Vermont Leadership Education for Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) Fellowship

This is a unique training opportunity in our state. Each academic year 12 individuals- graduate students, family members of people with disabilities, individuals with developmental disabilities (self-advocates), and community professionals from many disciplines and racial/ethnic groups- learn together about leadership skills, policy, advocacy, culturally responsive person and family centered care and neurodevelopmental disabilities.

The goal is to train participants to make health, education and other systems work better for individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities and their families in culturally meaningful ways.

I highly encourage professionals to consider.  In addition, please share information with families and self advocates that may be interested.  

More information is available at: 

http://www.med.uvm.edu/vtlend/applying

Feel free to reach out to Heather.blackburn@uvm.edu or the LEND program specialist  ivania-belen.ruiz-mangas@med.uvm.edu for more information. 

Vermont Assistive Technology Program

We cover a wide variety of topics and perhaps pediatric therapists, special educators and others might find the newsletters and our free program helpful for consultation, AT demonstration and loans. We are also very open to suggestions! Some highlights include AT for notetaking, continence care, inclusive mask options, typing with your voice (speech to text), a crafting series, Chromebook accessibility, iOS accessibility, switch adapted toys, recreation, and more!

• Sign Up for the Newsletters.
• • Tech Tuesday Tips: A weekly newsletter that highlights Assistive Technology (A.T.) ideas.  The most recent newsletter is: Mask-ability, Part 4: Facial coverings for sensory needs and tricks for glasses wearers.
  • Events or Trainings: An infrequent newsletter sent when there is an Event or Training that the A.T Program is hosting or participating in.
  • General AT Program Updates: An infrequent newsletter sent when there are changes or updates from our program.
  • Available Equipment on the AT Exchange: A monthly newsletter that highlights a few of the great items.

All Brains Belong: UVM Alum Hosts Sensory-Friendly COVID-19 Vaccine Clinics

Read more about All Brains Belong here!

Virtual Mentoring for New OTPs and OT/OTA students

http://www.maot.org/event-4549561

$5.00 for practitioners from other state associations  

SIG Membership: This is a new SIG open to all members either those looking to mentor and/or new OTPs and students. The goal of this SIG will be to support new graduates as they transition to practice from a student role and to offer topics such as documentation management strategies, how to find evidence and evaluations to support practice, CEUS exploration/skill development academics/fieldwork, ethics in the workplace, how to manage your time, guest presenters of varied specialty/areas of interest in practice, and other topics as requested by membership.

Topic: Decreasing Compassion Fatigue and Increasing Resilience Among Occupational Therapists

Speaker: Jessica Loeser OT

SIG Chair: Colleen Muse OT, OTR, OTD

Speaker Bio: Jessica Loeser is the Graduate Assistant for the Post-Professional OTD Program. She is an OT at an inpatient rehabilitation hospital working with the neurological population in Washington D.C. She started an interdisciplinary support group for individuals with spinal cord injuries and is PAMPCA and LSVT-BIG certified. She has had 3 successful Level II Fieldwork students and is now working towards her OTD degree with a concentration in administration to further serve her community. She enjoys reading, painting, and spending time with her dog.

Objectives:

1. Define compassion fatigue and resilience

2. Identify signs and symptoms of compassion fatigue

3. Describe 1-2 ways to increase resilience

Register Here

Join MAOT Today!

Membership in MAOT is an investment in yourself and our profession.  We offer discounted continuing education, networking opportunities, advocacy and a community of practitioners to help support and further your career!

The WHO designated 2021 the International Year of Health and Care Workers in gratitude for the dedication and perseverance of health professionals under extremely difficult conditions.  The advocacy initiative has highlighted people as foundational to systems of health for all.  At the conclusion of another dynamic and challenging year, I take pride, comfort, and inspiration from feeling part of a professional community of therapists, educators, and advocates that is so welcoming and inquisitive.  Thank you for your generosity with your time, passions, conversations, and advice.  In a time when it feels easy to fall into distance, it has been a joy to connect. 

