RETAIN Employer Seminar Series
When asked about the RETAIN Employer First Seminar series, Kimberly Wickert figured she’d let a frequent attendee, Judiann Romeo, AVP at CareWorks, speak to the ...
Staff Spotlight: Lakyn Hollandsworth
Lakyn Hollandsworth has always believed in helping people where she can. “I grew up in a family where if someone needed something, you helped them,” ...
Staff Spotlight on Anthony Glenn
Anthony Glenn has had a wildly diverse career. Now, he’s a return-to-work coordinator on the RETAIN Kentucky project at HDI, but through the years, he’s ...
State of HDI: Quality Improvement and Data with Laura Butler
Transcript [Patti] Hello, and welcome to the State of HDI, a podcast of the University of Kentucky Human Development Institute. I'm Patti Singleton, and in ...
Medical outreach in action!
Stephanie Meredith is going to be busy soon. Meredith, HDI’s Medical Outreach Director, has been invited to be a part of several medical conferences in ...
Dr. Rachel Womack joins HDI!
HDI’s new training director worked with the organization before, and it had a profound impact on her life. Now, she’ll be working with some of the ...
Making Connections
As Executive Director Dr. Kathy Sheppard-Jones tells it, 2023 was a year of connections for the Human Development Institute. Connections, according to Sheppard-Jones, are a ...
Fund for Excellence Projects Awarded
The University of Kentucky Human Development Institute Fund for Excellence was created to support the development of innovative programs, services, or products to address the ...
HDI Staff and Students Attend AUCD Annual Conference
University of Kentucky Human Development Institute (HDI) staff and students attend the 2023 Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) conference. The theme of this ...
Good communication makes the world go round! A staff spotlight on Calisa Fitzpatrick
Calisa Fitzpatrick thinks good communication makes the world go round. For her, there is immense power in a team working together towards a common goal ...
Coding a Brighter Future. A staff spotlight on Jay Hatcher
There’s an alchemy to coding, a place where art meets science, a perfect fusion of technical know-how and creativity. Jay Hatcher has lived in that ...
UK expands training to help substance-exposed children
Educators from the University of KY are providing a unique service to address a desperate need- training students to work with babies born substance exposed ...
HDI Photo Library Available Now!
Stock photography lacks disability representation. The photos are often staged and use models without disabilities resulting in misrepresentation and unnatural scenes. Staff from the University ...
Increase Accessibility with Plain Language
Opportunities to make life more inclusive are everywhere - even something as simple as the language we use can have huge implications for accessibility. One ...
Dr. Mykal Leslie joins the Human Development Institute
Dr. Mykal Leslie knows how to read the story that the numbers tell - and how to find the parts of the story they don’t ...
Child Care Aware of Kentucky Block Project
It might be surprising to learn that one of the most powerful tools for teaching children during early development is the humble building block. And ...
UK HDI researchers lay groundwork for national air travel accessibility research with focus on individuals who use wheelchairs
In July 2021, Engracia Figueroa’s power wheelchair–a $30,000 custom device—was critically damaged in the belly of a commercial plane. After the flight, Figueroa was left ...
HDI’s new project aims to enhance photography of people with disabilities
Stock photography is a common tool used by almost all businesses and organizations; however, stock photos featuring people with disabilities are often staged using models ...
RETAIN Kentucky Goes to the 2022 Kentucky State Fair
The Retaining Employment and Talent After Injury/Illness Network (RETAIN KY) Team recently participated in the Kentucky State Fair to raise awareness about a Department of ...
Going beyond the requirements, UK HDI’s Kentucky Post School Outcomes Center sets exemplary standard for improving students with disabilities transitional outcomes after high school
In 2020, Kentucky students with disabilities who had exited high school in the previous year were asked which resource in high school had continued to ...
Human Development Institute’s Stephanie Meredith receives PCORI Engagement Award to address health disparities as related to Down syndrome diagnoses in Black and Hispanic families
The Lettercase National Center for Prenatal and Postnatal Resources at the University of Kentucky’s Human Development Institute (HDI) has been awarded a prestigious Eugene Washington ...
HDI to Host Prenatal Disability Education Summit
On May 13, 2022, the National Center for Prenatal and Postnatal Resources, housed at the UK Human Development Institute will host the Prenatal Disability Education ...
Dr. Phillip Rumrill to deliver Hanoch Livneh Lecture on Psychosocial Adaptation Research
The Council on Psychosocial Adaptation Research (PAR) has invited Dr. Phillip Rumrill, Director of Research and Training at the UK Human Development Institute, to deliver ...
HDI Staff and Students Selected to present at National Conferences
Congratulations to HDI Staff selected to present at the 2022 National Council on Rehabilitation Education Conference in San Diego, California in March. Evaluating the Stress-Appraisal-Coping ...
Stuart Rumrill, NCRE Doctoral Student of the Year
Stuart Rumrill, Field Researcher with RETAIN Kentucky, on his selection by the National Council on Rehabilitation Education (NCRE) and the NCRE Leadership Team to receive ...
University of Kentucky Human Development Institute releases 2022-2023 Strategic Plan
The University of Kentucky Human Development Institute (HDI) is pleased to announce the release of its 2022-2023 Strategic Plan. As Kentucky’s University Center on Disability, ...
Team-Based Design of Assistive Technology Devices
During the 2021 fall semester , the UK Human Development Institute collaborated with Dr. Justin Huber, UK College of Medicine, and Dr. Babak Bazgari, from the UK College of Engineering working with 16 ...
HDI Staff to Present at Annual AUCD Conference
University of Kentucky Human Development Institute (HDI) staff are preparing to present sessions and posters at the 2021 Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) ...
RETAIN Kentucky Receives Grant to Expand Services
The UK Human Development Institute Executive Director, Dr. Kathy Sheppard-Jones joins Lt. Governor Jacqueline Coleman and UK President Eli Capilouto to announce the state has ...
HDI Collaborates on NIH Research Education Program Grant
The UK Human Development Institute in collaboration with the UK College of Engineering and the UK College of Medicine Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Medicine have ...
National Survey of People with Disabilities and COVID-19
The spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has led to a worldwide pandemic. Understanding how people with disabilities have been affected by COVID-19 is important ...
RETAIN Kentucky Partners With UK to Expand Service Area
When individuals leave the labor force because they become sick or have a non-work-related injury, it can be detrimental for them, their families, employers and ...
HDI Evaluation Unit expands Portfolio
Under the leadership of Dr. Chithra Adams, the HDI Evaluation Unit helps program staff, policy makers, and researchers understand how their work impacts policies, practice ...
Kentucky Post School Outcome Center Begins Data Collection
The UK Human Development Institute (HDI) houses the Kentucky Post School Outcome Center (KyPSO) to increase the capacity of local school districts, teachers, parents, and ...
HDI Evaluation Unit awarded ITACC grant
The UK Human Development Institute (HDI) has been awarded a grant to design and implement a high-quality evaluation plan and process for the Information Training ...
Phillip Rumrill, PhD, CRC, appointed Director of Research and Training for the UK Human Development Institute
The University of Kentucky Human Development Institute announces the appointment of Phillip Rumrill, PhD, CRC as the Director of Research and Training with a faculty ...