Live Webinar: Increasing Accessibility and Inclusion at Community Organizations

Ashley Love works as an Educational Consultant and Board Certified Behavior Analyst in Pediatrics for Vanderbilt Kennedy Center’s Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders (TRIAD) in Nashville, Tennessee. She has earned a B.S. in Elementary Education from Texas A&M University and an M.Ed. in Special Education and Applied Behavior Analysis from Vanderbilt University.

Through a grant from the Tennessee Department of Education, Ashley provides professional development opportunities and coaching to teachers and other educational professionals across the state of Tennessee to ensure students with and without disabilities are accessing high quality educational services. As part of her work within the Inclusion Network of Nashville, Ashley assists Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage to promote full inclusion of children and adults with IDD, Autism, and other developmental disabilities and their families in their programming. 

Lauren Weaver works as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in Pediatrics and Coordinator of Community Engagement for Vanderbilt Kennedy Center’s Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders (TRIAD) in Nashville, Tennessee. She has earned a B.S. degree in Elementary Education from the University of Alabama-Huntsville and an M.S. degree in Applied Behavior Analysis in Developmental Disabilities from Auburn University. Lauren strives to provide quality behavior analytic services and build the capacity of other individuals and systems to increase quality of life for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and related disorders. Lauren coordinates TRIAD’s Community Engagement Program including the Inclusion Network of Nashville (INN), innovative partnerships to create a community network of arts, education, athletic, and entertainment organizations that works to promote full inclusion of children and adults with IDD autism and other developmental disabilities and their families. The program has been awarded the 2014 Autism Tennessee Coston Education Award and the 2017 American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AIDD) Community Inclusion Award. Lauren also works throughout the state of Tennessee under grant contracts funded by the Tennessee Department of Education to provide integrated and topical professional development opportunities for education professionals and caregivers and is coordinating pilot services at Vanderbilt University Medical Center to embed applied behavior analysis therapy in general pediatric settings.

Through collaboration with a variety of organizations, TRIAD’s Community Engagement Program seeks to increase awareness and promote inclusivity for individuals with disabilities and their families. In partnership TRIAD, community organizations are working to make a difference for individuals who often do not have the opportunity to advocate for themselves. The collection of organizations forms the Inclusion Network of Nashville (INN).

The INN includes training opportunities for community organizations to increase awareness for staff and volunteers and knowledge on how to create supports to promote accessibility for all individuals. Support is also provided for organizations hosting inclusive events, which serve as opportunities for individuals and families to experience arts and cultural activities in a safe, judgement-free, and welcoming environment where they are able to experience an event with supports and see how they could use the supports at other events. 

Dana Lolas works as Guest Services Manager for Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage. After graduating from Lipscomb University with a BA in Political Science, Dana worked in the publishing industry for over 20 years. Needing a change and wanting to help preserve history she began working at Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage in Nashville, TN. Today she dedicates her time to helping visitors achieve a memorable yet seamless guest experience while visiting this historic home. She believes that focusing on training her staff to recognize the needs of those who visit before the visitor can recognize it themselves is the key to quality guest relations. Increasing accessibility resources, sharing new found ways to do things, and looking for opportunities to make the site more sensory friendly are part of her everyday responsibilities. Dana is currently a Visitor Experience Ambassador for VEX and enjoys sharing her love of the past with others.

The mission of the Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage and the Andrew Jackson Foundation is to preserve the home place of the 7th President of the United States, to create learning opportunities and to inspire citizenship through experiencing the life and unique impact of Jackson.