Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Forum Will Help Persons with Developmental Disabilities Cope in Flood Aftermath

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Understanding the effects of the recent Tennessee floods on family life and coping with the resulting stress can be particularly distressing to children or adults with intellectual or other developmental disabilities.

A free Community Forum “Coping After the Flood” will be held Wednesday, May 26, 6 – 7:30 p.m., in Room 241 of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (VKC). The event is for individuals with intellectual or other developmental disabilities and family members.

“The Forum offers an opportunity to learn how others have managed following a natural disaster and to learn about community resources that can help families cope and maintain good mental health,” said Elise McMillan, co-director of the VKC University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities.

Terry Long, Susan Huskey, and Beth Huskey will share their experiences coping with the loss of their home destroyed by one of the tornadoes that struck Murfreesboro last year. Long and Huskey are both in special education, Long with the Division of Special Education in the Tennessee Department of Education, and Huskey as a teacher in special education. Their daughter Beth has Down syndrome.

Event panelists will identify community resources and respond to questions. The panelists are: Linda Ashford, Ph.D., assistant professor of Pediatrics and Psychology; Bruce Davis, Ph.D., assistant professor of Psychiatry, and Kellye Carman, LMSW, Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Clinic at Vanderbilt; Nirupama Madduri, M.D., assistant professor of Pediatrics; David McMillan, Ph.D., clinical psychologist; and Sheila Moore, executive director of Down Syndrome Association of Middle Tennessee.

The Community Forum is sponsored by the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, and the Down Syndrome Association of Middle Tennessee.

May 24, 2010
Media Contact: Amy Pottier, (615) 322-8240, amy.pottier@vanderbilt.edu