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The Lee Mitchener Tolbert Center for Developmental Disabilities & Autism

The Lee MitchTolbert Logoener Tolbert Center for Developmental Disabilities was founded in 1995 for the purpose of disseminating information, expanding knowledge, and promoting "best practice" service delivery to enhance the lives of people with developmental disabilities and their families. The Center, a part of the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, College of Allied Health, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, was named in honor of Lee Mitchener Tolbert, a young man with a developmental disability, and his many accomplishments.

Mission

tolbert missionThe mission of the Lee Mitchener Tolbert Center [Lee Tolbert Center), at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC), is to promote evidence based services within natural life contexts for people with developmental disabilities and their families through excellence in discovery, integration, application, and teaching.

Service Principles

service principlesLee Tolbert Center faculty and staff incorporate the following ten service principles into all education, service, and research activities. 

  • Application of state and federal regulations
  • Cultural sensitivity
  • Evidence-based practices
  • Person and family-centered services
  • Functional outcomes
  • Inclusion and Participation
  • Natural environments and contexts
  • People-first language
  • Self-determination
  • Team-oriented service delivery

Resource Center

reading

 

  • ​The Lee Tolbert Center began as a library and resource center, which remains a primary function. The Center’s collection includes paper and digital resources related to people with developmental disabilities from an interprofessional life span perspective. 
  • The Oklahoma Autism Network, the State’s Autism Information and Referral, is housed in the Lee Tolbert Center. 
  • Resources are available to anyone with interest in people with developmental disabilities.

Education

Research

tolbert research

  • The Lee Tolbert Center faculty and clinical staff conduct research related to improving services and supports for people at risk for or with developmental disabilities and their families.
  • Current research includes the validation of the School Outcomes Measure (SOM),  a minimal data set that measures the outcomes of students with disabilities who receive school-based occupational therapy and/or physical therapy services.

Service

  • serviceThe Lee Tolbert Center faculty and clinical staff provide service models for students and service providers that meet the service delivery needs of people with developmental disabilities and their families. 
  • Services include  direct service delivery, technical assistance, professional and family training, advocacy, community capacity and systems change, and community, state, and national professional organization and agency involvement.

Community of Practice

tolbert community of practice

The Lee Mitchener Tolbert Center Community of Practice page highlights projects and resources developed by post-professional students in the Lee Tolbert Center’s Post-Professional Doctor of Science (DSc) degree program, focused on supporting children with disabilities throughout the lifespan.