Hewitt, Larson, and Stancliffe Appointed to AAIDD Advisory Committee

On November 27, Amy Hewitt, director of ICI's Research and Training Center on Community Living (RTC-CL) and Minnesota LEND; Sherri Larson (pictured), Principal Investigator of ICI's Residential Information Systems Project (RISP); and Roger Stancliffe, ICI partner staff from the University of Sydney [Australia]; were appointed to serve on the advisory committee of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) for the next iteration of the association’s terminology and classification manual: Intellectual Disability: Definition, Diagnosis, Classification, and Systems of Supports, 12th Edition. The manual is the foundation upon which clinical, policy, and legal standards are built. The forthcoming 12th edition will contain the most current and authoritative guidance on intellectual disability, including best practices in diagnosing and classifying intellectual disability as the basis for supports for people with intellectual disability.

The appointment is for two years. They will join other committee members with extensive leadership experience and expertise in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities who represent a wide range of professional degrees (JD, MD, Ph.D., and MHA), and come from across the U.S. and eight other countries. "It is an honor to be included in this important effort," says Larson. "I look forward to working with this international group advising the update to the Diagnosis and Classification manual." Hewitt adds, “As a past president of AAIDD I understand the importance of this publication worldwide, and I am thrilled to have been invited.”