research involves developing ways to help young people with autism and related conditions have more success socially. There is tremendous potential for growth, we just have to find the right approach for the given child (or adult) and be persistent. What do you like best about Alabama so far? The lack of snow (I grew up in northern Michigan)! I have also been pleasantly surprised at how friendly most people are here. What do you like to do in your free time? I have 2 sons (4th and 5th grade), so free time is limited. I enjoy chauffeuring them to all their activities, and I even (sometimes) enjoy scout camping trips. I also really enjoy running and baking. Read more on the article written by Ed Enoch at The Tuscaloosa News on the EASE theater research project happening at the Center!
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