Texas Center for Disability Studies Projects

UT water tower at the Commons

Learn About TCDS Projects

The Texas Center for Disability Studies (TCDS) promotes a number of projects aimed at advancing understanding, inclusion, and advocacy for individuals with disabilities.

Research

ASPEN

The The ASD Screening and Parent Engagement (ASPEN) Program is a parent-mediated intervention that is designed to provide information and empower parents of young children with developmental delays.

Autism Consortium of Texas

The purpose of the Autism Consortium is to network and foster autism-related research and program collaborations at the University of Texas at Austin and in the Central Texas area.

PODER

Promoting Obesity Prevention Among Children with Developmental Disabilities and Families through Engaged Research (PODER). The PODER Familiar Program examines health and obesity among Latino children and adolescents with IDD.

Texas ADDM Network

The Texas-Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (TX-ADDM) Network is part of the ADDM Network. TX-ADDM partners with educational and health sites across Bexar County to match and collect essential data to estimate the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) among 4- and 8-year-old children. 

Assistive Technology

Texas Technology Access Program

 

The Texas Technology Access Program (TTAP) provides assistive technology device loans, demonstration centers, recycle/reuse programs, and financing.

Family Support

Institute for Person Centered Practices

Founded in 2010, the Institute for Person-Centered Practices (IPCP) uses a person-centered framework to assist people with disabilities to have positive control over their lives and environment in which they live.

Health and Wellness

Genetics

The Genetic Series is a collaborative effort between The University of Texas at Austin - Texas Center for Disability Studies and The Department of Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine to educate health professionals and families on genetic developmental disorders.

Healthy Relationships Workshop

These workshops use resources curated by Dr. Nick Winges-Yanez, who has been teaching healthy relationship skills to self-advocates for over 8 years. 

Road to Recovery - Trauma Informed Care

This training curriculum helps address the severe lack of knowledge and awareness of the mental health needs of children with intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD), and in the interest of developing better capacity to address those needs.

Transition

E4Texas

Educate. Empower. Educate. Excel. E4Texas is a post-secondary opportunity for people with or without a disability, who are over the age of 18, who have a high school diploma, and are employment-focused.

EMPOWER

Working with self-advocates, caregivers, and other stakeholders this project identifies the gaps in knowledge, skills, and the overall healthcare transition readiness of racially and minoritized youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their caregivers.

University

ACT LEND

The Autism Consortium of Texas Leadership Education in Neuro-developmental (ACT LEND) is an interdisciplinary program that seeks to train graduate students, family members, and self-advocates in culturally informed diagnosis, support, and advocacy for children with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities throughout the Capital Region and Central Texas.

BRIDGE

The primary objective of BRIDGE Project is to train Master’s level personnel from three related services (SLP, SW, ABA) to provide quality services to children transitioning from the public schools to adulthood. 

Disability Studies

Disability Studies is an academic field that is both interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary; it focuses on how disability is constructed, viewed, and understood culturally, politically, economically, and socially. 

Project Access

Project ACCESS is a pre-service training grant designed to prepare related service providers to address barriers faced by children with disabilities with high support needs in accessing and participating in various environments, such as school, home, and the community. 

Past Projects

A collection of completed TCDS projects from years past.