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Next Steps at Vanderbilt

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In case you missed it… we had our first mixer of the 26-27 school year with Vitality last week🤗!
But don’t worry, there’s still time to join in on the dance! Meet us this Friday, October 16th, from 4-5 pm in the community event space and dance💃🕺👯‍♀️!
And don’t forget to join the GroupMe for our chapter AND the GroupMe for this exciting dance collab! (Linked in our story highlights)

@vitalitydanceco @nextstepsatvu @nextstepsambassadores #inclusion #letsdance💃 #fridayfunday

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Happy Inclusion Day! 🎉
At the Vanderbilt Rec Center, we believe everyone deserves a place to belong and thrive. 💛
Next Steps at Vanderbilt is a 4-year inclusive college program for neurodiverse students, with an authentic college experience built around academics, social life, career growth, and independent living. 🏅 Special Olympic is an inclusive space where everyone can build athletic skills and work toward overall wellness
🤝 AmbassaDores: A peer mentor programme where mentors build real friendships while supporting students with their academic, social, and wellness goals.
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Inclusion isn’t just a day. It’s something we build together, every day on campus. 🌟

#inclusionday #nextstepsatvanderbilt #ambassadore #specialolympic #inclusivecampus

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Another amazing @ndscongress Convention College Fair in the books! We love talking to families and students about college options!

#ThinkCollege #ChangingExpectations #IncreasingOpportunities #HigherEd #DownSyndrome

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Happy #IPSEDay! Today we recognize the power of inclusive higher education and the impact it has on students, campuses, and communities. Every student deserves the opportunity to learn, grow, work, build friendships, and create their future. We’re proud to celebrate inclusion, belonging, and all the amazing students who make our community stronger every day. ⁠
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Video Description: An Instagram Reel showcasing information about Inclusive Higher Education Day, providing facts and outcomes about IPSE Programs in Tennessee. ⁠
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#future #utk #utfuture #ipseday2026 #ipseday #ipse #highereducation #inclusiveeducation #vols #volunteers #knoxville #tennessee #govols #tennalum #orangeandwhite #inclusivehighereducation

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She made Tennessee History, and this is how it happened.

My daughter @rachel.renea.williams shared this earlier, and I couldn’t be more proud. As a person with an intellectual disability, her future opportunities seemed limited.

Through Next Steps at Vanderbilt, her childhood dreams came true. Rachel became a credentialed early childhood educator—the first in Tennessee through this program.

Watching her grow in confidence, independence, and purpose has meant everything.

This program is opening doors for others now, too.

🎥 Watch her story: link in bio

#DisabilityInclusion #InclusiveEmployment #NextStepsVanderbilt #EarlyChildhoodEducation

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Vanderbilt’s Giving Day is here, and it’s time to unite for a cause that matters! Your gift can support Peabody College’s various programs, such as Next Steps.

Next Steps aims to provide neurodiverse students with an immersive college experience that includes coursework, a range of extracurricular activities, service projects, recreational pursuits, internships and employment.

In celebration of Next Steps' 15th anniversary, we are giving away a golf cart! Your gift enters you for a chance to win, and, more importantly, it can inspire others to give. Together we can make a lasting impact. Donate now at the link in our bio!

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March is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, and at SBA, we’ve been grateful for meaningful opportunities to learn, grow, and celebrate inclusion across our community!

This semester, we welcomed William Gibson from Vanderbilt’s Next Steps program at the Susan Gray School, who is currently interning at SBA and assisting in Mrs. Brown’s classroom. William is in the internship phase of his four-year program, where he is gaining hands-on experience in the field of education.

We also welcomed special guest speaker Kathie Vlasich, who read her son Brian Vlasich’s book, Ello the Fellow, inspired by her grandson Elliott and written to promote awareness and acceptance of individuals with Down syndrome.

We are thankful for the ways these experiences continue to enrich our community and reflect the spirit of belonging at SBA! 🐻🐾

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Buddy Up for Life Founder and Executive Director, Beth Gibson, was invited to speak at Vanderbilt University (@vanderbiltu) by Dr. Meghan Burke, a professor of special education at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College (@vupeabody). 🌟

Beth shared her experience as a parent during transition planning with an audience of students pursuing Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in special education.

She also discussed how she and her team approach Buddy Up for Life program and curriculum development to address unmet needs and set Students up for success. ✨

Thank you, Dr. Burke and Vanderbilt University for this incredible opportunity!

#WorldDownSyndromeDay #BuddyUpforLife #ExpectMore #DownSyndromeAwareness #AdaptiveAthletes

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Dance is a therapeutic occupation, and our @belmont.ot intern Kymberli Reynolds, OTS proved it this month with her #mOTivateMovement TikTok challenge!

ICYMI, all month long she has been posting weekly dance challenges to our feed, and we’ve had so much fun watching followers complete the challenges and get their bodies moving with us.

Last night while repping MOVE at the @lipscombideal and @nextstepsatvu Resource Fair, she decided to mOTivate some more movement with a few new friends! Thanks to everyone who stopped by our table to learn more about our programs and dance it out together 🙌

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Peabody College Human and Organizational Development (HOD) students are teaming up with Next Steps at Vanderbilt – a four-year, post-secondary program that prepares neurodiverse learners for post-collegiate success and independence – through a powerful service-learning partnership.

Through Professor Leigh Gilchrist’s class, HOD students tutor students enrolled in Next Steps and co-design seminar syllabi on core life skills such as career readiness, apartment living, job onboarding, AI tools for work, earning a learner’s permit to drive, and more. This reciprocal, community-centered model fosters independence, friendship, and inclusive program design and is serving as a model for other universities.

📖 Read the full story to see how this peer partnership reaches far beyond the classroom at the link in our bio.

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