Current Projects for the Virginia Murray Sowell Center

Project Leadership Challenge: Preparing the Next Generation of Leaders Working with Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

In August 2019, the Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities (TCDD) funded Project Leadership Challenge for a period of five years from 2019-2024 ($750,000). This project is a new leadership development training program housed within the Sowell Center for Research and Education in Sensory Disabilities. This project is designed to train the next generation of leaders who work with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in Texas. Through the statewide program, current and emerging leaders of service provider organizations will acquire the skills necessary to transform their organizations and ultimately improve the services and supports they provide for people with IDD.

Learn more about Project Leadership Challenge

Sowell Center Receives $1.5 million Grant

Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities (TCDD) has funded a new project, Project TEDD: Training Educators in Dual Diagnosis, at $1.5 million. Over 5 years, K-12 teachers will be provided with the skills needed to work with students with a dual diagnosis (DD) of intellectual and developmental disability (I/DD) and mental health needs. A train-the-trainer model will be used to train 400 teachers in Texas who will in turn train 5 more additional teachers. The co-investigators are Drs. Devender Banda, Stacy Carter and Nora Griffin-Shirley.

The mission of TCDD is to create change so that all people with disabilities are fully included in their communities and exercise control over their own lives.

Learn more about Project TEDD

Project MAPVI: Multiculturally Adept Professionals in Visual Impairment Program

Project MAPVI is the Sowell Center's U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs grant (funded in 2024). The first cohort of students will start in summer of 2025, and the second cohort will begin in summer of 2027. The grant will be directed by Dr. Rona Pogrund, assisted by Dr. Nora Griffin-Shirley (co-principal investigator). The Project MAPVI grant was created to recruit and train scholars from Texas and Mississippi to become certified teachers of students with visual impairments (TSVIs) or orientation and mobility (O&M) specialists with backgrounds and specialized expertise in multicultural and multilingual education.

Learn more about Project MAPVI

The Reach Across Texas Program

RATP is a competitive scholarship program that assists with tuition and fees for students who are accepted into the Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI) or Orientation and Mobility (O&M) Certification Programs at TTU. The funds are provided from the state of Texas to the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired to increase the capacity of visual impairment personnel working as TVIs or O&M specialists with school-aged students (birth-21) in Texas. To be eligible for a Reach Across Texas scholarship award, one has to be a resident of Texas, have a Bachelor's Degree and an initial Texas teaching certification in special ed or any area of general ed for the TVI program and just a Bachelor's Degree for the O&M program, and seek employment in an educational setting in Texas after completion of the program. The deadlines for consideration of an award are: June 1 for fall admission, November 1 for spring admission, and April 15 for summer admission. For the Reach Across Texas application, visit the Application Information page.

Project AIMS

In 2022, Project AIMS (Acquiring Independent Money Skills) was funded by Texas Council of Development Disabilities. At $100,000 annually for 4 years. The Project will improve the independence, self-determination, and community participation of 100 individuals with IDD in Texas by increasing their purchasing skills using innovative technologies based on evidence-based strategies. Specifically, the curriculum will include an initial individualized assessment of baseline money skills, placement into an appropriate training module to learn new money skills, strategies for application of newly acquired skills in community settings, and performance tracking. During Year 1, Project AIMS will develop a self-paced online curriculum on purchasing skills and will work with a support agency to identify and recruit people with IDD to use the curriculum. In Years 2-4, an additional 3 agencies will be sought to participate in the project. The sustainability activities include the continuation of the online training curriculum beyond the initial project period on the Project AIMS website for public access. The Co-PIS are Drs. Stacy Carter, Devender Banda and Nora Griffin-Shirley.