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2025–2026 UW LEND Cohort Starts Strong
The 2025–2026 UW LEND cohort is off to a strong start, bringing together 38 long-term trainees representing 17 professional disciplines, alongside family leaders and self-advocates. From the start, the group has contributed a thoughtful blend of lived experience, clinical expertise, cultural diversity, and a shared commitment to equity and neurodiversity-affirming practice.
During orientation, trainees introduced themselves through discipline profiles that highlighted a wide range of backgrounds. The cohort includes individuals with experience in developmental–behavioral pediatrics, psychology, speech-language pathology, audiology, occupational and physical therapy, social work, public health, genetic counseling, applied behavior analysis, school psychology, psychiatry, and healthcare operations. Many have supported children with developmental disabilities in clinical, educational, community, or research settings. Others bring personal or family connections to disability, as well as international perspectives from Indonesia, Ghana, India, Canada, and beyond.
Across the new cohort, several themes emerged: a commitment to culturally responsive and family-centered care, improving systems navigation for families, strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration, and advancing disability justice. Trainees expressed enthusiasm for learning alongside self-advocates and families, expanding their leadership skills, and contributing meaningfully through clinical training and project work throughout the year.
Orientation also included a keynote from Anne Browning, PhD, MA, UW Medicine’s Chief Well-Being Officer. Her message on compassion, resilience, and sustaining well-being in leadership resonated with the values expressed by the cohort.
With the year underway, trainees have begun forming interdisciplinary connections, engaging in seminar discussions, and setting the foundation for a collaborative and impactful training experience. We look forward to all they will contribute in the months ahead.
