April 2026

Utah Disability Today

The official newsletter of the Institute for Disability Research, Policy & Practice

You received this monthly newsletter because you are a friend of the Institute for Disability. Keep reading for news, resources, events, and job openings!

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NEWS

IDRPP ECHO Network Takes On Substance

Use, Stigma

Now in its third year of operation, The Time To Act ECHO: Substance Abuse network has engaged service providers in 25 Utah counties. The network also extended to participants in 19 other states. Its work is one more step in holding critical conversations around substance use disorder (SUD) in areas that need it the most.

The SUD ECHO network is one of many offerings by Project ECHO.

The sessions follow the ECHO model, which invites all participants to teach and learn from each other. Find out why this training is so important to Utah.

Pictured: ECHO team lead Janel Preston with team members Tori Kunz and Leo Vazquez, and Services Division Director Curt Phillips.

Employment & Inclusion Conference Urges Service Providers to Ask Better Questions

In a conference for professionals who support people with disabilities at work, keynote speaker Beth Keeton urged her listeners to put the question of whether people can work to rest once and for all. Instead, she said, it’s time to focus on how to support them.

Find out what questions she said service providers should be asking instead.

Keynote speaker Beth Keeton, Griffin-Hammis Associates Executive Director

Book Review: Disarm

Your Limits

Our own Mary Ellen Heiner offers a personal review of motivational speaker Jessica Cox's book, Disarm Your Limits. "As someone who uses a wheelchair, I have faced many barriers. ... Her message reminded me that challenges can teach us new ways to adapt."

Expert Perspectives: Improving Clinical Care through Lived Experience

Accessing public health services can be tricky as a person with disabilities. Facilities and programs vary in their levels of accessibility, largely due to the level of knowledge administrators and providers have about disabilities and inclusion.

Join us to learn from a panel of individuals with disabilities, sharing their experiences in using healthcare services!

graphic of gala invitation, "Hope in Every Hand"

Our Cache County Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program invites you to celebrate National Home Visiting Week on April 22 at 5:30 pm. This special event, held at at the David B. Haight Center at Utah State University's Logan Campus, offers a meaningful opportunity for the public to learn more about local home visiting programs, hear stories of their positive influence, and show support for the work that strengthens families from the very beginning.

Come for the connection and stay for the fun—enjoy heartfelt guest speakers, a shared meal with live music, and an auction that supports families right here at home.

Buy TIckets

LINKS FROM THE FIELD

Utah has the second-highest count of measles cases in the country so far this year

(Utah News Dispatch)

Audit raises significant issues with Utah's oversight of a Medicaid nursing program

(KSL)

These blind students say their college blocked their education. A new rule could help.

(NPR)

"Yes I Can." World's first armless pilot visits USU, encourages "Why not" attitude

(The Herald Journal)

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Utah Assistive Technology Program Mobile Repair Van Visits Rural Utah!

To see where the van will be, or to request a stop in an area UATP doesn't yet cover, click the button below.

Check the Schedule

CAREERS WITHIN IDRPP

Visit the Work With Us page on our website!

For a look at past IDRPP trainings, visit our YouTube channel.

EVENTS

Paraeducators Roles and Responsibilities

Saturday Mornings with the NRCP

April 11

Find out more & register on the NRCP website.

$25 per person ($125 for six webinars, and $250 for all 12)

Workplace Mental Health: Surviving Burnout

Time to Act ECHO: Mental Health

April 15

Find out more & register on the Time to Act ECHO website.

FREE

Workplace Supports Training - Salt Lake

Center for Employment and Inclusion

April 15

Find out more & register on the CEI Website.

$50

Virtual Web Accessibility Training

WebAIM

April 15-16

Find out more & register on the WebAIM website.

$600 ($480 each for groups of two or more)

Improving Engagement and Education around Early Childhood Development with Hispanic/Latinx Families

Autism ECHO

April 22

Find out more & register on the Autism ECHO website.

FREE

ACE Customized Employment Training - Salt Lake

Center for Employment and Inclusion

April 22 & 23

Find out more & register on the CEI Website.

$300

"What is Assistive Technology?" Using a Modified SET Framework for Part C

NCADEMI ECHO

April 28

Find out more & register on the NCADEMI ECHO website.

FREE

Mobility, Independence, and Daily Living

Assistive Technology ECHO

May 5

Find out more & register on the Assistive Technology ECHO website.

FREE

Accessibility in Technology Procurement and Use

WebAIM

May 6

Find out more & register on the WebAIM website.

$200 ($160 each for groups of two or more)

The Growth Blueprint: Why Typical Development Counts - Patterns in Action: Understanding Typical Behavior

Early ECHO

May 6

Find out more & register on the Early ECHO website.

FREE

Exploring the Impacts of Substance Use on Families

Time to Act ECHO: Substance Abuse

May 13

Find out more & register on the Time to Act ECHO website.

FREE

Document Accessibility Online Course

WebAIM

April & May Cohort

Find out more & register on the WebAIM website.

$125 (Cost may vary depending on group size)

NEWS FROM AROUND IDRPP

Hal sits in a chair and talks about their internship.

Hal is a spring intern with the EmployAbility Clinic. Hal worked at the Technical Assistance for Excellence in Special Education program, or TAESE. In this clip, Hal and her job coach, Ashley, talk about her experience.