CT LEND is thrilled to welcome Laurie Cantwell; Brandi Simonsen, PhD; Vaishnavi Shahane, PT, MS; and Sudha Srinivasan, PT, PhD on Friday, October 31, 2025.

Laurie Cantwell is the LEND Family Faculty Discipline Coordinator. She was a 2016-2017 LEND trainee. Laurie’s advocacy is inspired by her amazing son, who has Down syndrome and autism, and her husband, who has a physical disability. On Friday, Laurie will be sharing her family story with trainees.

Brandi Simonsen, PhD, is a Professor of Special Education in the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Simonsen will be sharing a discipline perspective focused on the characteristics and goals of special education.

Vaishnavi Shahane, PT, MS, is the LEND Faculty Teaching Assistant and a Research Assistant at the UConn UCEDD. Vaishnavi will be discussing motor development and the characteristics and goals of physical therapy with LEND trainees.

Sudha Srinivasan, PT, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Physical Therapy program in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Srinivasan will be sharing information about motor development and disabilities research.

CT LEND is excited to welcome guest speakers, Melissa Taylor, Anton Alerte, MD, and Rob Keder, MD, on Friday, October 24, 2025.

Melissa Taylor is a former LEND trainee and self-advocate who shares her experiences as a person with developmental disabilities. Melissa graduated from the Partners in Policymaking program in 2018 and has served on many state boards and regularly attends disability justice events.

Anton Alerte, MD, is a Professor in Pediatrics at UConn School of Medicine and the Associate Dean for Primary Care at UConn School of Medicine. Dr. Alerte’s presentation will focus on race and disability.

Rob Keder, MD, is an Associate Professor in Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. Dr. Keder’s presentation will focus on autism

Connecticut LEND is excited to welcome many special guests on Friday, October 17, 2025.

Bethanne Vergean is a Learn the Signs, Act Early Ambassador and Research Associate at the UConn UCEDD. Bethanne has been working in the early childhood field for over 20 years, and has a wealth of expertise on pediatrics, early intervention, public health, and mental health. In 2019, Bethanne was selected to be the Connecticut Learn the Signs, Act Early Ambassador by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Bethanne’s presentation on Friday will focus on Learn the Signs, Act Early, the CDC’s screening initiative to improve early identification of children with autism and other developmental disabilities.

Molly Cole, Walt Glomb, and Tobey Partch-Davies, PhD, will be speaking to trainees about the Developmental Disabilities Network. Molly Cole is the Executive Director of the CT State Independent Living Council, Walt Glomb is the Executive Director of the CT Council on Developmental Disabilities, and Tobey Partch-Davies, PhD, is the Executive Director of Disability Rights Connecticut.

Joe Tucker, MD is an Assistant Professor of Genetics and Genome Sciences at UConn Health. His presentation will present information on genetics and neurodevelopmental disabilities.

Samantha Wesoly, MS is the Associate Program Director for Genetic Counseling at the Institute for Systems Genomics at the University of Connecticut. Samantha’s presentation will provide a discipline perspective of genetic counseling and will supply trainees with information on the characteristics and the role of the geneticist and the genetic counselor.

We can’t wait for our 2025-2026 LEND trainees to learn about public health and neonatology from these two passionate guest speakers!