Spring 2022 | Page 2

Lu's Letter

Dear Readers,

Spring is an exciting time of change, yet "springing ahead" may come  with challenges in sleep, changes of clothing, dealing with temperature changes, and generally mild to significant disruptions.  We are here to help manage stress related to these changes, so drop us a note or give a call for support.  Don't be shy!

We are super excited to report some big wins!  First, please welcome  Dr. Daniel Wilkenfeld, Assistant Professor , and autist, from the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing.  Dr. Wilkenfeld will be joining forces with us on a project basis until December, 2022.  He specializes in bioethics, nursing ethics, and the philosophy of disability. We are excited to benefit from his passion and expertise as together with Achieva Early Intervention, we embark on a project aimed to reduce the lag time in diagnosis  experienced by children in racial minorities in Pittsburgh.  We are so thankful for the support of Dr. Tracey Conti, UPMC's Chief of Family Medicine, who will be lending her leadership talents and  organizational support to get children's needs identified and correctly supported before entering school.  Our team looks forward to impacting the system of care for the most vulnerable.

Additionally, we  were very glad to learn that we won a fantastic grant from the Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council. This will allow us to contract with a person with a disability to