AUSTIN – The Texas Center for Disability Studies (TCDS) is excited to announce its move to the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin.
TCDS, formed in 1989, focuses on research, education, practice and policy. The center provides community training, access to assistive technology, post-secondary and critical disability studies education opportunities and wide-ranging research initiatives.
Along with the shift to the Steve Hicks School, TCDS welcomes their new director, Sandy Magaña, Ph.D., who is Professor in Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities at UT Austin.
“I am so excited to take TCDS to the next level,” Magaña said. “The team at TCDS is so warm, skilled and committed and I am thrilled to work with them. Many expressed to me what a good fit the Steve Hicks School of Social Work was for TCDS.”
TCDS has partnered with the Steve Hicks School on various projects in the past, including the Critical Disability Studies academic programs, the Crip Conversations Speaker Series, the establishments of internships for social work students and the Disability graduation at UT Austin.
“Disabilities require multi-dimensional approaches that engage families and communities,” Steve Hicks School Dean Luis H. Zayas said. “As a profession, social work is grounded in the concept of the person-in-environment and such a vantage point can serve the best interest of persons with disabilities and their loved ones. Social work principles connect fully with the mission of TCDS. We know that this integration will prove powerful.”
TCDS is one of 67 nonprofit University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD). These centers are composed of university-level professionals, statewide service providers, advocacy organizations, and regional and local communities with the guiding belief in individualized supports, inclusion, self-determination, and collaboration to address policy issues and systemic change.