Our goal is to produce research-based training with stand-alone products for support with an emphasis on ongoing educational sessions on site and in higher education settings. This is in addition to presentations and workshops in each federal region. Also, to better reach our target audiences, we plan to increase person-to-person training contact through in-person meetings and consultations as well as phone and email communication.

For example, training directed to targeted audiences will take place at individual project sites with findings also shared at conferences and workshops. For more information, view Field training.

Research results will be packaged into specific topic modules or guest lectures that can be easily integrated into academic courses in a number of disciplines (e.g., psychology, human development, special education, and occupational therapy) taught by RTC researchers.  For example, Glen White is using these products to teach the 16-week, undergraduate course “Independent Living and People with Disabilities.” Graduate students also are part of the training effort. For information, view see Graduate students and Fellows.

RTC staff also are planning an invited, state-of-the-science conference for RTC researchers and selected stakeholders, for example, consumers, federal administrators, and other collaborators. This conference through presentations and face-to-face dialogue is a means to share information about evidence-based research produced to alleviate participation disparities of people with disabilities in their communities. Part of this conference includes the Advanced Science Initiative: A Systematic Review of Participation Literature. The project goal is to conduct a systematic review of the literature on participation in community life.