Podcasts

In Other Words

The UCLA Tarjan Center’s podcast episodes are Q&A discussions with presenters from our Lecture Series. Hosted by Kecia Weller, Senior Advocate and Community Liaison, and Holly Oliver, Advocate and Community Liaison our goal is to provide a more accessible presentation to our community. Our lecture series aims to increase knowledge of trainees, self-advocates, and community members about state-of-the-art research and interventions, disparities experienced by underserved groups, and how public policies and practices affect the well-being and inclusion of individuals with developmental disabilities and their families.

March 24, 2023

Episode 6 – Measuring Progress in Early Interventions for Children with Developmental Disabilities: Challenges, Progress and Next Steps

Welcome back to another episode! In today’s episode, Kecia interviews Dr. Kyle Sterrett, a postdoctoral scholar and a clinical psychology trainee at the Semel Institute the UCLA Tarjan Center. His research focuses on understanding the mechanisms of treatment response and how we measure progress for children with neurodevelopmental disorders enrolled in early intervention programs and classrooms. He focuses on interventions developed for children with little to no spoken language. Today, he will be talking about measuring treatment response in children with autism spectrum disorder at risk for long-term spoken language delays.

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March 22, 2023

Episode 5 – Impact of Special Olympics on Inclusive Health and Well-Being of Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

In this episode we interview Dr. Rolanda Gott, professor of Pediatrics at UCLA School of Medicine. Dr. Gott’s clinical interest and expertise is in evaluation and treatment of children with autism. Dr. Gott is proactive in expanding training for medical students and other trainees on inclusive health for individuals with Developmental disabilities. In collaboration with Special Olympics International, Dr. Gott has developed Healthy Start toolkit funded by CDC. This online toolkit provides information and support for caregivers with a newly diagnosed child with Global Developmental Delay or Intellectual Disability.

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February 7, 2023

Episode 4 – Special Care Dentistry for Individuals with Disabilities: Changes in Education, Policy & Care Delivery

In this episode, Kecia interviews Dr. Kelly Vitzthum about her lecture titled, Special Care Dentistry for Individuals with Disabilities: Changes in Education, Policy & Care Delivery.

Dr. Vitzthum is a dentist, dental public health advocate, and expert. She graduated from UCLA School of Dentistry and completed her residency program at the Special Patient Care Dentistry under Dr. Sung. Currently, she is working on establishing a patient advisory committee with caregivers and patient self-advocates to improve dental care at UCLA. Dr. Vitzthum also hopes to create desensitization videos for the special health care needs populations to use in the Special Patient Care clinics.

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December 8, 2022

Episode 3 – Let’s Talk About Sex…Education! Sexuality and Sex Education for Neurodivergent Individuals by In Other Words

We interview Dr. Jamie Barstein a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in the assessment and treatment of individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities such as autism across the lifespan. Dr. Barstein leads sex education groups for adolescents and young adults with ASD and is passionate about developing effective sex education programming and supports for neurodivergent adults. In this episode, she reflects on her previous work and her talk, “Let’s Talk about Sex… Education! Sexuality and Sex Education for Neurodivergent Individuals.” Listen to learn more!

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November 4, 2022

Episode 2 – Navigating the Road from Adolescence to Adulthood for Youth with and without Developmental Disabilities: Parent Perspectives

Today, we have invited Dr. Elina Veytsman to speak about her research and recent lecture entitled “Navigating the Road from Adolescence to Adulthood for Youth with and without Developmental Disabilities: Parent Perspectives.”

Dr. Elina Veytsman is a postdoctoral clinical psychology fellow at the UCLA PEERS Clinic, where she facilitates social skills, career skills, and dating skills programs for adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their parents, and trains mental health professionals and educators in the implementation of these programs.

Dr. Veytsman earned her PhD in School Psychology at UC Riverside, where she studied the experience of parents of youth with developmental disabilities during their transition out of high school and into adulthood. Dr. Veytsman recently completed her Doctoral Psychology Internship at The Help Group, where she conducted individual therapy, parent training, and diagnostic assessments for youth with a range of neurodevelopmental conditions.

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July 22, 2022

Episode 1 – Using Silence to Hear the Voices of the AAPI Community in Autism Diagnosis and Treatment

Thank you for listening to the first episode of the UCLA Tarjan Center Podcast, a series where we interview our speakers from the UCLA Tarjan Center Distinguished Lecture Series. Please join Kecia Weller, Self-Advocate for the Tarjan Center, as she interviews our first lecturers Dr. Camille Wilson, Sapna Shetty, and Dr. Jasper Estabillo. In their lecture titled, “Using Silence to Hear the Voices of the AAPI Community in Autism Diagnosis and Treatment,” our three lecturers cover the cultural complexities of working with AAPI families in clinical settings, and describe cultural considerations for diagnosis and treatments of intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this episode, they explain the motivation for their research, the goal of their talk, and takeaways from the talk that be applied to our lives and experiences.