Researchers and faculty members in special education came together for two days of work in April through a think-in and seminar at the IU School of Education.

The inaugural Intellectual Disabilities Think-In event was organized by Professor Alisa Lowrey as part of her activities as the Edward A. & Mary Lou Otting Chair in Special Education and funded by the Otting Endowment. The primary goal for the Think-In was to establish a shared, forward-looking vision for the future of research and impact in the field of intellectual disability. Top researchers in intellectual disability from across the country, along with several faculty and doctoral students from the SOE, participated in the think-in. 

“In this first phase, we focused on defining what an ideal future for individuals with ID could look like, beginning to identify key assumptions and system-level misalignments that need further exploration, and outlining an initial research and learning agenda to guide future work,” Lowrey said. “We also worked to identify a set of prioritized visionary outcomes that will serve as the foundation for future phases, where we’ll expand stakeholder engagement and move into more action-oriented planning.”

Participants left with concrete outcomes, including a shared vision, a set of prioritized outcomes, and initial action steps, something that Lowrey said proves they accomplished what they set out to do in this first phase. 

On the second day, the special education program hosted a Doctoral Research Seminar featuring a visiting keynote speaker and brief oral and poster presentations from doctoral students. 

Lowrey said she is incredibly grateful to families like the Ottings, whose endowment made the think-in work possible, adding bringing together this kind of expertise to think in new and innovative ways about challenges in the field simply wouldn’t have happened without that support.