Ongoing/upcoming opportunities:

• Research Article:
  • Each quarter, the VT Continence Project completes a review of a peer reviewed article relevant to continence and toilet-teaching/learning. This year, we are reading articles that relate to parental self-efficacy and/or supporting parental participation and success in intervention. This winter’s article is from Autism (2021): Autism-specific parenting self-efficacy: An examination of the role of parent-reported intervention involvement, satisfaction with intervention-related training, and caregiver burden.  Please see the attachment for a friendly one-pager outlining the major findings of the paper.
• Adaptive winter sports opportunities at Craftsbury:
  • Applications are currently open to Vermont youth and adults with disabilities for adaptive Nordic ski scholarships (passes and/or lessons at Craftsbury Outdoor Center) from Green Mountain Adaptive Sports: Application page
• Special Education Rule Changes:
  • If you happen to find yourself with extra viewing time and would like to deepen your understanding of the upcoming (July 2022) changes to the Vermont Special Education Rules, this recent webinar from Vermont Family Network may be of interest.  
• Medical Reserve Corps:
  • Vermont’s Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) units are community-based groups of volunteers who supplement local emergency and public health resources.  MRC members have been volunteering support at many of the vaccination clinics and test kit distributions throughout the state.  They are always looking for volunteers (both with medical and non-medical skills).  More information availablehere.  

I would like to express immense appreciation for the past and ongoing energy and enthusiasm that have fueled TRIPSCY in the current iteration.  I am excited to move into the new year under our new name, the Pediatric Professional Collaborative of Vermont!  Wishing everyone a safe and happy start to the new year. - Adrienne Miao. OTR/L 

Older Adults in Vermont- Resources and Support

From Sherry Pidgeon, OTR/L, CAPS, ECHM, CDP

On November 18, 2021 I launched a Facebook group called Older Adultsin Vermont – Resources and Support. I was inspired to start this group by anOT friend who started a similar group down in Maryland and I have beenvery impressed with the following they have. The intention of the group is to do what the title says, offer resources and support to our older Vermonters. As many of you know there are so many great resources out there for people however knowing what is available and what can be helpful when you need it can feel overwhelming. As a professional with a private practice, I still become confused as to what is out there!

Initially I frontloaded the group with professionals who work with seniors and then gradually started inviting older Vermonters. I was able to pull another professional in to assist with admin, Madigan Rollins of Synergy Homecare. Madigan has many contacts throughout northwest Vermont and this has been a huge help. In the group we have a wide range of professionals such as Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, Social Workers, Skilled Nurses, members of different organizations such as Age Well and SASH and more. What we are able to do is steer older Vermonters and caregivers to programs and services that could help them in their quest for health and safety as they age. (continued on page 4)

We are gaining traction and now have 85 members in just a month however we would obviously like to have many more! I feel as if we are currently primarily reaching both professionals and older Vermonters in the Chittenden County area. Please join and invite both older Vermonters and their caregivers to join! Take a look at the page to see what type of information we are providing. The link to do so is: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1299520753887651/members

Funding home modifications for seniors is an ongoing struggle.  This past spring, through the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), a Notice of Funding Availability was opened and targeted towards non-profit agencies to assist older low-income homeowners to age in place.  Grant applicants were strongly encouraged to incorporate the services of Occupational Therapists into the application.  We are excited to report that Cathedral Square in Burlington was one of 32 nonprofit organizations from across the country awarded the grant and will be soon offering these services to age and income eligible residents in the more rural towns in Chittenden County.  This is very exciting news and the OT community in Vermont looks forward to supporting our colleagues at Cathedral Square and they start these services.

To learn more, please contact Molly Dugan at Cathedral Square at dugan@cathedralsquare.org   

Leaves Should Fall, Not People!  

Sherry Pidgeon, OTR and Ela Dupont, OTR, who are certified Aging in Place Specialists, were featured on the WCAX television program Across the Fence on September 8th at 12:10.  They offered  useful  information about Home Modifications to prevent falls. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuKW2y_Bbxo 

To learn more about Vermont Falls Prevention Awareness Week, please use the following links:

 Falls Free Vermont Coalition on Facebook https://m.facebook.com/FallsFreeVT/ 

             
National Coalition on Aging:  https://www.ncoa.org/ 

Sherry Pidgeon, OTR/L, CAPS, ECHM

Home Mobility VT   

 Ela Dupont, OTR/L, CAPS, ECHM

Website: Gmhomesafety.com 

Email: informationvota@gmail.com or call 802-373-3144