Institute on Disability/UCED

Joelle’s role as a parent of a child with a chronic health condition shifted her career path from the high-tech publishing industry toward teaching and advocacy. Following her LEND experience, Joelle was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives. In her first term, Martin served on the House Ways & Means Committee and the Steering Committee of the Children's Caucus. Representative Martin was a 2018 State Legislative Leaders Foundation Emerging Leader.

Obtaining and maintaining oral health is a critical issue for everyone in the United States, but people with disabilities encounter additional barriers to receiving adequate health care. For this reason, for the second year in-a-row, the Northeast Delta Dental Foundation has awarded the Institute on Disability (IOD) $7,500 to advance oral health outcomes and oral health care access for individuals with disabilities.

Please join the Institute on Disability in congratulating Dr. JoAnne M. Malloy on being honored as the recipient of the Jennifer Wierwille Norton Memorial Award from the New Hampshire Children's Behavioral Health Collaborative (NHCBHC).  The award recognizes Dr. Malloy’s commitment to youth health, outstanding research, and her ability to inspire system improvements by building community and trust.

Rep. Joelle Martin, NH-ME LEND graduate, was recently honored with the New Hampshire Legislator of the Year award by New Futures, New Hampshire's leading health policy, and advocacy organization.

After working for a decade as an executive in publishing, Martin's focus shifted to education and advocacy. As her daughter, who has a life-threatening food allergy, entered preschool, she began to educate her family and school community about severe food allergies. Soon after, she developed an educational program about life-threatening allergies for teachers and staff.

IOD filmmaker Dan Habib's recent film, Intelligent Lives, reached millions of people this fall through its national broadcast debut on public television's WORLD Channel in celebration of National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

Dr. Therese Willkomm, a Clinical Associate Professor at the Institute on Disability, was a keynote presenter at the Hamad Rehabilitation Institute's World Occupational Therapy Day event in Doha Qatar. The institute invited Dr. Willkomm to speak at their event after seeing her presentation at the Gulf Region Education Assistive Technology (GREAT) Conference in 2017. 

CONCORD, N.H. - On October 23, the New Hampshire Children's Behavioral Health Collaborative (NHCBHC) presented Dr. JoAnne Malloy with the third annual Jennifer Wierwille Norton Memorial Award for her life-long commitment to improving the child-serving system in New Hampshire. 

The award recognizes a champion of children's behavioral health who embodies Jennifer Weirwille Norton's commitment to children, youth, and their families, as well as: 

CONCORD, N.H. - On October 23, the New Hampshire Children's Behavioral Health Collaborative (NHCBHC) presented Dr. JoAnne Malloy with the third annual Jennifer Wierwille Norton Memorial Award for her life-long commitment to improving the child-serving system in New Hampshire. 

The award recognizes a champion of children's behavioral health who embodies Jennifer Weirwille Norton's commitment to children, youth, and their families, as well as: 

Durham, NH – November 1, 2019: Despite resilience of the overall labor market, economic indicators continued to soften in October for Americans with disabilities, according to today’s National Trends in Disability Employment – Monthly Update (nTIDE), issued by Kessler Foundation and the 

Chris Cooper and wife Marianne Leone open up about fighting for their late son Jesse, who had cerebral palsy and epilepsy, to attend public school in the new documentary Intelligent Lives