Author: Glen Jennings
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Champion of Communication: Jacqui Kearns Honored with June Downing Award
Jacqui Kearns has respected and tried to further June Downing’s work for years. The organization that Downing was a part of has noticed. TASH, an organization where Downing once served as a member of the board of directors, gives the June Downing Breakthroughs in Inclusive Education Award to someone who has worked to advance disability…
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Leslie to lead Human Development Institute
As Dr. Mykal Leslie steps into his new role as Executive Director of the University of Kentucky Human Development Institute (HDI), he’s focused on returning to the core purpose of its mission. “We have to go back to why UCEDDs exist,” Dr. Leslie said. “At their heart, they exist to improve the quality of life…
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Staff spotlight: Dr. Harold Kleinert
One day, says Dr. Harold Kleinert with a laugh, his colleagues are going to decide he’s worked enough and tell him to properly retire. It hasn’t happened yet. Kleinert has been involved with HDI since the 1980s. He currently is employed through the university’s STEPs program, but Kleinert has held many positions with HDI, including…
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HDI LEND welcomes students!
It’s a new school year, and that means new students – and this time, it’s more new students than HDI has ever seen before. HDI is still offering its classes for the year, but enrollment has drastically increased, even tripling in some of the programs. “This year, just like last year, we’ll have classes in…
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Summer Leadership Experience 2025
It’s hard to figure out what to do after you graduate high school, but there are added complications when you have a disability. That’s where HDI’s Summer Leadership Experience Camp comes in. The camp is designed to help young adults figure out what’s next after graduation through exploring the options and resources available to them,…
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Louisville Free Public Library becomes Autism Informed Employer
There are a lot of good reasons Bev Harp loves libraries. They’re places where someone can spend time without being expected to spend any money, they encourage a peaceful and quiet environment, and their dedication to preserving and providing access to knowledge. Because of those aspects, Harp says they’d be great places for an autistic…
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HDI commemorates the 35th Anniversary of the ADA
It’s been 35 years since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This landmark civil rights legislation enshrined protections and rights for Americans with disabilities into law, and as the people who were there for its passage remember, it changed the world. To celebrate 35 years of the ADA, HDI assembled a panel to…
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Metatheater and Madness: Ozzy Wagner’s Surreal Approach as a Playwright
Ozzy Wagner is no stranger to surrealist theatre, but a recent experience with the psychiatric system made for fertile ground to explore. That experience resulted in GROUP, one of four plays selected for the Disabled Playwrights Workshop. Wagner describes GROUP as the only thing they could have written after that experience. “GROUP is a short…
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Borden and Rader receive 2025 Burberry Award
It’s unusual for two people to win HDI’s prestigious Burberry Award, but this year, two people deserved the honor. The 2025 recipients are Allison Borden and Caleb Rader. The award recognizes students for their leadership, commitment to disability advocacy and academic achievements. Rader is a doctoral student who has focused on suicide prevention, especially among…
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Play It by Ear: Allison Fradkin’s ‘Heard Mentality’ Tunes into Disability with Wordplay and Wit
Allison Fradkin wants people to laugh when they see her play Heard Mentality, but she also wants people to understand her experiences a bit better. Fradkin favors fast-paced dialogue full of puns and wordplay. She wants it to be a bit difficult to actually catch everything her characters are saying. Fradkin identified as hard of…