OSU Center for Family Resilience at OSU-Tulsa hosts free Community Conversation

Published: Friday, February 28, 2020

Oklahoma State University-Tulsa’s Center for Family Resilience is hosting a free Community Conversation with Dr. Erik Carter focused on empowering individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in conjunction with the 11th annual Chautauqua Conference, March 5 and 6.

The Community Conversation is free and open to the public on March 5 from 2 to 4 p.m. in the OSU-Tulsa Auditorium.

Individuals with disabilities and their families along with local leaders, professionals and community members are invited to engage in the conversation about what it means to plan for and expect a life that includes flourishing in work, education, and relationships.

Dr. Erik Carter, a Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Special Education at Vanderbilt University, will lead the community conversation. His research and teaching focuses on supporting inclusion and valued roles in school, work, community, and congregational settings for children and youth with disabilities.

“Dr. Carter’s vision of the future for people with disabilities pushes the boundaries beyond inclusion to belonging,” said Dr. Jennifer Jones, an organizer of the Community Conversation and Associate Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science at OSU-Tulsa. “Attendees of the Community Conversation will walk away with a new or renewed understanding of disability as a natural part of human diversity, and that the needs of individuals with disability are not really ‘special needs,’ but rather ordinary needs that all humans share to be not only included, but to belong.”

This is the first year for the free Community Conversation, which precedes the full-day Chautauqua Conference: Engaging Communities to Foster Belonging for Individuals with Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities & Families. Check out this article to find out more about Chautauqua Conference 2020.

Those interested in the Community Conversation or the Chautauqua Conference can register at cfr.okstate.edu/chautauqua.