CLICK here for Recorded Ed Series Session: Families of People with Disabilities
Our Panelists
Dr. Kirsten Isgro is a professor and chair of Communication Studies at the State University of New York Plattsburgh. She is serving as the Project Director for the Inclusive Healthcare Partnership Project, a project that is part of the Vermont Developmental Disability Council, with the focus of creating plain language health information designed by and for people with developmental disabilities. She is the proud mother of 18 year old twins, one of whom is living with a life threatening illness and profound developmental disabilities. Kirsten served on the Patient and Family Advisory Council for the Vermont Children's Hospital for 7 years and is part of the Vermont Family Network family faculty for the College of Nursing and the UVM Lerner Medical School. She is committed to improving relationship centered communication between providers and patients and their families.
Beth Davis, she/her; and her husband, Mike are the parents of a 41-year old son, Craig, who is on the autism spectrum and lives with them. Beth is a retired tax accountant who has lived in Vermont for 17 years. She has served on the board of the Counseling Service of Addison County as well as several other local organizations. Beth is currently facilitating a joint venture between CSAC and parents in Addison County to explore innovative housing solutions for their adult children with developmental disabilities.
Kirsten Murphy, she/her; is the Executive Director of the Vermont Developmental Disabilities Council (VTDDC) where she has worked for 10 years. The Council is a public board that works to improve the lives of Vermonters with intellectual and developmental disabilities through policy advocacy and systems change. Created by federal law, there is a Council in every state and territory – 56 in all. Kirsten is also the President of the Board of Directors for the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities (NACDD). Directing a DD Council is “the job I trained for my whole life,” Kirsten often says.
Kirsten spent much of her childhood on Cape Cod in Massachusetts where she often visits family. She graduated from Amherst College in 1983. Kirsten is the mother of three young adults, two of whom identify on the autism spectrum. She raised her family in neighboring Hanover, New Hampshire. There she founded a family-support program for parents of neuro-diverse children. She authored NH’s first study of the gaps in services and supports for people with autism and ran the state’s Council for Autism Spectrum Disorders. Prior to having a family, Kirsten worked for non-profit and government organizations serving at-risk youth in Boston and New York City.