From Our President

John Weston Jr, President of TN-NADD

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the 2024 TN NADD conference hosted by the TN-NADD Board, the Inn at Opryland, and the UT-Knoxville virtual team.

Our theme this year is The Pursuit of Happiness: Finding My Place in This World.

Building validation is critical to finding one’s place and includes discovering emotional wellbeing, building interpersonal relationships, striving for personal development and securing self-determination. But how does one even begin to find these things, especially if there are intellectual or developmental challenges co-occurring with mental health challenges. Can these persons contribute to their communities and have a sense of belonging vs. solely being supported by others?

The answer is yes; but often there are assumptions and stereotypes made. Dr. Thomas Pomeranz points out “you can’t give it if you don’t have it”. Join us today and discover ways to assist persons with IDD to find happiness and validation in this world. By connecting and contributing to other persons and their community of choice throughout the lifespan, persons find happiness. We will discover creating a pipeline between individuals, resources, and existing systems is critical to an inclusive culture. The impact of inclusion and a caregiver’s performance effects one’s response to healthcare treatment from birth to aging. We will learn about strengthening the individual caregiver and, infrastructure and capacity of systems to integrate physical and mental healthcare to promote prevention of issues and overall health in persons with IDD. Getting the most out of resources and identifying the gaps is a primary goal for finding “my place in this world”. We will learn optimism and options create opportunities for improving happiness and closing gaps. Our panel will address questions related to finding this place and the pursuit of happiness.

Event Summary:

TN Chapter of the National Assn. of the Dual Diagnosed 2024

Start Date:
Monday, September 16, 2024
End Date:

Saturday, September 21, 2024

Last Day to Book:
Thursday, August 22, 2024

Hotel Reservations

Hotel(s) offering a special group rate:

The Inn at Opryland, A Gaylord Hotel

Click on the link below it will take you to the special group rate on the Inn at Opryland webpage. The reservation link allows you to book rooms for the contracted date of Wednesday, September 18 , 2024 ONLY (check-out on Thursday, September 19, 2024). The contracted rate is $164/night plus tax for exterior rooms. We are holding a few of our interior rooms for $20 more at $184/night plus tax. This option will be available on the reservation link

Click HERE to book your group rate for TN Chapter of the National Association of Dual Diagnosis (TN-NADD) Conference 2024

Complex Shuttle
Gaylord provides a complimentary shuttle for our guests. This shuttle makes a loop between the Inn at Opryland, the Gaylord Resort and the Opry Mills Mall and back. The shuttle begins at 7:50am until 7:00pm daily and runs every 30 minutes. Try this shuttle before or after the conference for a fuller Nashville experience.

Also, if you are looking for things to do around Nashville www.nashvilleguru.com is a great site for suggestions 🙂

Target Audience

This event is relevant for clinical professionals (psychologists, social workers, case managers, certified developmental disability nurses, certified family support specialists, behavior analysts, etc.), residential providers, educators, caregivers, families, and persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Continuing Education Units

This program was approved by the National Association of Social Workers – Tennessee Chapter (Provider Number: NASWTN 2023 – 0132) for 6 continuing education units. The National Association of Social Workers Tennessee Chapter is committed to conducting all activities in conformity with the National Association of Social Workers and the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles for Psychologists and maintains responsibility for this program and its contents. In this conference, there are a total of 12 possible trainings available; however, the maximum number of trainings any single participant can attend is 6 due to the overlapping schedule for breakout sessions. In order to receive 1 hour of CE credit for any training, the virtual participant must log in on time, remain logged in throughout the training, and complete the post-training evaluation afterwards. Technical challenges that prevent continuous access will be handled on a case-by-case basis with the emphasis being placed on ensuring that the participant was able to satisfy the learning objectives. The in-person participant must also check-in on time, and remain present throughout the training, and complete the post-training evaluation afterwards. Partial credit for any individual training is not available. For the whole conference, the maximum number of CE credits available for any single participant is 6. Therefore, participants may earn as little as 1 hour of CE credit and as much as 6 hours of credit. The same policy applies to the remaining professional disciplines regarding logging in and out of sessions virtually.

Psychologists: As stated within the rules and regulations of the Tennessee Board of Examiners in Psychology (1180 -01-.08(2)(B)) this program provides up to 6 hours of falling under the category of formal activities which are psychological in nature, provide documentation of attendance, and have a preassigned number of CE credits sponsored by a recognized and relevant state professional credentialing body. CE certificates will be provided by TN-NADD on behalf of NASWTN. CEUs are also available through DDNA, case management, certified family support specialists, and behavior analysts. *Total CEUs for behavior analysts through the BACB are one (1).

Privacy and Confidentiality

Participants are asked to be aware of the need for privacy and confidentiality throughout the program. If the program becomes stressful, participants are encouraged to process these feelings during discussion periods. If there are any immediate issues of concern, please let a TN-NADD Board member on site know so your concern can be addressed.

Special Accomodations

TN-NADD and the Inn at Opryland are happy to accommodate special needs requests. We ask that you contact us using the information below at least one week prior to the event to ensure sufficient time to make any necessary arrangements. The Inn at Opryland is a fully compatible ADA venue. Please ask an Inn at Opryland staff member or a TN-NADD Board member if there is an immediate need onsite during the day of the conference.

Feedback

Your Feedback is critical to us. We want to hear from you regarding how we did. By providing feedback you help us know what worked and what changes are needed for future conferences. Please take a minute to complete the conference evaluation and completing the conference survey.

Overall Learning Objectives

  1. Demonstrate an understanding of how to integrate transdisciplinary practices to close gaps in emotional well-being for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their caregivers.
  2. Identify ways to create a pipeline for developing an inclusive culture by using available resources.
  3. Apply the techniques learned to assemble ways to improve the capacity of systems and individuals and close gaps in care throughout the lifespan.

September 19, 2024

Agenda

Note - * indicates BACB CEUs available

8:00AM - 8:10AM

Welcome

John Weston, President TN-NADD

8:10AM - 8:20AM

Opening Statement

Brad Turner, Commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Disability and Aging

 

8:30AM – 9:30AM

100: Keynote Address

The Pursuit of Happiness: When Writing Your Life Story Don’t Allow Anyone Else To Hold The Pen!

Dr. Tom Pomeranz, EdD. President and CEO of Universal Lifestiles
Instructional Level: Intermediate

9:30AM – 9:40AM

Break

12:00PM – 1:15PM

Lunch

12:45PM – 1:15PM

TN-NADD Annual Membership Meeting

1:15PM – 2:15PM

2:15PM – 2:35PM

Break