IAC 14th Annual Conference

Hear from New York City’s new Aging Commissioner and the Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities on their priorities for supporting aging New Yorkers as well as learn how providers are strengthening workforce training to support the evolving needs of the aging IDD community through innovative curriculum models and emerging technologies.

This session will provide a high-level overview of recent federal developments affecting education and disability policy, with a particular focus on special education, highlighting where things stand now, what changes and proposals are emerging in Washington, and what to watch as Congress moves through the upcoming federal budget process.While acknowledging the real challenges facing public education and disability rights, the presentation will also highlight areas of momentum, resilience, and opportunity. Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of the federal landscape, practical context for ongoing conversations in their communities, and a sense of where advocacy efforts can still make a meaningful difference.

Advocacy is moving fast, the audience is more fragmented, and the bar for action is higher. This session will share details on trends, insights, framework for building campaigns that cut through the noise, make the ask clear, and turn interest into participation.

This workshop will explore practical advocacy strategies for strengthening transition planning before students leave school, including meaningful IEP goals, earlier connections to adult agencies, travel training, changing of supports, and stronger coordination among schools, families, providers, and government partners. It will also highlight emerging and innovative models that expand options beyond the traditional divide between college and day habilitation, including expanded internship programs, work-based learning partnerships, and day habilitation programs that incorporate real-world business opportunities or community-based experiences, as well as creative use of ACCES-VR, OPWDD, Pre-ETS, and supported employment. The session will focus on how providers and advocates can work within existing systems while pushing for more meaningful pathways to employment, independence, community participation, and quality of life for young adults with disabilities.

Data collection is not just a technical process. It is a relationship-building process.
In this 75-minute session, participants will learn how to design surveys and other data collection tools that are human-centric, ethical, inclusive, and useful. The session will explore how organizations can collect data in ways that reduce harm, build trust, support better decisions, and honor the people behind the responses.
Participants will leave with a practical understanding of what ethical data collection looks like in day-to-day work, including how to ask better questions, avoid extractive practices, communicate clearly with participants, and use data responsibly after it is collected.