Disabilities Research
Publications
Mills, K.R., ET. Al (2015). National Standards Report, National Autism Center
Mills, K. (2015) Advisory Group Member and Contributor to Diversity & Inclusion Toolkit
Web-Based Tool.
Mills, K.R. (2007). Tools for promoting education success and reducing delinquency, National Center on Education, Juvenile Justice and Disability, Step 7, 1-331
Scientific Posters

VIUCEDD has been engaged in ongoing training of parents, educational practitioners and allied health professionals on topics related to disability studies, applied behavior analysis, speech and language methodologies and overall effective teaching practices. In order to better understand the outcomes training attendees receive beyond NIRS satisfaction surveys, we sough to quantify the degree to which content knowledge was acquired and retained among participants. We also sought to analyze participants attitudes about the content knowledge received during training in a 1 and 3 month follow up. The mean difference between pre and post test assessments indicated a net knowledge gain in from pre to post test administrations for all respondents. The difference was not statistically significant. Preliminary analysis of the technical assistance instrument indicates a high level of satisfaction with the training across various domains related to individual and organizational benefit.

VIUCEDD has been engaged in ongoing efforts to improve the lives of people with disabilities and to facilitate their maximal inclusion and independence in the larger Virgin Islands community. The employment of people with disabilities has been and remains a top priority for VIUCEDD. Members of VIUCEDD partnered with disability employment experts at MCDD and behavioral support experts at KKI to develop a pilot program that would merge best practices in disability employment supports, best practices in behavioral supports and best practices in transition planning for people with disabilities to develop a comprehensive plan to support the employment needs of people with disabilities. The data presented in this poster indicate a mean increase in knowledge of employers and job coaches in relation to disability knowledge and initial favorable trends in relation to decreases in maladaptive behaviors for one candidate associated with this study.

Background
- A critical need in the U.S. Virgin Islands is timely, accurate, and early diagnostic assessment.
- Health care options are limited due to the geographic isolation of the USVI, and limited access to full federal Medicaid funding.
- 55% of 5-year-old children entering public school were 6 months to over a year behind developmental age-expectations in language and comprehension skills.
- 40% of VI children entering public kindergarten also lacked adequate, ageexpected cognition skills.
Conferences
Mills, K.R., ET. Al (2017)
Using Research to Affect Systematic Policy Change at the Local, State and National Levels.
AUCD Annual Conference, Washington, D.C.
PRESENTATION ACCEPTED. PRESENTERS DECLINED
Mills, K., Smith, C. & Zarcone, J. (2017)
Person Centered Behavioral Supports Towards Employment Support of People With Disabilities in The U.S. Virgin Islands.
ABAI 9th Annual International Conference, Paris, France.
Mills, K. & Smith, C. (2016)
Person Centered Behavioral Supports Towards Employment Support of People With Disabilities in The U.S. Virgin Islands.
AUCD Annual Conference, Washington, D.C.
Mills, K. (2016)
Keeping Young People In Schools and Out of Prisons: Halting The School To Prison Pipeline.
Invited Speaker at the 2016 Caribbean Alliance of National Psychological Associations in Port Au Prince, Haiti.
Mills, K. R. & Habtes, Y. (2016)
Theory Into Practice: Cultural Considerations when Delivering Applied Behavior Analytic and Other Best Practice Services to Diverse Populations of Students with Autism.
Breakout Session Presented at the Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability and Diversity, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Mills, K. (2016)
Assessing the Immediate and Longterm Effectiveness of an Intensive Training Program for Head Start Early Intervention Teachers and Other Educational Professionals.
Poster Presented at the Pacific Rim Conference on Disability and Diversity in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Mills, K. & Brown, K. H. (2015)
Assessing the Immediate and Longterm Effectiveness of an Intensive Training Program for Head Start Early Intervention Teachers and Other Educational Professionals.
AUCD National Conference in Washington, D.C.
Research Poster
Brown, K. H. & Mills, K. (2015)
Responding to the Communication Needs of Children and Families in the US Virgin Islands.
Poster presentation at the AUCD National Conference in Washington, D.C.
Research Poster
Ward, K., Feinstein, C., Ahrens, Brooks, B., & Mills, K. (2015)
Introduction to the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) Home and Community Based Service System.
A concurrent session presented at the AUCD National Conference in Washington, D.C.
ACCEPTED PRESENTATION, BUT PRESENTORS DECLINED
Dinora, P., Mills, K., Roberts, K. & Shane, N (2015)
Changing definitions of home and community-based services: A baseline assessment of the quality of services and the impact of quality of life for intellectually and developmentally disabled populations.
A paper that was to be presented at the American Evaluators Association conference in Chicago, Illinois.
Workshop Abstract

Association for Behavior Analysis International - 8th International Conference, Kyoto, Japan
Mills, K (2015)
Theory Into Practice: Cultural Considerations When Delivering Applied Behavior Analytic Services to Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Populations of Students with ASD and Other Disabilities.
Paper presented at the Applied Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) Eighth International Conference, Kyoto, Japan.
Workshop Abstract

National Autism Center
Mills, K.R., ET. Al (2015)
National Standards Report

National Center on Education, Juvenile Justice and Disability
Mills, K.R. (2007)
Tools for promoting education success and reducing delinquency, National Center on Education, Juvenile Justice and Disability, Step 7, 1-331
Contact us for more information and with any questions. As part of the University of the Virgin Islands, we proudly serve individuals in the St. Thomas/St. John and St. Croix districts.