AAIDD Annual Meeting Program June 6-9, 2011 : Cover2
wel come fr om the pres ident On behalf of the AAIDD leadership and national staff, it is my pleasure to extend to each of you a hearty welcome to the Twin Cities for AAIDD’s 135th Annual meeting, Inclusive Communities: Pathways to Realizing the Vision. We are glad you chose to join us for what promises to be an excellent meet-ing. The planning committee, chaired by President-Elect Sharon Gomez, has worked diligently to craft a schedule of interesting and informative Plenary Sessions, varied and high quality concurrent sessions, a wide variety of excel-lent posters, pre and post-conference workshops, interactive salons, and much more! These programmatic elements are intended to advance the theme of this year’s conference: inclusive communities. I believe that the meeting will provide practitioners, researchers, teaching faculty, policymakers, funders, and advocates with effective and emerging practices, cutting edge research, and valuable information on important policy initiatives. In addition to thanking Sharon Gomez, who has put in many long hours over the past year preparing for this event, I would like to acknowledge the hard work of the local arrangements committee, chaired by Dr. Amy Hewitt. Many volunteers and members of our exemplary national staff have worked tirelessly to bring this conference to fruition. I hope that you will avail yourself to all that is offered, and that you will use this conference to start or continue your active involvement in AAIDD. I’d like to particularly welcome two groups who play an important part in the life of AAIDD. First, I offer a warm welcome to our international members and attendees. AAIDD is part of an increasingly visible international community focused on issues important to the lives of people with intellectual and develop-mental disabilities, and this past year we’ve taken steps to strengthen our partnerships with our interna-tional colleagues. If you have an interest in international issues, or if you are an international member or attendee, please join us on Monday afternoon as Dr. Jim Thompson facilitates a meeting to form a Special Interest Group on International Issues within the Association. Also, on Tuesday afternoon, there will be a presentation from our sister organization, the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellec-tual Disabilities (IASSID). We’re looking forward to partnering with IASSID in preparation for their next international conference, to be held in 2012 in Halifax, Nova Scotia! Second, I want to extend a special welcome to student and early career professional members and attend-ees. AAIDD is fortunate to have the active involvement of a number of students and early career members who have organized opportunities to their peers to come together, socially and professionally. I’m glad you’ve chosen to join us, and especially welcome you to become active in the life of the Association. So, enjoy your time in St. Paul. I hope I have a chance to greet you personally. If we are to achieve the vision for inclusive communities forwarded by our meeting, it will take all of us, working together. Michael L. Wehmeyer, PhD, FAAIDD, President
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