Lab Activities
April 29,24: Our lab celebrated the start of spring with a picnic! We got together to celebrate everyone's enthusiasm, dedication, and efforts across multiple projects in the lab in 2024, enjoyed sandwiches, and sunshine. We are grateful to all our wonderful students and their efforts to promote inclusion and cultural awareness across our lab activities and projects.
April 26, 24: UMD Transdisciplinary Approaches to Language and Literacy in Educational Research (TALLER) Conference. Melody Mann presented her practitioner paper titled Bridging Language Barriers: Adapting the Picture Exchange Communication System for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Children with Autism on April 26, 2024.
April 19, 24: Dr. Veronica Kang gave a presentation on "Child-centered Practice to Positively Support Play, Behavior, and Language Development" at the Professional Development Day for Early Head Start educators of the Maryland Family Network in Baltimore.
April 13, 24: Dr. Veronica Kang provided a presentation of two studies, "Korean Caregivers' Use of Evidence-Based Strategies for Their Children With Autism" and "Exploration of Teacher Leadership Among Early Childhood Special Education Providers" at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference in Philadelphia.
The Program for Meaningful Interaction and Social Engagement (PROMISE)
Description: PROMISE is continuing to hold monthly parent support meetings on zoom inviting various guest speakers. Please join us for the following dates
PROMISE_parentsupport_MayJuneJuly2024.pdf Mar 2024 Parent Meeting Flyer.pdf
March 20, 24: Dr. Veronica Kang provided another training on early social communication/language development and support strategies to early intervention providers at the Prince George's County Infants and Toddlers Program.
March 8, 24: University of Maryland College of Education Student Research Symposium. Melody Mann presented the preliminary findings of her literature review titled Soch Vichaar Sade, Our Thoughts and Interpretations: Understanding Punjabi Families’ Perspectives on Disabilities on March 8, 2024.
March 20,24: Georgetown University Data and Democracy Student Research Symposium. Melody Mann presented her policy brief poster titled Punished by Color: Understanding the Growing Disproportionality of Disciplinary Rates Among Racially Minoritized Students with Disabilities on March 20, 2024.
February 21, 24: Dr. Veronica Kang provided another training on behavior development and support to early intervention providers at the Prince George's County Infants and Toddlers Program.
February 7, 24: Dr. Veronica Kang provided training on overview of autism to about 80 early intervention providers at the Prince George's County Infants and Toddlers Program.
May 28 - July 2, 2023: We had a wonderful time running the summer program with 9 UMD student staff, volunteering teachers from the CCACC Academy, and 20, 4 to 14 year old children and youth with autism or other developmental disabilities or delays at the Chinese Culture and Community Service Center (CCACC) Academy in partnership with the Special Education Equal Development Society (SEEDS) of MC-CAPA and the Chinese Culture and Community Service Center (CCACC). The photos below are from the award ceremony on the last day of the program.
May 16 & 25, 2023: The summer program staff completed their training on autism, compassionate approach to behavioral support strategies for young children's learning and practice of social skills using group-based activities, and behavioral data collection. First row from the left: Isabel, Jasmine, Youngsun, Dhara, and Shizhan. Second row from the left: Veronica, Elnaz, Emmanuel, Vrisha, and Jung-Eun. (Photos below)
May 8, 2023: Dr. Kang presented on the experiences and perspectives of immigrant families of autistic individuals in the U.S. and family-led language and social communication instruction at the Stockholm University Department of Special Education Mini-Conference on Autism and Culture. (Photo below)
May 3-6, 2023: Dr. Kang presented on the effects of virtual implementation of Read it again!-Pre-K curriculum for Korean immigrant autistic students and participated in the INSAR Cultural Diversity Committee meeting and presentation at the International Society for Autism Research Annual Meeting, Stockholm, Sweden. (Photos below)
April 13-16, 2023: Dr. Kang presented a paper on the social validity and cultural relevance of dual language literacy instruction for Korean immigrant preschoolers at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo below)
April 11, 2023: Dr. Kang, Ms. Kate Lu, from the CCACC Health Clinic, and Ms. Ariel La hosted a monthly support group meeting with the Montgomery County's SEEDS families on zoom to discuss childhood development and the upcoming summer program with the parents. (Flyer below)
April 5, 2023: Elnaz and Jung-Eun successfully completed an oral presentation on the preliminary findings from a systematic review on the global perspectives of gender based violence in individuals with developmental disabilities at the UMD Graduate School's Graduate Research Appreciation Day and were one of the five oral presentation award winners. Congratulations! (Photos below)
March 21, 2023: Dr. Kang, Ms. Kate Lu, from the CCACC Health Clinic, and Ms. Ariel La held a meet and greet with the Montgomery County's SEEDS families on zoom. (Flyer below)
March 9, 2023: Elnaz, Jung-Eun (not pictured), and Emily successfully presented a poster on the preliminary findings from a systematic review on the global perspectives of gender based violence in individuals with developmental disabilities at the UMD College of Education Graduate Student Research Symposium. Congratulations! (Photo below)
March 1-4, 2023: Paper presentation on sibling training of Enhanced Milieu Teaching for children with autism at the Council for Exceptional Children, Louisville, Kentucky
January 3-5, 2023: Dr. Kang conducted an Autism Awareness and Knowledge Training for about 100 teachers, therapists, professors, and Special Olympic coaches in Karachi, Pakistan in collaboration with Dr. Nilofer Naqvi at Iona University. (Photo below)
September 30, 2022: Division for Early Childhood Consortium for Innovations in Doctoral Excellence Mentoring Initiative Event at the Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children and the International Society on Early Intervention Conference in Chicago, Illinois (Photo below)
February 21, 2022: Global Disability Summit Side Event: Inclusive Education Case Studies and the Interagency Network for Education in Emergencies Minimum Standards https://youtu.be/8ds-fB1erIg