See below for an opportunity to get involved with legislative advocacy.

Are you interested learning more about TOPS? Join us for an information session for prospective students on Monday, March 11th, 2019 from 6-7:30 pm.

See the flyer below for more information. We would love to meet you!

Click here to access the Information Session flyer

Check out the video below, which features some of our awesome TOPS students!

Our Spring 2019 semester is in full swing, which is why we wanted to take a minute to promote deep breathing as a stress relieving technique! We’ve included a few suggestions below, but there are lots of great resources out there to help with deep breathing.

1. Download a guided breathing app on your phone. Apps like iBreathe and Breathe+ provide visuals to guide deep breathing exercises. They are free to download, and you can even turn on reminders to ensure you practice deep breathing periodically throughout the day.
2. Have an Apple Watch? There’s a deep breathing feature built right in! You can customize how long and how often you want to take deep breaths. Click here to learn more about how to use this feature.
3. Inhale and exhale in sync with the image below (click on the image to activate it).

Source: Daily Burn

Consider integrating deep breathing into your day or during stressful moments. The TOPS Staff is here to support you, so don’t hesitate to reach out for more information on stress management techniques!

See below for information on a research study seeking participants. 

The Center for Leadership in Disability at Georgia State University cordially invites all professionals, parents/guardians, and individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to share your perspective on how wireless technology can be used in the workplace. Your responses and feedback will help mold the future role that wireless technologies and wearables can play in the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

We have designed a brief survey to prompt your ideas about how technology is utilized in the workplace and barriers to using them. Your outlook and experiences will shape the research we are doing here at the Center for Leadership in Disability.

Please click on the link to take the survey: https://gsu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e3QJ2V79lSdnkyh

This survey will take about 10 to 30 minutes to complete. Feel free to share this email with people you know. This survey will be open until June 30th.

This study has been approved by the Institutional Review Board at Georgia State University

IRB number: H18099

We thank you for your time.

Kind regards.

TOPS Students are presenting posters at the Multiple Perspectives Conference in April 2019. In addition to these posters, there is another opportunity TOPS students can choose to engage in during the conference. There will be a student track available that will run in conjunction with the Multiple Perspectives Conference. Within this student track, students will have the option to present to their fellow students. Please note: This is a different opportunity than the Poster Presentations that TOPS Students are already preparing. Click here to access the Save the Date and see below for information on how to submit a proposal for the additional presentation opportunity. Any questions about this opportunity can be sent to the e-mail listed below or to jessie.green@osumc.edu.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES FOR MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES STUDENT CONFERENCE 2019

This student based conference will run in conjunction with the original Multiple Perspectives conference at The Ohio State University. It will be geared toward students currently participating in comprehensive transition and postsecondary education programs as well as prospective students.

Proposal Deadline: March 4, 2019

Proposals should be submitted by email either in the body of the email or as an attachment (Word, TXT, or PDF formats) to osu.mp2019@gmail.com with MP2019 and your name in the subject line.

All proposals should be geared towards the student participants of the conference and should last no longer than 30 minutes.

Proposals must include:
· Name of each presenter with titles, institutions, employers etc. as appropriate.
· Contact information (phone, mailing address, and e-mail) if there is more than one presenter please indicate one individual as the contact and lead presenter.
· Title of Presentation (9 words or less)
· Short Description no more than 50 words.
· Full Description (700 words or less) describe the content, focus, and desired outcomes for the presentation using these questions as a guide.
· What is the format of the presentation (Lecture, Panel, Discussion, Performance, Other)?
· How familiar should the audience be with the topic (beginner, intermediate, advanced)?
· What are your three main goals for the presentation?

If you have questions, please contact osu.mp2019@gmail.com

Recently, students and volunteers from the TOPS Program participated in BuckeyeThon and raised $1,927 for Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Way to go! The team had a great time at the big event, which raised over $1.7 million in total.

Enter for your chance to win up to $500! Photos should be of individuals with intellectual & developmental or other related neurodevelopmental disabilities engaging in healthy living activities.

What does healthy living mean to you? Could it be preparing a healthy meal? Preparing for a competitive event? Participating in a recreational event? Enjoying some free time doing something you love? Reading a book, drawing, relaxing on vacation somewhere warm? Spending time with friends and family?

We want to know – and we want YOU to WIN! – via The Nisonger Center 

Click here to enter. 

2019’s first Student Spotlight is featuring LaMont, a 2^nd year in the TOPS Program! LaMont is interested in construction and his favorite class that he’s taken so far at Ohio State is his class about construction.  His favorite parts of the TOPS Program are his classes, the social events, and hanging out with people in the community. When asked about the most important skill is that he has learned from TOPS, he said he has learned how to be helpful and turn in work on time. On campus, he enjoys being involved in BSA and BuckeyeThon. The best part of being a Buckeye, according to LaMont, is learning new things and going to sporting events. He loves basketball, football, and soccer. If LaMont could travel anywhere in the world, he would choose to go back to the Bahamas! LaMont also thinks that both caramel and chocolate/vanilla twist ice cream are the best ice cream flavors to exist.

The TOPS Staff want to thank LaMont for always being motivated and enthusiastic! Keep up the great work.