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2015 SLN Conference: Making a Difference Together

 May 30 &31, Galt House Hotel, Louisville, KY

Agenda

11:30 am Registration and Lunch provided 12:30 pm Welcome and Introductions 1:00 pm Making a Difference through Storytelling Speaker: Pat Carver (SLN Outgoing Board Chair) 1:15 pm Dare Mighty Things Featured Speaker: Tori McClure (President of Spalding University) 2:00 pm Stories from a Panel of Siblings Moderated by Don Meyer (Executive Director, Sibling Support Project) 3:15 pm Sharing Sibling Stories: Table Discussions 3:35 pm Break and continue sharing stories at tables 4:00 pm Public Administrator, Advocate, Sibling: Who Am I? Who I Am. Keynote Speaker: Andrew McQuaide (Consent Decree and Settlement Agreement Coordinator for the State of Rhode Island) 5:00 pm The Sibling Movement and the SLN Speaker: Katie Arnold (SLN Executive Director) 5:30 pm Program concludes for the day 7:30 pm- Sibling Survival Guide Book Signing Reception 10:00 pm Featuring Editor Don Meyer and chapter authors

Sunday, May 31: 7:30 am Breakfast provided 8:00 am Charting Your LifeCourse Towards a Good Life! Keynote Speaker: Sheli Reynolds (Director of Individual Advocacy and Family Support at UMKC Institute for Human Development) 9:10pm Round 1 of breakout sessions (choose one of the following): A. Planning for the Future: The Sibling Roadmap Speakers: Katie Arnold (SLN Executive Director) and Liz Mahar (Program Manager, The Arc’s Center for Future Planning) B. Translating research into advocacy for siblings of individuals with disabilities Speakers: Meghan Burke (SLN Chair of Research), Tom Fish (SLN Chair of Support & Information), Kristina Majewski (SLN Chair of Policy & Advocacy), & Shea Tanis (SLN Past Chair) C. Supporting Self-Determination Speakers: Rachel Patterson (SLN Communications Chair), Pat Carver (SLN Outgoing Chair), and Liz Weintraub (Advocacy Specialist at AUCD) 10:20am Round 2 of breakout sessions (choose one of the following): A. Wills, Trusts, Power of Attorney-Oh my! Legal Documents Needed to Safeguard Your Sibling’s Future Speakers: Karen Perch (Attorney at Law) and Carolyn Wheeler (Project Director, Human Development Institute/University of Kentucky) B. Developing Your Sibling Chapter Speakers: Nora Handler (Supporting Illinois Brothers and Sisters), Harriet Redman (Executive Director, WisconSibs), and Erin Sweeney Hutzelman (SLN Chair of Network Development) C. We are Family: Understanding the Collective Family Voice Speakers: Shea Tanis (SLN Past Chair), Eric McVay (SABE rep on SLN Board), Tia Nelis (SABE President), and Debbie Gilbert (Co-Director Family to Family Health Information Centers) 11:30am Closing Session and Open Mic 12:00pm Conference Concludes

Keynote Speakers:

 Michelle “Sheli” Reynolds: “Charting Your LifeCourse Towards a Good Life!“

sheli reynoldsMy passion, knowledge and experience come from growing up as a sibling of a younger brother with developmental disabilities. For the last 17 years I have served as the Director of Individual Advocacy and Family Support at UMKC Institute for Human Development, a University Center on Excellence in Developmental Disabilities where I am directly responsible for projects that directly impact the lives of persons with disabilities and their families through both policy and practice changes. I am currently the Director of the Missouri Family to Family Health Information Center and the co-principle investigator on the National Community of Practice on Supports to Families.  This year I was appointed as a member of the Presidents Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities.  For twelve years I had the privilege of providing technical assistance to the self-advocacy organizations for Missouri and the nation, which served as my biggest training ground. I received my doctorate in Public Administration and Sociology from the University of Missouri, Kansas City with a focus on family support research and policy for families of individuals with developmental disabilities across the lifespan.

Andrew McQuaideAndrew McQuaide: “Public Administrator, Advocate, Sibling: Who Am I? Who I Am.”

In August of 2013, Andrew joined the State of Rhode Island as Coordinator of Community Development and Planning for the Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities, and Hospitals. Through administration of the Department’s Employment First policy and the US Department of Justice Interim Settlement Agreement, Andrew facilitates greater access to community-based, integrated employment and day services for individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities.

In November 2013, Andrew was appointed the Rhode Island State Coordinator of the US Department of Justice Interim Settlement Agreement. In this role, Andrew coordinates and supports interagency collaboration between the Rhode Island Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities & Hospitals, Office of Rehabilitation Services, and the Rhode Island Department of Education in their implementation of the settlement agreement.

Most recently, Andrew helped facilitate the landmark agreement between the State of Rhode Island and the DOJ. In April 2014, Governor Lincoln Chafee appointed Andrew Consent Decree Coordinator.

Featured Speaker

ToriMcClure

Tori McClure: “Dare Mighty Things“

Tori Murden McClure is the president of Spalding University, in Louisville, Kentucky, which serves more than 2,500 students at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels.

Tori holds a Bachelor of Arts from Smith College, a Master of Divinity from Harvard University, and her juris doctorate from the University of Louisville’s Louis D. Brandeis School of Law. In 2005, she earned her master of fine arts in writing from Spalding University. Her non-fiction book A Pearl in the Storm was published by Harper-Collins in 2009.

A passionate world adventurer and humanitarian, Ms. McClure is best known as the first woman and first American to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She was also the first woman and first American to travel over land to the geographic South Pole, skiing 750 miles from the ice shelf to the pole. An avid mountaineer, Ms. McClure has climbed on several continents. She is a fully certified emergency medical technician in both urban and wilderness areas, and is a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) where she currently serves as the chair of the board of directors.

Tori Murden McClure is the Legal Guardian for her brother with an intellectual disability, Lamar Murden.