Projects & Research

Topic: Promoting Inclusion

Center for Autism and Related Disabilities CARD-USF

The Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (CARD-USF) at the University of South Florida is a community-based project that provides information and consultation to individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and related disabilities. CARD at USF is one of six regional CARD sites funded by the Florida State Legislature and offers instruction and coaching to families and professionals through a training and assistance model.

Florida Center for Inclusive Communities-UCEDD

The Florida Center for Inclusive Communities - University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (FCIC-UCEDD) is part of a federally-funded network of 67 Centers across the United States and territories. UCEDDs have four broad tasks: conduct interdisciplinary training, promote community service programs, provide technical assistance at all levels (from local service delivery to community and state governments), and conduct research and dissemination activities.

Florida's Positive Behavior Support Project (PBS)

PBS provides training and technical assistance to Florida school districts to increase their capacity to provide positive behavior support to students. Training and technical assistance are provided to implement PBS at the school, classroom, targeted group and individual student levels.

Partnership for Effective Programs for Students with Autism (PEPSA)

PEPSA builds professional capacity among educators working with students with autismand related disabilities statewide. The project provides training to educators who are concerned about providing a high quality educational program to students with ASD.The project provides the following professional development opportunities: provision of regional statewide professional development activities related to serving students with ASD through regional Centers for Autism and Related Disabilities (CARD); a Pre- Conference Day for educators at the Annual CARD conference; provision of support to selected teachers through mentoring with CARD staff; Summer Institutes for educators and support for teachers to earn autism endorsement.

Program-Wide Positive Behavior Support (PWPBS)

The Program-Wide Positive Behavior Support program provides training and technical assistance to community early childhood programs to build their capacity to effectively promote young children’s social and emotionalcompetence and address challenging behavior.

Teaching Pyramid Research Project

This project is funded by the Institute for Education Science, and is a collaborative research study conducted by investigators at Vanderbilt University, the University of South Florida, and the University of Florida.