News

While looking for an internship, I wanted to work for a non-profit organization that supports education and awareness. When I found the Sonoran Center for Excellence in Disabilities, I was excited that it is part of the University of Arizona. Having an internship connected to the University of Arizona was important to me because I wanted to represent the college I go to. Then, I learned that the Sonoran Center was part of the UCEDD network.

The Sonoran Center’s Native Initiatives program manager R. Joshua Drywater and postdoctoral scholar Austin Duncan, PhD, were invited to form a team for the 4th cohort of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) I-Corps™ program. The program exists to help NSF scholars turn their scientific discoveries into products, technologies, and services that are available to the public.

DISCAPAZ: Disability Experience in the Borderlands” is a research project using artistic and creative expression. As DISCAPZ fellows, our responsibility was to assist community members in developing digital mixed-media experiences that reflected their experiences as individuals with a disability living on the Arizona-Sonora border.

As of April 1, 2023, AHCCCS began disenrolling members who no longer meet eligibility criteria. All AHCCCS and KidsCare members now need to follow the regular process for renewal.

Wendy Parent-Johnson, PhD, the executive director of the Sonoran Center for Excellence in Disabilities, recently announced that she will be transitioning away from the University of Arizona in September 2023.

One of the biggest challenges of the criminal justice system is how to re-integrate people into public life after they have served their sentence in jail or prison. Among the most important tasks upon one’s release is finding a steady job. This process is difficult enough, but it can be especially difficult for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities (I/DD). 

ArtWorks is an outreach program through the University of Arizona that functions as an art studio and day program where artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities between the age of 22 and 70 work together in a setting that respects diversity, advocates for new learning styles, and integrates life skills.

In June 2023, Joshua Drywater, Sonoran Center Program Manager for Native Initiatives, attended the Louisiana Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Summit. The summit was an educational workshop in New Orleans, Louisiana hosted by the Human Development Center at Louisiana State University.  

During the 2020-2021 school year, I had the experience of being a disability policy fellow with the Sonoran Center for Excellence in Disabilities.

This March 15th virtual dialogue hosted by the White House—which included Sonoran Center's elder advisor Treva Roanhorse, administrative affiliate Jim Warne, and Native youth leader Anya Carillo as panelists—provided perspectives from Native individuals (including youth) on the values of community-driven solutions in supporting Native students with disabilities.