Family and Community Faculty Participate in LEND

Persons with neurodevelopmental or related disabilities and their family members play a crucial role in LEND teaching the trainees about their lived experiences.  This has a profound effect on the education of professionals and the quality of their work. 

as LEND trainees

Some family members and self-advocates apply to be long-term trainees in the LEND program. They learn alongside other LEND trainees and at the same time provide the graduate students and mid-career trainees with important insights into the lives of persons with disabilities and their families. Family members and self-advocates participate fully in the sessions and are expected to complete the program requirements. They usually are eligible to receive the trainee stipend each semester.

or as mentors for LEND trainees

LEND needs family members and advocates who will participate as few as 1 or 2 hours a semester to help LEND prepare professionals to be better at providing services to persons with disabilities. They are called family and community faculty. They discuss their experiences by Zoom either with a single trainee at a time in one-time family visits or with a small group over two sessions in the family-directed activities. Family and community faculty are eligible to receive a stipend to thank them for their time and effort.

Because with the help of the people who have lived-experience with disabilities, LEND trainees can:

• begin to understand the challenges families face when advocating for a child,
• deepen their appreciation of these families,
• increase their capacity to work in a person- and family-centered manner, and
• learn that services or recommendations that seem critically important from a professional perspective may decrease in importance when viewed within the context of the family’s daily routine.

If you are a person with a neurodevelopmental disability or the family member of one, and you think you might be interested either in applying to be a LEND trainee or in participating in family visits or family directed activities, please contact HSC-NM-LEND@salud.unm.edu for more information.