VOLUME 16 #3

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DEPARTMENTS

National campaign promotes early intervention

Tracy Mann
Tracy Mann

RESEARCH | Tracy Mann, communications manager in UD’s Center for Disabilities Studies, is taking part in a yearlong fellowship to conduct research and fieldwork in the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

The fellowship, sponsored by the Association of University Centers on Disabilities, enables Mann to work closely with epidemiologists, public health educators and policy makers involved in the center’s Learn the Signs, Act Early campaign. Working independently, Mann also is spearheading community outreach efforts to collect data that she will share with NCBDDD colleagues at periodic meetings.

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“The Learn the Signs, Act Early campaign is intended to help families and doctors and educators decide if a child is having a developmental delay, and a lot of the work centers on autism,” Mann says. “But the fellowship really will focus on the Act Early piece of the campaign, because one of the problems families typically encounter is the inability to get the right services.”

Too often, she says, all that’s offered to families in need is a test when what’s really needed is a range of appropriate services and solutions. It’s her goal that her community outreach efforts will address this communication gap. She plans to complete the fellowship in July and return to her position at UD with much of value to share.

“This works so well with how we’ve grown as a center here, because we do have a greater emphasis on health and health promotion now,” says Mann, who has been in her position at the University for the past five years. “Having the opportunity to learn … among professionals trained in public health education will definitely be useful when I return to UD, because I’ll have a different lens that I can bring to how we serve and interact with the community.”

 

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