Training Activities

The RRTCADD training activities focus on the following:

• Translate RRTC research findings into applications that increase stakeholders’ knowledge and skills.
• Establish dissemination channels to reach key stakeholders.
• Provide training and technical assistance to bolster best practice applications.
• Evaluate process and outcomes and adjust dissemination as needed.

Innovative training approaches include a) dissemination through national providers, professional, and consumer collaborations; b) development of user friendly products in various formats; c) use of train-the-trainer models to promote local ownership of effective practices; d) targeted promotion of systemic changes that maintain programmatic and policy changes; and e) use of web-based technologies to provide global access to knowledge and training products.

The RRTC will offer training activities in the following areas:

Pre-Service Professionals
Health Promotion Training for Community-Based Agencies
Training for Health Professionals
Agency Support for Persons with I/DD and Families
Training in Aging with I/DD

Targeted Training Outcomes:

1. Improving the health and function of individuals with I/DD;
2. Improving access to community-based health and social services by individuals with I/DD; and
3. Focusing on promoting family and caregiver supports that enable individuals with I/DD to receive long-term care.

Key Partners:

Key national partners include Easter Seals and Special Olympics. The RRTC will also foster students’ pursuit of careers in rehabilitation and disability studies at UIC and at the collaborating universities (University of Wisconsin, University of Rochester). The RRTC will continue its leadership role in increasing the self-determination of adults with I/DD and their families by involving consumers in all phases of its training and dissemination activities, fostering leadership roles of persons with I/DD and their families, and promoting their rights to make choices in their lives.