Shared Support Maryland, Inc

08/09/2026

Incredible week!

🌉 A week of learning, connection, and inspiration in Pittsburgh!

Our Summer 2026 Leadership Institute brought together an incredible group of emerging and established leaders from across the intellectual and developmental disabilities field. Throughout the week, participants explored their leadership styles, strengthened practical skills, tackled real-world challenges, and built relationships that will continue long after the Institute.

We are grateful to our participants, speakers, facilitators, and partners at Achieva for making this experience so meaningful. Congratulations to our Summer 2026 cohort; we can’t wait to see how your leadership continues to create stronger organizations, stronger systems, and stronger communities! 💛

🔎 Looking for your next opportunity to learn, connect, and grow?

Explore our upcoming workshops, programs, and Leadership Institutes, and find the opportunity that is right for you:

🔗: https://natleadership.org/group-programs/

08/09/2026

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08/08/2026

🌟 New Issue of the NLCDD Bulletin is here! Check out Leading the Future while Learning from the Past: Part 1 🌟
🧭 Our new issue explores how the disability leadership field has evolved and where it's headed next.
📖 Through articles examining key policy issues, foundational frameworks like Trauma-Informed Care, Charting the LifeCourse, and Social Role Valorization, and practical tools for today's leaders, this issue connects the lessons of the past with the opportunities of the future.
💡 Each article asks three essential questions:
➡️ Where Did We Come From?
➡️ Where Are We Now?
➡️ Where Are We Going?
🤝 Whether you're a disability professional, leader, self-advocate, or partner in systems change, this issue offers insights and resources to strengthen leadership for the future.
🔗 Read Issue 19: https://natleadership.org/resource/bulletin-19-leading-the-future-while-learning-from-the-past-part-1-july-2026/

08/06/2026

Applications are now open for the next class of Maryland Partners in Policymaking®! Partners in Policymaking is a nationally recognized leadership and advocacy training program for adults with developmental disabilities and family members of children with developmental disabilities. Participants build the knowledge, skills, and connections needed to create meaningful change in their communities and across Maryland.

Apply by September 4th at https://thearcmd.org/partners/

Your experience and voice matter, and your leadership can make a difference!

08/01/2026

APPLY NOW! If you or someone you know may be eligible, don’t forget to apply for Maryland’s Low Intensity Support Services (LISS) Program.
LISS Application Opens TODAY August 1, 2026!

Important Dates
-Applications Open: August 1, 2026
-Applications Close: September 15, 2026
-Random Selection: October 1, 2026
If you're interested in applying, be sure to submit your application during the application window. When completing the application, enter child's or adult's demographic information, not the parent, guardian, or caregiver's information.

Apply here beginning August 1: LISS Random Selection Application: https://pcis.health.maryland.gov/liss-service/apply beginning August 1: LISS Random Selection

Please help us spread the word by sharing this post with families who may benefit from the LISS Program! 💙

07/22/2026

Last call for Pittsburgh’s institute starting this Sunday! See what one person had to say :)

💚 What an incredible week at the Wisconsin Summer Leadership Institute!

Thank you to every participant, presenter, facilitator, and partner who made this experience so meaningful. Together, we explored new ideas, strengthened our leadership skills, built lasting connections, and reaffirmed our shared commitment to advancing high-quality supports for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

As one participant shared:

"I'm leaving this intense program with the tools I need to be a better leader within my organization and with a network of other passionate professionals who understand the unique systems we work within."

🍂 The learning doesn't stop here, we're excited to return to Wisconsin this fall for the Wisconsin Fall Leadership Institute & Development Program!

🔗Ready to continue your leadership journey? Learn more here:
https://natleadership.org/event/wisconsin-fall-leadership-institute-development-program/

Thank you to Common Good Philanthropies for helping make these leadership opportunities possible. 💙

07/15/2026

I was visiting an intellectual and developmental disability service when a young autistic man walked up to me and looked me straight in the eye. I began to introduce myself, but before I could finish, the service manager cut in, “He’s level 3, he's severe!” she barked. The young man looked down at his hands, turned, and walked away.

I wasn’t told his name, how he communicates, what he loves, what makes him laugh. The label had spoken so loudly, it drowned out everything else. I felt a wave of sadness and quiet anger, not just at the words, but at how quickly they erased the person standing right in front of me.

“Severe,” she called him, and just like that, expectations get lowered. Don’t expect too much. Don’t try too hard. Don’t listen too closely. When labels are used in this way, they don’t describe people; they describe how others have chosen to treat them.

The thing is, people aren’t products on a shelf. You can’t line them up and rank them mild, moderate, severe like grades of cheese or weather alerts. The problem with this kind of labeling is that it flattens people. It turns rich, complex human lives into medical shorthand.

What’s “mild” about struggling to make friends? What’s “severe” about needing help to speak but having deep insight to share?

People are more than their support needs. When we use labels like this we’re not supporting them, we’re limiting them. The truth is, everyone communicates, everyone connects, and everyone deserves to be seen as fully human. Let’s not let a label get in the way of that.

Instead of reaching for labels, let’s reach for understanding. Say how someone communicates, what brings them comfort, what excites them, what they want from the world.

Our support should start with listening, not sorting. When we lead with curiosity and respect, we open the door to real connection, and that’s where true support begins.
..

ID: Man standing looking at his iPad. Words over his eyes read 'Severe Autism.' Text above image reads: Why you need to stop ranking autistic people.

07/09/2026

See you there!

🌟 Meet Our Speaker: Dr. Josie Badger, DHCE, CRC! 🌟

We're excited to welcome Dr. Josie Badger to the 2026 Summer Leadership Institute in Pittsburgh!

As the Executive Director of Pennsylvania's Governor's Advisory Commission on People with Disabilities, Dr. Badger is a nationally recognized disability advocate, speaker, and systems-change leader. Through both her lived and professional experience, she has dedicated her career to advancing disability policy, leadership, healthcare access, and equitable opportunities for people with disabilities.

Her session will bring valuable insights, practical leadership lessons, and a powerful perspective on creating meaningful systems change.

✨ Don't miss the opportunity to learn from one of the nation's leading voices in disability leadership!

📍 Pittsburgh, PA
📅 July 26–31, 2026

Learn more and apply today: https://natleadership.org/event/the-summer-2026-leadership-institute/