Reflections
As part of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center's 50th anniversary celebration, families, researchers, staff, trainees, and others shared their reflections. View a sample below, and select "more" to view additional comments.
| A reflection from a family |
 | I’ve been able to see my daughter Morgan and other young adults with disabilities achieve new goals, helping them find their purpose. VKC believes in our children’s abilities, and they are always seeking new ways to raise that bar of belief in our community. Tammy Vice - Parent See More... |
| A reflection from a trainee |
 | As a Postdoctoral Fellow, I was a trainee with LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities]. This experience was invaluable to my current work as a clinical psychologist who specializes in diagnosing very young children with autism. My LEND training enhanced my abilities to understand families’ perspectives, to collaborate across disciplines, and to maintain cultural competence, all of which helps me provide better care to children and parents at a very difficult moment in their lives. Amy Weitlauf - VKC Member and Former LEND Trainee See More... |
| A reflection from a professional |
| As a teacher and now as Director of Special Education in Manchester City Schools, I feel very fortunate to have received training from Vanderbilt Kennedy Center TRIAD myself. It helped me better serve my students with this challenging disorder. Now as our district administrator, I strongly encourage and support training opportunities for the teachers in our school system. This year alone over 50% of our special education teachers and/or assistants were involved in a training activity through TRIAD. The quality of this training is unsurpassed. In addition to the sessions offered at regional locations, our district was fortunate to have consultation and training provided on-site at our schools. I do not believe training of this quality and type is available anywhere else and even if it was, it would not be affordable for our school district. Our teachers are better prepared due to the training they received through TRIAD. However, the most important aspect is that our students receive the greatest benefit. Jenny Thomas - Director of Special Education, Manchester City Schools, Manchester, TN See More... |
| A reflection from a researcher |
 | For decades my work has concentrated on visual function in normal, adult populations. That work has culminated in several theoretical papers in which neural models were developed to account for how the brain registers and interprets visual information. Yet I have always believed that by studying normal function, we also were providing the necessary background work for examining visual disorders and their role in clinical conditions. But it wasn’t until I developed collaborations with VKC investigators that I was able to be involved in realizing the potential of that basic science work. I have been very fortunate to have colleagues who spurred me to study vision in children with autism, and to see connections between my work and possible bases for disorders in people with schizophrenia. It is gratifying to see the fruits of years of my work actually providing some insight into factors contributing to developmental disabilities and, hopefully, to compensation strategies that will allow these people to lead rich, productive lives. Randolph Blake, Ph.D. - Psychology See More... |
Submit your reflection here