When: June 25, 2022
Where: Sheraton Hotel, Springfield MA
Featuring keynote speaker, author and self-advocate Dr. Temple Grandin!
About Dr. Temple Grandin, from West Region Self Advocacy’s Speaker Announcement:
Dr. Grandin is a prominent author and speaker on both autism and animal behavior. Today she is a professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University. She also has a successful career consulting on both livestock handling equipment design and animal welfare. She has been featured on NPR (National Public Radio) and a BBC Special – “The Woman Who Thinks Like a Cow”. She has also appeared on National TV shows such as Larry King Live, 20/20, Sixty Minutes, Fox and Friends, and she has a 2010 TED talk. Articles about Dr. Grandin have appeared in Time Magazine, New York Times, Discover Magazine, Forbes and USA Today. HBO made an Emmy Award winning movie about her life and she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2016.
When she was young, she was considered weird and teased and bullied in high school. The only place she had friends was activities where there was a shared interest such as horses, electronics, or model rockets. Mr. Carlock, her science teacher, was an important mentor who encouraged her interest in science. When she had a new goal of becoming a scientist, she had a reason for studying. Today half the cattle in the United States are handled in facilities she has designed.
This year’s conference features several excellent workshops, ranging from
- Westfield Self Advocacy Presents Why Friendship Matters
- Self Advocacy Impact Lab Presents Connecting Through Activism
- Creating Inclusive Community: A Discussion of Race & Identity
- Let’s Talk about Sex
- Team-building Puzzle Game
- Open Door Club Presents Building Friendships & Networking
Full conference schedule:
- 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM: Registration – Visit our Resource Tables
- 10:00 AM to 10:15 AM: Introduction, Main Ballroom
- 10:15 AM to 10:30 AM: Remarks from special guests
- 10:30 AM to 11:00 AM: Keynote Presentation
- 11:00 AM to 11:15 AM: Break
- 11:15 AM to 12:15 PM: Morning Workshops
- 12:15 PM to 12:30 PM: Break
- 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM: Lunch
- 1:30 PM to 1:45 PM: Awards Ceremony, M.A.S.S. Announcements
- 1:45 PM to 2:00 PM: Break
- 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM: Afternoon Workshops
- 3:00 PM to 3:30 PM: Raffle Drawings
Learn more about the 2022 West Region Self Advocacy Conference at MassWRSA.org, where you can also sign up for raffle tickets or become a sponsor!
Interested? Have any questions? Contact Dana Lund, Self Advocacy Regional Coordinator at [email protected], or Amber Pettell, Self Advocacy Peer Coordinator, at [email protected] or (413) 535-6999.
Don’t forget to like West Region Self Advocacy on Facebook to keep up-to-date with the latest postings about this conference and more!