Conference 10/19/2007

"Sharing Our Strength"

On October 19, 2007 Mississippi AHEAD held its first one-day conference, "Sharing Our Strengths". The conference was held at Eagle Ridge Conference Center in Raymond, Mississippi and was attended by approximately 80 professionals in the field of disability in education.

It was a great day with lots of laughter, important information and opportunities to network with others in the field of disability services. We've posted pictures of the event down below.

The day began with a short description on the history of Mississippi AHEAD and the Project ACCESS grant, after which the Mississippi AHEAD Executive Council took the stage to discuss the goals and vision of the organization. Then was an excellent presentation by Richard Harris, national speaker and past-president of the national Association on Higher Education and Disability. Mr. Harris talked about the history of disability services and the current challenges of the profession.

After a wonderful networking lunch, the afternoon continued with a presentation by Mississippi AHEAD president, Stacey Reycraft, on the urgent issues regarding the legal requirement to ensure that classroom and web-based information and technology is accessible to students with disabilities. The day ended with an extremely informative and powerful panel of post-secondary students with disabilities discussing their experiences and answering audience questions.

Mississippi AHEAD would like to thank the following people for their assistance in making our first conference such a huge success:

The Conference Committee: Katie Johnson (committee chair), Vinson Ballard, Iris Menge, Robin Yekaitis, Evelyn Washington, GerryAnn Woodward, Kim McNeel, and Debra West.

Richard Harris, for the wonderful information and great humor

Amy Hebert, PEPNet South, for assisting with interpreting costs

Eagle Ridge Conference Center and staff for the friendly and helpful assistance

The vendors: Lisa Burch (The ARC of Mississippi), Judy Duncan (T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability), Natalie Ellis (Mississippi Paralysis Association), Michael Self ( Freedom Scientific), and Robin Thomas and Robert Lyles (Addie McBryde Rehabilitation Center for the Blind)

And most especially, The Mississippi Council on Developmental Disabilities for providing the grant that has made Mississippi AHEAD a reality after so many years.

Pictures coming soon!

Access trouble? Contact web@ms-ahead.org