The Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) Education Center at the University of Cincinnati
Ensuring educators are equipped with the right knowledge, skills, and dispositions to support all learners is essential. The reality is that there is a longstanding gap in the availability of qualified providers to teach and support learners, particularly those with significant cognitive disabilities and low incidence sensory disabilities. The gap is even more prevalent in hard-to-staff regions of the state. Unfortunately, these personnel shortages can limit opportunities for learning, which impacts students’ postsecondary opportunities, including future employment.
To help address these shortages and workforce challenges, the Ohio Deans Compact and its partners are exploring, investing in, and supporting important work through its Incentive Grant Program. As an Incentive Grant recipient, the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) Education Center at the University of Cincinnati has received funding to explore STEM career pathways for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities that are aligned with regional workforce needs to create meaningful, life-changing experiences.
“There are thousands of jobs that go unfilled each year because of a lack of technical skills,” shares Christi Carnahan, EdD, Director, IDD Education Center, University of Cincinnati. “The greatest employment needs in our area are around advanced manufacturing, engineering, and computer science. A big challenge in Ohio and in our region is the unemployment rate for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Through our work, we are trying to bridge this gap by creating career pathways for these students that are aligned to industry needs in our region.”
The IDD Education Center’s Incentive Grant funding from the Ohio Deans Compact has helped to support the development of pre-apprenticeships to teach technical skills, provide mentoring from experts, and offer work-based learning opportunities. The IDD Education Center has also partnered with area businesses to create internships aligned to regional workforce needs, which is catalyzing change at a systemic level.
“For so long, many of our employers and systems have not been designed or supported to see how people with intellectual and developmental disabilities can contribute at higher levels and in more meaningful ways,” explains Carnahan. “One of the reasons this work is so important is that we’re trying to change expectations and paint a clear picture of how these students can contribute to their communities with advanced skills and how employers can create more inclusive environments.”
By bringing future teachers and industry professionals together, the IDD Education Center’s work is not only helping employers understand how students can contribute to their jobs in meaningful ways, but it is also helping to prepare future teachers how to teach high-level content to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
“At the heart of this work, we are helping to shape communities, create inclusion, and change outcomes to ensure students get what they need and help them believe that they can make a difference in many different fields,” shares Carnahan. “We are also doing the important work to connect with and educate area employers. It is powerful to see a student who secures an internship at Proctor & Gamble. If we do this work well, we will change things for the better for everyone, and this is just the beginning. Efforts in this area are only emerging and we have already impacted so many young people and employers.”
To learn more about the IDD Education Center at the University of Cincinnati, visit https://cech.uc.edu/schools/education/IDDEdCenter.html.