By Ashlyn Beck | Staff Writer
The Baylor Center for Developmental Disabilities is hosting two events to commemorate its 10-year anniversary and to get the Baylor community involved.
Dr. Kristen Padilla, director of the center, said she has seen the Baylor Center for Developmental Disabilities grow and transform over the last 10 years. According to its website, the center is hosting two events in January — one for students and one for faculty and staff members.
“It is an invitation to really share what the Baylor Center for Developmental Disabilities is, the work that we’re doing, how individuals can become involved and to share about our upcoming events,” Padilla said.
The student event will be held Jan. 24 on Fountain Mall, with free coffee from Bitty & Beau’s Coffee. Padilla said the center will also host a faculty and staff reception Jan. 31, which will launch the center’s 10-year anniversary and share about its mission. An RSVP is required to attend this reception.
“[We’re] definitely proud of the impact we’ve had throughout this first decade,” Padilla said. “And as we look forward to this next season, I’m really excited just to see what the future holds.”
Padilla said the Baylor Center for Developmental Disabilities connected the work of the Baylor Autism Resource Clinic; the Clinic for Assessment, Research and Education; and the Spring Literacy Clinic. She said they have brought in various training programs and research for master’s and doctoral students.
“We have grants that serve community needs, but we also have training grants that equip our graduate students to be leaders in the field,” Padilla said.
Flower Mound graduate student Bradley Davis works at the Baylor Center for Developmental Disabilities as part of his graduate training.
“We get some hands-on experience working with people in the community, such as providing counseling, conducting psychological assessments and providing training to local educators and parents of children with disabilities,” Davis said. “It just gives us a wealth of experience and training working at the center.”
Davis, who studies school psychology, said several different graduate programs feed into the center.
“School psychologists mainly work within the schools, so it gives me more of a taste of what the clinical setting is like, because there’s just such a huge difference between practicing in a school setting in comparison to a clinical setting,” Davis said.
While the center has undergone a lot of growth in the last 10 years, Padilla said she is hopeful to continue expanding and serving the community in the future.
“We really want to deepen our portfolio in several key areas by launching new research, training and community outreach projects,” Padilla said.
The Baylor Center for Developmental Disabilities doesn’t just work with individuals with disabilities to further their education. Padilla said it has expanded into many different issues, including religion, post-high school employment and independent living.
“[We’re] trying to expand the outreach and the scope of services that the [Baylor Center for Developmental Disabilities] can provide to bless individuals’ lives,” Davis said.
Padilla said Baylor is the only Christian research university with a center for developmental disabilities. Because of this, she said Baylor is in a unique position to advance research and training on the subject.
“I think that it’s really important for us to create a strong foundation and be a national leader in this work, but because we’re at a Christian university, we really have a unique voice to contribute to work,” Padilla said.
The Baylor Center for Developmental Disabilities currently works with many different areas of study across campus. Padilla said it has affiliates specializing in educational psychology, business, law, chemistry and communication sciences and disorders, and it is looking to expand all across campus.
“We can’t do it alone,” Padilla said. “And to really have a big impact that is unique to this population, we really need to do this as a collaborative and collective effort across many disciplines.”
