Promoting Excellence in
Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service

The University of Texas at Austin
J. J. Pickle Research Campus
10100 Burnet Road
The Commons Center/Bldg. 137, Rm. 1.154
Austin, Texas 78758-4445

Phone:                   512-232-0740
Fax:                        512-232-0761
TDD:                      512-232-0762
Toll Free:              800-828-7839

Web site:  http://tcds.edb.utexas.edu/

Se Habla Espanol

The Texas Center for Disability Studies

The Texas Center for Disability Studies (TCDS) is a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, Research, Education, and Service (UCEDD) serving as a catalyst so that people with disabilities are the lives they choose in supportive communities.

Currently, the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) identifies over sixty-five UCEDDs with at least one found in every state and territory in the U.S.  Each is affiliated with a major research university.

The Texas Center for Disability Studies was established in 1989 at The University of Texas at Austin.

Networks

The TCDS works closely with federal and state agencies that provide services for people with disabilities, to identify best practices in service provision, and identify opportunities for systems improvement. The TCDS is part of the state Developmental Disability Network funded by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities at the U. S. Depaartment of Health and Human Services. The network members include the TCDS, the Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities, Advocacy Inc., the state protection and advocacy agency, and the Center on Disability and Development, the UCEDD at Texas A&M University.  The Texas Developmental Disability Network works to ensure the service delivery system provides comprehensive services and supports that meet people’s needs and are cost effective.  Additionally, the TCDS is an active member of the Texas Disability Policy Consortium and continuously collaborates with both state and local disability advocacy organizations.

Goals and Objectives

The Texas Center for Disability Studies applies its resources toward achieving four primary goals representing the core functions of the Center. The broad goals of the TCDS are:

• To conduct interdisciplinary pre-service preparation and continuing education of students and fellows to strengthen and increase the capacity of this State and local communities to achieve the independence, productivity, integration, and inclusion of people with developmental disabilities as valued members of their local communities.
• To provide, as a community service, training or technical assistance for individuals with developmental disabilities, their families, professionals, paraprofessionals, policy-makers, students, and other members of the community;  and to provide services, supports, and assistance for people with disabilities and their families to promote their independence, productivity, integration, and inclusion.
• To conduct basic or applied research, evaluation, and public policy analysis in areas that    affect or could affect, either positively or negatively, individuals with developmental disabilities and their families to improve their lives, and to enhance the effectiveness of community-based  programs and supports.
• To disseminate information related to activities of the TCDS, as part of a national network, to increase and  support the independence, productivity, integration, and inclusion of people with developmental disabilities into the community.

Areas of Emphasis and Projects                  

Based on strategic planning, needs assessment information, input from constituents, and planning with state Developmental Disability Network partners, the TCDS concentrates on the following priority need areas, with typical projects listed for each:

¨  Pre-Service Training and Continuing  Education

- Disability Studies On-line Learning Project
- Rehabilitation Specialist Training Project
- Brain Injury Higher Education Task Force

¨  Community Inclusion Activities

- Family-Based Alternatives
- TX Community Integration Collaborative
- Child Protective Services Training

Person/Family-Centered Planning,  Family  Support, and Self-Determination Activities

- People/Families Planning Together                               
- Texas Self-Determination Policy Team            
- Self-Determination Training for Self-Advocates and Families        
- Advocacy Training and Support for Spanish-speaking families                                               
Education and Early Childhood Activities

- Disability Studies Courses              
- Web-based Special Education Academy     
- Parent Information and Referral Center
- Advocacy Training                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

¨  Research, Evaluation, and Policy

- Promoting Independence/Olmstead Policy
- Children’s Long-term Care, Health, and Welfare Policy
- Special Education Policy
- Texas Office of Early Childhood Coordination Evaluation
- Autism Spectrum Disorder Research

                           Texas Technology Access Program

- Assistive Technology (AT) Device Demonstration and Loans
- AT Reutilization
- AT Training
- AT Information                                                                                                                                                               

Disability Studies

The TCDS provides informative and practical education for University of Texas graduate and undergraduate students preparing for careers in Developmental Disabilities fields. 

Disability Studies is a relatively new interdisciplinary field focused on the social and cultural context of disability. This field considers disability as a social minority group with an emphasis on the way in which disability is constructed culturally, politically, economically, rather than the traditional emphasis on the physiology of impairment.

Courses include:

Making Systems Work for People with Disabilities

Social Construction of Disability

Family Support and Self-Determination

Aging and Disability

Women and Disability

Developmental Disabilities and Self-Advocacy

Psychiatric Disabilities:  From the Inside Out

Upon request, this information will be made available in alternative formats to accommodate the needs of individuals with disabilities.

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The Texas Center for Disability Studies is funded, in part, by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.