Collaborative Working Group

Purpose

The Working Group meetings will be to foster fellowship among UIUC faculty involved in disability related research, share ideas, support junior faculty, and facilitate the development of research teams. 

General Schedule

It is during the first 45 minutes, the host will give a tour of their space.  Next, there will be three 20 minutes lightning round talks in which faculty can present ideas for potential grants, papers, studies or discuss ongoing projects.  The session will conclude with 15 minutes of sharing departmental updates, key activities, and networking.


Collaborative Working Group Meetings

CARD Collaborative Working Group February’24 Meeting

The first CARD Collaborative Working Group Meeting was held in February of 2024, hosted by Joshua Leonardis, Ph.D. in his Movement Analysis Laboratory at Freer Hall. Our presenters at the meeting were CARD members Joshua Leonardis, Ph.D., Matt Hanks, Ph.D., and Yuan Yang, Ph.D.

CARD Collaborative Working Group April’24 Meeting

The CARD Collaborative Working Group met on Thursday, April 11, 2024, from 2:30 to 4:30 PM. This meeting was hosted by Dr. Deana McDonagh in her lab, the (dis)ability Design Studio at Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. During the meeting we toured Beckman Institute and Dr. McDonagh’ s lab.  After the tour there were two presentation lightening rounds by Dr. McDonagh and Dr. Michael Lotspeich-Yadao II. The presenters talked on current research or ideas followed by a discussion and feedback. The next CARD Collaborative Working Group meeting will be held in the fall. Please be on the lookout for the meeting information and invitation. 

CARD Collaborative Working Group September ’24 Meeting

On Wednesday, September 18, 2024, the CARD Collaborative Working Group met in the Speech & Hearing Sciences Building for the first meeting of the semester. Our lab hosts were Dr. Laura Mattie & Dr. Marie Channell. The meeting began with a full tour of the Speech & Hearing Science Building. Dr. Mattie showed the group her Development in Neurogenetic Disabilities Lab Space and Dr. Channell showed her Intellectual DisAbilities Communication Lab Space. 

 After the tour, Dr. Mattie presented her current work which focuses on understanding the role of child gestures, maternal gestures, and maternal language input on work learning in toddlers with Down syndrome and fragile X syndrome. Dr. Channell presented on her most recent projects, (1) seeking to determine the best methods to screen for and evaluate autism in youth with Down syndrome, and (2) explore employment, education, and community living experiences of young adults with Down syndrome to identify their support needs and mitigate barriers to independent living. Questions and feedback were shared by the group and the meeting presented  opportunities for collaborations between group members. 

 Thank you to Dr. Mattie and Dr. Channell for providing the Collaborative Working Group with a wonderful and informative event and thank you to CARD members Samuel OlatunjiHealth Stout, and Joshua Leonardis for being a part of this experience!   The next CARD Collaborative Working Group meeting will be in November. Please look for an email asking for your availability soon. We will meet during a time that works best for the most members. If you would like to host the meeting in your lab and/or be a presenter please email the CARD administrative team. Let us know if you have any questions. Hope to see you at our next meeting! 

CARD Collaborative Working Group November’24 Meeting

The CARD Collaborative Working Group met on Wednesday, November 6, 2024, at the Chez Veterans Center. The meeting was hosted by Michael Lotspeich-Yadao, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor and Assistant Director of Research and Educational Programing at Chez. Michael was joined by CARD member Andy Bender, Chez Director of Operations and Services and two University students who gave CARD members a moving tour of the Center. 

 After the tour, the group gathered for a lunch meeting where Dr. Lotspeich-Yadao presented on a pending case management program that Chez is implementing called TRiO Student Support Services (Veterans) Program. The program is designed to address the unique needs of military-connected students who are low-income, first-generation, and/or have disabilities, with the goal of enhancing their persistence, academic performance, and graduation rates. It is hopeful the program will serve and average of 279 eligible students each year under SSS-V.

The lightening round presentations started with Heather Stout, MS, CRC, Director of Operations and Services of Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES). Heather led a discussion on how best to be proactive to the need of an increased number of students with disabilities requiring University accommodations. Heather was followed by Samuel Olatunji Ph.D., Post-doctoral Research Associate, Human Factors and Aging Laboratory (HFA) and McKechnie Family LIFE Home who posed questions to the group on how to design robot teams to support health and wellness, advance foundational knowledge, refine the capabilities of these robots, and engage the users when building human-robot teams. Questions and feedback were shared by the group and the meeting presented  opportunities for collaborations between group members. 

 Thank you to everyone who were able to join our meeting. There will be two more CARD Collaborative Working Group meetings will be in the Spring semester, 2025. Please look for an email asking for your availability to these meetings. We will meet during a time that works best for the most members. If you would like to host the meeting in your lab and/or be a presenter please email the CARD administrative team. Let us know if you have any questions. Hope to see you at our next meeting!

CARD Collaborative Working Group February’24 Meeting

Read more

CARD Collaborative Working Group April’24 Meeting

Read More

CARD Collaborative Working Group September ’24 Meeting

Read more

CARD Collaborative Working Group November’24 Meeting

Read more