Breaking Ground 118
Download a PDF version of Breaking Ground 118 here.
Download a plain text version of Breaking Ground 118 with image descriptions here (Word document).
Click the links below to read individual articles. Further down on this page, see the introduction letter from our Executive Director.
Breaking Ground 118
- TN’s Center for Decision-Making Support: Help for the Process of Making Life Decisions
- Creating Accessibility and Inclusion for Children with Disabilities in Child Care Settings
- Five Accessible Housing Resources to Know About
- Tennessee Believes: Growing Inclusive Higher Education for Students with Disabilities
- “What Happens After I Apply?” — TN-START
- Enhancing Health Care for Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
- “What Happens After I Apply?” Ravi Lipman: A Vocational Rehabilitation Story
- Introducing Our New Council Communications Coordinator
Introduction by Lauren Pearcy, Executive Director, TN Council on Developmental Disabilities
Dear Readers,
As we talk to Tennesseans every day (to many of you!), we often conclude: this story needs to be told.
The articles you’re about to read started that way. “What happens after I apply?” became such a consistent theme across our conversations with you that we have developed a story series on that topic.
Similarly, we created a Center for Decision Making Support (CDMS) because, across everything we heard for years, choice was the root of so many issues. In this edition of Breaking Ground, you’ll read about the stories that continue today — now with support from CDMS.
I hope you can see how directly you impact our work. Your stories and questions are our constant guide. Visit our Engage with Us page on the website to learn more.
And speaking of engaging with us, we have big news to share: we hired a new communications coordinator, Dirk Strider. Dirk’s professional experience is in communications, specializing in accessibility and plain language. His personal passion is autistic self-advocacy and how disability identity intersects with other marginalized communities. Combine that with his self-proclaimed special interest in bureaucracy and state government, and we are convinced that we have found the true perfect fit for this role on our team. Read more about Dirk on page 17. You will hear a lot more from Dirk in the coming months on our social media, e-news, and this magazine. Please help us give him a warm welcome!
Sincerely,
Lauren Pearcy