Presenter Bio:
Toby Martin is an Associate Professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Manitoba, and a Senior Researcher at St.Amant Research Centre. His academic training focused on experimental behaviour analysis and research design. He is keenly interested in ethical, conceptual, and philosophical issues in behavioural psychology. His research interests today include autism, developmental disabilities, knowledge translation, and mindfulness.
Madeline Burghardt (she/her) is Assistant Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy in the College of Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Manitoba. She holds a doctorate in Critical Disability Studies from York University and is the author of Broken: Institutions, Families, and the Construction of Intellectual Disability, published by McGill-Queen’s University Press. Her work explores the ways in which geopolitical and historical phenomena produce impairment and disability and how their effects are experienced individually and communally. She has worked extensively with people labelled with intellectual disabilities in professional and artistic capacities, particularly concerning their experiences of institutionalization. Her current projects include an exploration of caregivers’ experiences of respite care in Manitoba; participation in an arts-based spiritual care project based at St.Amant; and a collaborative reconciliatory justice initiative with institutional survivors who are re-claiming institutional artifacts in their journeys of healing.
Bekelu Negash, is an Evaluator at St.Amant Research Centre, Evaluation Office. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience from the University of Winnipeg, and a Master of Science from the Department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba. She has experience in conducting qualitative research including community-based participatory research and mixed methods evaluation research. Her previous Research Coordinator and Research Assistant positions have afforded her the privilege of engaging with diverse communities. Moreover, through her previous roles as a Support Worker at St.Amant’s Community Residential Program, she has experience working with individuals with developmental disabilities. Bekelu is passionate about using research and evaluation to advocate for high-quality service and programs for people living with intellectual and developmental disabilities, autism, and acquired brain injuries.
Dr. Shahin Shooshtari is a professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba and a senior researcher at St. Amant Research Centre. Dr. Shooshtari’s interdisciplinary research program focuses on the health and well-being of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). She mentors both graduate and undergraduate students and has published extensively with her colleagues and trainees on health and aging-related issues concerning individuals with IDD. In recognition of her excellence in teaching, research, and service, Dr. Shooshtari has received numerous awards from the University of Manitoba as well as from national and international associations.
Presentation Description:
How Research and Evaluation can Advance Inclusion for Persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Persons with disabilities face many barriers to full participation in their communities. Barriers include physical obstacles, social challenges such as stigma, and policies that prevent access to services such as employment and recreation. In this panel we will discuss how research and evaluation can help reduce these barriers and how involving persons with disabilities in research and evaluation enriches research projects. We will provide examples of community-based participatory research and strengths-based approaches. Our aim is to foster open discussion about how research and evaluation contribute to inclusion and how involving persons with disabilities in research and evaluation is both possible and important. Our panel includes senior researchers and an evaluator from St.Amant Research Centre.
