Institute for Human Development
Changing the way you experience the world
Access | Attitude | Inclusion
Our Work:
- Impacts people at all life stages- individually and socially
- Influences policy at local, state, national, and global levels
Vision: People with disabilities fully participate in all life experiences
Mission: Promote full inclusion by advancing attitudes that value persons with disabilities and enhancing access to all aspects of the human experience
The IHD fosters the development of attitudes that promote the public’s appreciation and value of individuals with disabilities. Attitudes, as barriers to or facilitators of inclusion, go hand-in-hand with access. Access, commonly thought of as access to services and supports, can have a much broader meaning. Services are unquestionably essential for inclusion but access also refers to access to information, education, physical environments, community, friendships, relationships, etc. Conceptually, access and attitude have reciprocal roles in promoting or inhibiting inclusion.
The toughest barriers faced by people with disabilities are not architectural, they are attitudinal. They are not in the environment, they are in our hearts and in our minds. When people with disabilities are integrated throughout our communities, we are given the opportunity to change our attitudes from ones based on stereotypes, fear, and ignorance, to ones based on admiration, acceptance, and affection… We all gain from the opportunity to experience people with developmental disabilities as friends, as neighbors, as coworkers, as classmates.
Senator Harkin
Latest News, Articles, and of Interest
“Living the Dream,” a profile of IHD Professor for Disability Studies Matthew Wangeman written by Andrew Faught, has been awarded the 2021 Circle of Excellence by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. One nominator described Professor Wangeman as “father, scholar, and disability studies lecturer who is himself a member of the disabled community,” and commended the article for its insightful look at the hardships faced by people with disabilities as well as the accompanying photo essay, which conveys “not just the details of Matthew’s daily life but also his sheer joy of living.”
Northern Arizona Adaptive Sports Association (NAASA) is offering FREE adaptive kayaking & hiking through a grant awarded by the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council (ADDPC) and with support from the Institute for Human Development.
Adaptive Recreation in Northern Arizona
Posted June 16th, 2021
The “Who” and the “How” When Working with Tribal Communities
Posted May 17, 2021
Funded through NSF grant, NAU researcher strives to increase participation of neurodiverse students in STEM fields
Posted March 31, 2021
IHD Awarded Large Federal Grant to Support Students with Intellectual Disabilities – Radically-Inclusive Support and Coaching Program Coming to Northern Arizona
The Institute for Human Development (IHD) at Northern Arizona University was recently awarded a five-year, approximately $2.5M grant from the United States Department of Education, Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID) to develop and implement a radically-inclusive support and coaching program for students with intellectual disabilities (ID) to attend postsecondary educational institutions throughout Northern Arizona. Photo: IHD staff member Sakénya McDonald meeting with students Leyevsca Santos Espinoza and Jacob Alexander (and their…
IHD Receives Federal Funding for CARE Project: Qualitative Community-Based Participatory Research on Vocational Rehabilitation Practices in Indian County
The Institute for Human Development (IHD) at Northern Arizona University was recently awarded a 3-year grant of approximately $600,000 from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research to conduct a community-based participatory research (CBPR) project about American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services (AIVRS). Photo: IHD Staff Winona Reid (left) and Jamie Emanuel (right) present at CANAR’s 2019 Conference Funded in large part by the federal government, AIVRS programs support integrated, high-quality employment for tribal…
IHD receives federal grant to address transition of youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities from student to adult life in Arizona
The Institute for Human Development (IHD) at Northern Arizona University was recently awarded a one-year, $100,000 grant from the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Disabilities to develop a comprehensive, integrated pilot plan for transitioning youth with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) to employment and/or postsecondary education in the state of Arizona. Transitioning from a student to adult life is always challenging, and this is especially true for youth and young adults with I/DD. In Arizona, there are…
AUDIO: Voting with Disabilities: the Barriers People Face
Voting with Disabilities: the Barriers People Face (91.5 KJZZ - Lauren Gilger) with Arden Day, Senior Research Associate for the Institute for Human Development at Northern Arizona University. Listen Now
Remote AAC Assessments—Tips, Considerations, and Unexpected Surprises
Remote AAC Assessments—Tips, Considerations, and Unexpected Surprises “The goal of an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) assessment is to identify appropriate communication technology for a user with complex communication needs. The AAC Specialist (a speech-language pathologist), often in collaboration with an occupational therapist, assesses the end user’s communication needs and abilities to make these recommendations…It’s a tall order for a Zoom call. Yet in this time of Covid-19, increasingly remote AAC assessments are happening. AT3 News and Tips has discussed…
Institute for Human Development PSA
AUCD: Growing Leaders, Driving Change
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