Hillary Lane awarded traineeship with New Hampshire LEND Program

Hillary Lane of the Department of Physical Therapy (DPT) class of ‘15 has been awarded a traineeship with the New Hampshire Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Program for the 2014-15 academic year.

Lane will continue her coursework in her third year of the DPT program, while attending LEND clinical and leadership sessions with other graduate students in health professions throughout New Hampshire and Maine. She is the first UNE student to apply for and receive this award.

Although Maine does not yet have its own LEND program, the University of Maine is currently partnered with the University of New Hampshire in the New Hampshire LEND program. LEND programs, which are funded through a federal grant from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the Health Resources Services Administration, provide interdisciplinary training to enhance the clinical expertise and leadership skills of professionals dedicated to caring for children with neurodevelopmentaland other related disabilities, including autism.

Since their inception, LENDs have trained thousands of individuals from a wide variety of disciplines to work with and provide the best possible services and supports for children with developmental disabilities and their families. The focus of these training programs has always been on children with a wide range of intellectual and developmental disabilities and special health care conditions, especially medically fragile children with multiple or complex challenges.

More recently an additional focus has been added to this network’s mission. Authorized in December 2006 and appropriated in December 2007, the Combating Autism Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-416) brought additional funds to the LEND program to promote education, early detection, and intervention in autism spectrum disorders.

Trainees in LEND programs participate in academic, clinical, leadership and community opportunities. They receive training in cultural and linguistic competence using a family centered approach.

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.