Dianey Leal and Jessica Walker,  Association of University Centers on Disability (AUCD) Diversity Leadership Fellows, presented along with Dr. Dalun Zhang at the national Division on Career Development and Transition (DCDT) conference in Myrtle Beach, SC this month.  Their presentation entitled Supported Decision Making as an Alternative to Guardianship: Why and How? included the theoretical and legal basis of Supported Decision Making (SDM) and how it is implemented. Leal commented, “We were able to showcase Texas as the first state to actually recognize and pass a law requiring the implementation of SDM.”

Leal also shared the benefit of presenting at the conference, “it was a great experience being able to present on a subject that we had been working on since January. Seeing it all come together was exciting and we cannot wait to present again at AUCD.”  Walker went on to say ” we not only enjoyed being able to present our work to others across the nation, but we enjoyed learning about other topics related to the transition of individuals with disabilities. There is so much going on in the field that we really appreciated the opportunity to be able to contribute and introduce sported decision making to this audience.” 
Well done Dianey and Jessica! Thank you for all of your hard work!