UCEDD Five-Year Plan

How we will do this: 

• Teach best-practices to professionals supporting young children with disabilities 

• Get professionals ready to provide quality services to a diverse community before they start their jobs and keep supporting them in their work. 

• Study and evaluate the effectiveness of training offered to professionals. 

• Share information with families about how to support young children who are delayed in growing and learning. We will make this information available in different languages, on paper, online and on social media. 

How we will do this: 

• Offer schools and the community tools and services to include all students and to give students opportunities to make choices. 

• Get teachers and professionals ready to provide quality services to a diverse community before they start their jobs and keep supporting them in their work. 

• Study and report how teachers’ inclusive practices are successful in schools. 

• Share educational resources that respect diverse cultures and are easy for teachers and families to use when they help students with low-incidence disabilities (e.g., blindness, deafness or hard of hearing). 

How we will do this: 

• Train and help youth and adults, their families, state agencies and those who help them.  

• Prepared professionals and others to provide quality services to youth and adults. 

• Study and evaluate services for youth and adults. 

• Share information and resources with youth and adults, families and those who help them that are easy to understand and respect diverse cultures. 

How we will do this: 

• Teach individuals, their families and those who help them about the benefits of technology. 

• Prepare current and future professionals to help individuals to get and use assistive technology. 

• Study and evaluate how individuals in Rhode Island use technology. 

• Share information and resources about technology that are easy to understand and respect diverse cultures. 

How we will do this: 

• Teach how individuals can make choices at home, school and in their community at every age. 

• Teach professionals ways to support choice-making and how it can improve the quality of life for individuals. 

• Study and evaluate how well these strategies are being used. 

• Share information and resources about choice making strategies that are easy to understand and respect diverse cultures. 

• Help individuals to take part in social, recreation and cultural activities and events. 

How we will do this: 

• Make sure our everyday work is inclusive and respects diverse cultures and languages. 

• Share information that is easy to understand, respectful of all cultures and in different languages. 

• Increase our ability to share information in-person, on paper, online and on social media and that is accessible to individuals with disabilities.  

• Partner with similar groups to share information to individuals, families and community members.