Alice West is a special education teacher at Corpus Christi Independent School District (ISD), where she helps students with disabilities transition to life after high school.

Always on the hunt for the most current and effective approaches, West in 2022 joined a training program offered by Texas Tech University. The program shed light on dual diagnosis, an often-misunderstood condition where individuals experience both an intellectual or developmental disability (I/DD) and a mental health issue simultaneously.

West learned more about the complex relationship between mental illness and disabilities like autism, and she gained new crisis intervention techniques for her classroom. She found it so useful that she shared the training with 21 other teachers and parents at Corpus Christi ISD. Next school year, she plans to offer the training district-wide.

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A group of 87 special education teachers and professionals from east and north Texas recently completed training as part of Project TEDD: Training Educators in Dual Diagnosis, an initiative to address a state need for K-12 educators who specialize in teaching students with dual diagnosis of an intellectual and developmental disability (I/DD) and a mental health condition.

Participants completed a workshop hosted by Texas Tech University's Virginia Murray Sowell Center for Research and Education in Sensory Disabilities to learn necessary skills for recognizing, understanding and working with individuals with dual diagnosis. The workshop also prepared trainees to teach those same skills to others.

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Nearly 800 special education teachers and professionals received training in the first two years of Project TEDD: Training Educators in Dual Diagnosis, a Texas Tech University-led initiative to address a state-wide need for K-12 personnel who specialize in working with students who have a dual diagnosis of an intellectual and developmental disability (I/DD) and a mental health condition.

During the 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years, Texas Tech's Virginia Murray Sowell Center for Research and Education in Sensory Disabilities provided workshops to 125 special education teachers and professionals, equipping them with skills for recognizing, understanding and working with individuals with a dual diagnosis.

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A group of 61 teachers and professionals from schools in the Texas Gulf Coast region recently completed training as part of Project TEDD: Training Educators in Dual Diagnosis, an initiative to address a state need for K-12 educators who specialize in teaching students who have a dual diagnosis of an intellectual and developmental disability (I/DD) and a mental health condition.

The participants, from schools in Education Service Center (ESC) Regions 2, 3 and 5 completed a one-day workshop through Texas Tech University's Virginia Murray Sowell Center for Research and Education in Sensory Disabilities to learn necessary skills for recognizing, understanding and working with individuals with dual diagnosis. The workshop also equipped them with specialized skills to also train other teachers on dual diagnosis. A total of 59 school districts were represented at the trainings.

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A group of 40 teachers from schools in south Texas and the upper Texas Gulf Coast area recently completed training as part of Project TEDD: Training Educators in Dual Diagnosis, an initiative to address a state need for K-12 educators who specialize in teaching students who have a dual diagnosis of an intellectual and developmental disability (I/DD) and a mental health condition.

The participants, from schools in Education Service Center (ESC) Regions 1 and 4, completed a one-day workshop through Texas Tech University's Virginia Murray Sowell Center for Research and Education in Sensory Disabilities to learn necessary skills for recognizing, understanding and working with individuals with dual diagnosis. The workshop also equipped them with specialized skills to also train other teachers on dual diagnosis.

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The free resources are designed to increase knowledge and skills of those working with children with combined intellectual and developmental disabilities and mental health needs.

Texas Tech University's Virginia Murray Sowell Center for Research and Education in Sensory Disabilities has released a video series providing educators, parents and related service personnel with information related to student mental health and special education.

The library of 13 videos, which is free and publicly available, focuses on helping students who have a dual diagnosis of an intellectual and developmental disability (I/DD) and a mental health condition. Topics include an overview of dual diagnosis, the impact of mental health on academic achievement and best practices for working with a student with a dual diagnosis.

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Along with a group of 27 teachers from 25 different districts in West Texas, two Frenship educators completed their training for Project TEDD: Training Educators in Dual Diagnosis through a training program hosted by Texas Tech University.

Project TEDD: Training Educators in Dual Diagnosis is an initiative that addresses state needs for Kindergarten through 12thgrade teachers who specialize in teaching students who have a dual diagnosis of an intellectual and developmental disability (I/DD) and a mental health condition.

Frenship's Patricia Mendez and Stephani Campbell completed a virtual, one-day workshop through Texas Tech University's Virginia Murray Sowell Center for Research and Education in Sensory Disabilities.

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A group of 27 teachers from 25 school districts in West Texas recently completed training as part of Project TEDD: Training Educators in Dual Diagnosis, an initiative to address a state need for K-12 educators who specialize in teaching students who have a dual diagnosis of an intellectual and developmental disability (I/DD) and a mental health condition.

The participants completed a virtual, one-day workshop through Texas Tech University's Virginia Murray Sowell Center for Research and Education in Sensory Disabilities, learning necessary skills for recognizing, understanding and working with individuals with dual diagnosis. This workshop equipped them with specialized skills to also train other teachers on dual diagnosis.

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Texas Tech University's Virginia Murray Sowell Center for Research and Education in Sensory Disabilities is launching Project TEDD: Training Educators in Dual Diagnosis, an initiative to address a state need for K-12 educators who specialize in teaching students who have a dual diagnosis of an intellectual and developmental disability (I/DD) and a mental health condition.

Project TEDD is funded by a $1.5 million grant from the Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities (TCDD). The mission of TCDD is to create change where all people with disabilities are fully included in their communities and exercise control over their own lives. Over five years, the project will provide 400 Texas special educators with access to free "train-the-trainer" workshops, which will prepare them to train other educators with necessary skills for recognizing, understanding and working with individuals with dual diagnosis.

Devender Banda, principal investigator

The 400 teachers who receive the initial training will each be expected to train at least five additional educators, totaling 2,000 or more across Texas. The first year of training will begin in November 2020 at the Region 17 Education Service Center (ESC) in Lubbock. Over the remaining four years, the focus of the project will expand the train-the-trainer workshops to the remaining 19 ESCs in Texas.

"Texas has nearly 500,000 adults and children with I/DD, and we know that individuals with I/DD experience mental health conditions at two to three times the rate of the general population," said Devender Banda, a professor of special education and the TEDD project director. "Children with a dual diagnosis face serious learning challenges and need specialized support. Project TEDD's 'train-the-trainer' approach will have an exponential impact in giving more educators the tools to effectively teach children with dual diagnosis in K-12 settings. Those who complete the training can become a resource within their respective school district or Education Service Center for several years and continue training numerous other educators."

Developmental disabilities are severe, chronic disabilities that occur before the age of 22, such as autism, cerebral palsy, intellectual disabilities, traumatic brain injury and epilepsy. A dual diagnosis refers to individuals with an I/DD who concurrently experience a mental health condition.

Stacy Carter, co-principal investigator

"Our faculty at the Texas Tech College of Education are committed to helping address the needs of underserved people and communities, and this program is yet another example," said Jesse Perez Mendez, dean of the College of Education. "We are pleased to offer support and resources to all regions of Texas and help give every child of every ability the opportunity to receive a quality education."

Banda is the principal investigator on the grant. Co-principal investigators are Stacy Carter, a professor of special education, and Nora Griffin-Shirley, professor and director of the Sowell Center.

Last year, Texas Tech received a separate $750,000 grant from TCDD that was used to create Project Leadership Challenge, an ongoing, intensive leadership development training program for leaders of I/DD provider organizations.

Nora Griffin-Shirley, co-principal investigator