Michigan State University

A remarkably successful partnership has developed over the past four years between Michigan State University’s Office of Rehabilitation and Disability Studies (MSU-ORDS), RESPECT and the Daughters of Charity. Back in 2006, MSU-ORDS began a very unique collaborative project in Dublin studying the impact of disability in the US and Ireland.

This special project was designed to provide undergraduate students at MSU and students from other universities in the US, an opportunity to participate in a totally unique, one of a kind, study abroad program. Based on the tremendous success of this ongoing educational initiative between MSU-ORDS, RESPECT, and the Daughters of Charity, the partners began talking in the summer of 2009 about convening future international conferences together, and engaging in research that would address the needs of individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Dr. Prawat

Dr. Prawat is Chair of the Department of Counselling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education in the College of Education at Michigan State University. Several of the graduate programs in the department are highly rated including the Rehabilitation Counselling Program is ranked number 1 in the country by US News & World Report. Dr. Prawat's area of research specialization is teaching and learning for understanding with a special focus on middle school science. He has published over 100 research articles on this and other subjects.

One of our faculty members, Dr. Michael Leahy, has been working with the Daughters of Charity since 2006 on a unique study abroad initiative titled “Disability in a Diverse Society”. Each year Dr. Leahy and his faculty have brought over to Dublin a group of undergraduate students from MSU and other universities to study the impact of disability in the US and Ireland at Dublin City University. The Daughters of Charity have worked extensively with Dr. Leahy on this project by providing disability related resources, guest lecturers, and service learning experiences for the students in the course. The success of this innovative offering has much to do with the highly collaborative relationship between MSU and the Daughters of Charity.

Michael J. Leahy

Prof. Michael J. Leahy, PhD, CRC, LPC, is a Professor and the Director of the Office of Rehabilitation and Disability Studies at Michigan State University, and the Director of the doctoral program in Rehabilitation Counsellor Education. He has a doctorate in Rehabilitation Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and nearly 35 years of experience in rehabilitation as a counsellor, administrator, researcher and educator. Dr. Leahy is a Licensed Professional Counsellor (LPC), and a Certified Rehabilitation Counsellor (CRC). His continuing research interests include issues related to professional competency development and education, professionalization of practice, vocational assessment, case management, evidence-based practice research, and vocational outcomes.

Dr. Leahy is a Past-President of the National Council on Rehabilitation Education, a Past Chair of the Alliance for Rehabilitation Counselling, and a Past-President of the American Rehabilitation Counselling Association. He has published more than 130 referred journal articles, books, book chapters, and research monographs, and presented his research to a variety of rehabilitation and business audiences, including international presentations. He has also acted as the principal investigator and managed nearly 30 large-scale research, training and service delivery grant projects throughout his career, and has received 20 national awards for his research and service to the profession during his career.

“We are very excited about this international conference on the impact of technology on the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. We are also extremely proud, at Michigan State University, to be a partner with the Daughters of Charity in convening such a unique educational conference and hearing from such a wide range of scholars and researchers address this important topic, particularly in relation to applications for those with the most severe and significant disabilities. I am confident that this conference will lead to an increased amount of attention and focus from researchers, product designers and practitioners to address the promise this technology may hold for those with intellectual disabilities in the pursuit of their own personal goals and aspirations.”

For more information on the Michigan State University contact the Doctrid Conference