LSI Connections newsletter for Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Have a news story, publication, event or staff highlight for us? Submit it by 5 p.m. June 2 here.

Barry Anderson is about to realize a goal he had since elementary school, graduating from the University of Kansas this spring with a degree in journalism with a concentration in sports media. 

Anderson credits a program he joined in high school that grew out of a federally funded KU research project with keeping him focused on reaching his goal. 

He said it all started with a chance encounter in high school.  

“Back in high school, my sophomore year, I was walking down the steps, and I saw this bald guy,” Anderson said, recalling his first encounter with Steve James, a violence prevention staff member of ThrYve, a project administered through the Center for Community Health & Development at the KU Life Span Institute. “He told me all about the program.” 

ThrYve, which stands for Together Helping Reduce Youth Violence for Equity, has supported hundreds of students like Anderson who have found community through this program, which is based on decades of research on what works to reduce youth violence.  

Anderson is among the first cohort of students from the program to earn a college degree.

Read more about Anderson and ThrYve

A paper co-authored by Jean Hall, Noelle Kurth, Lisa McCorkell and Kelsey Goddard was among three finalists for the 2025 NARRTC past best paper award. The paper, “Long COVID Among People With Preexisting Disabilities,” was published in November 2024 and found long COVID was significantly more prevalent among people with preexisting disabilities (40.6%) than in the general population (18.9%).

Juniper Gardens Director Trina Spencer was interviewed for Episode 122 of the video/podcast The Literacy View, “Reading Comprehension Loses Out in the Classroom.”

Teri Garstka, who directs the KU Social Innovation Lab, recently described research on community resilience design and strategy in “Resilient by Design: What Strong Communities Have in Common.” [Editor note: posts on lab and center websites like this, shared to LinkedIn, are excellent ways to grow your individual audiences on the platform; reach out if you’d like guidance. -Jen]

Selected Recent Publications

Buzhardt, J., Carta, J.J., Greenwood, C.R. et al. Infant–Toddler Individual Growth and Development Indicators. Education and Treatment of Children (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43494-025-00159-y

Goddard KS, Hall JP, Kurth NK. (in press). Accessible, not exploitable: Navigating fraud prevention in disability research. Disability and Health Journal, 101843. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2025.101843. 

Leslie-Miller CJ, Goltz SR, Barrios PL, Cushing CC, Badshah T, Ungaro CT, Qu S, Berezhnaya Y, Brisbois TD. Evaluating the Acceptability and Utility of a Personalized Wellness App (Aspire2B) Using AI-Enabled Digital Biomarkers: Engagement Enhancement Pilot Study
JMIR Form Res 2025;9:e63471 doi: 10.2196/63471

Moreira, C., Simões, C., Oliveira, A., Pereira, A., Rosário, P., Hagiwara, M., Shogren, K. and Santos, S. (2025), The Factor Structure of the Self-Determination Inventory Portuguese Translation for Persons With and Without Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: A Confirmatory Analysis. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research. https://doi.org/10.1111/jir.13249

Shafer, R.L., Bartolotti, J., Driggers, A. et al. Visual feedback and motor memory contributions to sustained motor control deficits in autism spectrum disorder across childhood and into adulthood. Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders 17, 26 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s11689-025-09607-7

Johnson, K. A., Caldarella, P., Will, H., Hansen, B. D., & Richards, E. J. (2024). Managing student behavior in middle school special education classrooms: A single-subject study of CW-FIT. Remedial and Special Education, 46(3), 205-218. https://doi.org/10.1177/07419325241247345

Spencer, T. D., Tonsing, K., & Dada, S. (2025). Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) interventions that promote labeling, commenting, and telling: A systematic review. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/07434618.2025.2477694

Recent awards

Congratulations to the following researchers who have been awarded external support. Each award is listed by PI, title and sponsor as announced by the KU Office of Research for March and April:

Jay Buzhardt, “DCF Capacity Building,” and “Examining Mechanisms of Challenging Eating Behaviors in Children with Autism Using a Biopsychological Approach,” both sponsored by the University of Kansas Medical Center Research Institute. 

Carissa Cascio, “Ultra-high resolution imaging of category-selective visual cortex in autism,” Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Evan Dean, “KS Department of Labor Equitable Transition Model: Employment Support Worker Training,” Kansas Department of Commerce and Housing.

Jocelyn Washburn, “Supporting Specially Designed Instruction Through Collaboration, Professional Learning, and Technical Assistance,” Arizona State Department of Education.

The KU Office of Research will offer a Final Friday Ethics at 11:30 a.m. May 30 focused on the principle of justice as it pertains to human subject research. This session will cover methods to ensure fair and equal treatment of all participants, including equal payment requirements and fair selection of subjects. Register on Zoom.

Approve payroll hours by EOD Friday: KU Human Resources has announced that there is a shortened payroll deadline this week. All time worked by May 23 should be submitted and approved by the end of the day Friday. Saturday hours must be submitted by the end of the day Sunday, May 25. Any time not submitted by the deadline will be missed and paid on the following paycheck.

Elevators in Dole unavailable: Starting June 24, the elevators in the Dole Human Development Building will be shut down for repairs. KU anticipates that this will take about four weeks.

Travel and IT security: KU IT reminds researchers, staff and students to review IT security prior to summer travel. The IT travel page has information about encryption for laptops and how to use Eduroam instead of free public wifi when you are away.

KU International Affairs resource:  KU International Affairs has created a webpage with information on navigating immigration changes to assist international students, staff and faculty.

Connections is produced by communications staff at the Life Span Institute for affiliated researchers, staff and students. 

Writing and editing by Jen Humphrey and Christina Knott
Image credits: Christina Knott and KU Marketing

Please submit news, kudos, achievements and other items for consideration here.

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