The Promise of Discovery

Equipping students with severe disabilities for the world of work has been the longstanding emphasis of transition education. Adolescence is a critical period for employment preparation, yet too many young people with disabilities do not have access to paid work during high school. This episode explores a study that is gathering perspectives on barriers to and facilitators of paid employment for y...

This episode outlines a qualitative study to explore the disability identity development of college students with disabilities. The results led to establishing a model of psychosocial identity development for individuals with disabilities. The model highlights four developmental statuses: acceptance, relationship, adoption and engagement. The model also has application as a framework for healthcar...

Sense Theatre is a unique intervention research program that brings together theatre techniques and peer actors to enhance social competence in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. The program includes theatre games, character development, improvisation, singing, and the performance of an original play with themes of belonging, acceptance, and making friends. Research has demonstrated that t...

Understanding how social information is processed within the reward circuit has the potential to uncover molecular targets with positive therapeutic potential. The investigators’ research efforts using a model of early immune activation aim to elucidate the molecular and circuit modifications induced by these immunological factors that ultimately contribute to alterations in reward processing. It...

Researchers from the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center and partners from technology start-up Adaptive Technology Consulting discuss the evaluation of a mobile app called Autoscreen, which is currently being tested and is designed to help pediatricians recognize autism risk in young children. Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Researcher: Amy Weitlauf, Ph. D., assistant professor of Pediatrics and TRIAD Associate D...

Laurie Cutting: Understanding how brain mechanisms interact to predict academic outcomes Cutting is among only 33 Vanderbilt researchers to have received an NIH Merit Award, and one of only 5 women. In this NIH research, she is measuring academic achievement and changes in brain structure and function. The ultimate goal is to develop brain-based causal models of academic achievement to effectively...

Paul Yoder, Ph. D., retired from Vanderbilt University in late 2019. A long-time Vanderbilt Kennedy Center investigator, he studied communication and language and intervention in children with language delays. In this episode, Yoder discusses what he learned over the course of his career about young children and communication.    Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Researcher: Paul Yoder, Ph. D., Professor...

A multidisciplinary, 5-year project focused on understanding how the brain integrates information coming in from multiple senses, and whether we can train multisensory integration abilities in children with autism. Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Researchers: Mark Wallace, Ph. D., Louise B. McGavock Endowed Chair; Professor of Hearing & Speech Sciences, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, and Psyc...

The Vanderbilt KidTalk project facilitates studies focused on language learning in young children with disabilities. Interventions typically focus on teaching partners (parents, siblings, peers, etc.) to support language development in children who have language delays.  Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Researcher: Ann Kaiser, Ph. D., Susan Gray Chair in Education and Human Development; Professor of Spec...

Vanderbilt Kennedy Center researchers are using electronic medical record information and biological samples to better understand how Down syndrome is related to a variety of disorders and conditions.  Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Researcher: Jeffrey Neul, M.D., Ph. D., Annette Schaffer Eskind Chair and Director, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center; Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Neurology, Pharmacology,...