Kerri Hughes and Deb Genthner (LEND 2017) attended the AUCD Annual Conference in Washington, DC with over 900 other participants from across the US and Territories. The conference theme this year was Navigating Change: Building our Future Together.
Deb shared the following reflection on her experience at AUCD: “For me, the AUCD conference rekindled a fire in my belly… we need to harness our advocacy skills as we work together to represent our loved ones and seek consensus on serving their interests. We need to share our stories with others while supporting and empowering those we love to use their own voice. We must never forget the most important voices at the table are those of the ones being discussed AND if they cannot speak for themselves those who can speak for them have an obligation to speak up and speak out.”
Congratulations also to 2016 LEND graduates Raven Vigars and Lisa Plotnik who presented poster sessions at the AUCD Annual Conference. Raven presented the results of her work during her leadership placement with the New England Genetics Collaborative titled New England Genetics Collaborative Stakeholder Survey- Recommendations for Improving the System of Care. Lisa’s poster titled Responsive Practice Training at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Manchester outlined work she did during her LEND year with the Disability and Public Health Project at the UNH Institute on Disability. Following her LEND training, Lisa continues to collaborate with the DPH Project.
