Institute for Disability Studies

🏈 SAVE THE DATE: OCTOBER 17! 💛🖤

We’re still celebrating 50 years of IDS, and we’d love to celebrate with the people who have been part of our story along the way.

Join us for an IDS 50th Anniversary Game Day Tailgate as Southern Miss takes on Arkansas State! Whether you’re an individual or family who has received services or support from IDS, a former IDS staff member, or a longtime friend of the Institute, we hope you’ll come back and celebrate with us.

📅 Saturday, October 17
🏈 Southern Miss vs. Arkansas State
📍 The University of Southern Mississippi

Kickoff time hasn’t been announced yet, so for now, save the date! Once game time is set, we’ll share all the details - including our tailgate start time, location, menu, and how to RSVP.

After 50 years, there are a LOT of people who have helped make IDS what it is today. We’d love to see some familiar faces on October 17. 💛

📣 Help us spread the word! Share this post and tag former IDS staff, participants, families, and friends who should be there. We want to reach as many members of the IDS family as we can!

Caring for our community includes caring for its animals. 🐾

Community Volunteer Club headed to the Hattiesburg Zoo on Tuesday for a service project to enrich the lives of the animals who call the zoo home.

Members painted boxes and made papier-mâché enrichment activities designed to give animals new ways to explore and interact with their environment.

Projects like this are one of the things we enjoy most about Community Volunteer Club: members get to discover just how many ways there are to give back.

After finishing their projects, the group traded volunteering for sightseeing and spent some time exploring the zoo together. 🦒🐒

Thanks to the Hattiesburg Zoo team for welcoming our crew and giving them such a unique way to contribute to the care of its residents! 💚

Campus has officially come back to life, and our RISE to the Top! staff have been soaking up one of our favorite times of the year - welcoming students back to Southern Miss! 💛🖤

There’s an excitement in the air during these first few days that’s hard to describe until you experience it, and we love watching our RISE students become part of it.

And because move-in is always better with a few extra hands, members of our Community Volunteer Club pitched in to help with the big day, too! 💪

To our new and returning RISE students: Welcome home. 💛🖤



📸 We have plenty of first-week smiles to share!

✨ The EARN IT Learning Lab is officially ready for fall!

Over the summer, our lab got quite the upgrade:
🎨 Freshly painted walls
🪑 New furniture, assembled by our Community Volunteer Club
☕ A reconfigured roasting area with storage and a fully functioning coffee bar
📺 A large-screen TV and conference-style workspace for group learning
💻 Laptops for every EARN IT student

But the best part isn’t what’s in the room… it’s what will happen here.

This fall, EARN IT students will use this space to learn everything from managing money and navigating technology to figuring out what they want from a job, recognizing the strengths they can bring to the workplace, and becoming more confident doing things on their own.

We can’t wait for the new students who will truly bring this new space to life. 🍂

🎒💻 Back to school means back to keyboards, too.

From typing assignments and searching for information to sending emails and navigating online learning platforms, computers are part of nearly every school day.

But a standard keyboard isn't accessible for every student.

For students with low vision or others who have difficulty seeing standard keyboard labels, large-print keyboards can make letters, numbers, and commands easier to identify, helping make everyday computer tasks more accessible.

Our Project START Lending Library offers FREE rentals for up to 90 days of assistive technology, including large print keyboards.

Because sometimes a small change to the tools a student uses can make a big difference in how they access learning. 💙

🔗 Reserve here: https://ids.myturn.com/library/inventory/show/972306

📣Know someone who might benefit from AT? Please share this post to help us reach families across south Mississippi.

💛🖤 What could your Southern Miss experience look like?

For students in RISE to the Top!, it can mean taking college classes, completing internships, joining campus organizations, making friends, and becoming part of the Southern Miss community, all while working toward greater independence and future employment.

If you or someone in your family is considering RISE, our upcoming Open Houses are a great place to start.

RISE staff will walk prospective students and families through the details, including:

🎓 What to expect throughout the 8-semester program
📝 The application and admissions process
💰 Financial aid and funding options
🏠 What it looks like to live on campus or commute
📚 Taking classes and building academic skills
💼 Gaining real-world experience through internships and employment preparation
🦅 Getting involved in campus organizations, activities, and student life

Choose the option that works best for you:

💻 Virtual Open House: September 21 | 5–6 p.m.
🏫 In-Person Open House: October 12 | 1–4 p.m. at Southern Miss

RISE to the Top! is USM's four-year inclusive postsecondary education program for students with intellectual and other developmental disabilities.

Come see what it means to RISE to the Top - and be a Golden Eagle.
💛🖤

Register here: https://usmforms.formstack.com/forms/riseopenhouse

💅 SEA Internship Spotlight: The Nail Lounge – Highland Village

Sometimes the best way to learn about a career is to see it in action. An important part of our Summer Enrichment Academy is giving students the opportunity to discover what a job’s day-to-day really looks like.

For one SEA student interested in the nail industry, that meant spending time alongside the professionals at The Nail Lounge – Highland Village.

Because working as a nail technician requires specialized training and certification, her internship wasn't about performing nail services herself. Instead, she had the opportunity to observe professionals at work, learn about the requirements for becoming a nail technician, and see firsthand the importance of hygiene, sanitation, and maintaining a clean, professional salon environment.

Experiences like this give students a better understanding of not only what a career looks like, but what it takes to pursue and excel in it.

A special shoutout to owner Mr. Son Nguyen, Bronco Hang, and the entire Nail Lounge team for welcoming our student and giving her the opportunity to learn alongside them this summer. 💙

Summer Enrichment Academy and opportunities like this are made possible through IDS's continued partnership with Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services (MDRS).

💦 Our STEP OUT crew recently spent an afternoon cooling off at Serengeti Springs in Hattiesburg.

There were conversations in the lazy river, opinions shared over burgers and fries (because getting to know someone obviously includes learning their food preferences 🍔😂), and plenty of fun on the slides.

And when a few logistical hiccups required some extra patience, our crew took it all in stride and kept the positive attitudes going. 💙

After all, community life doesn't always go exactly according to plan. Learning to adapt, go with the flow, and still enjoy the people around you is a skill worth celebrating - and this crew did just that.

📸 Speaking of things not going according to plan… we were apparently having too much fun to remember the group photo until part of our crew had already headed home. So, here's a snapshot of some of the smiling faces who joined us!

IDS is honored to have been awarded the Ann Morris grant from the Pinebelt Foundation to fund these incredible STEP OUT experiences for individuals with disabilities. 💙

🌟 SEA Internship Spotlight: Boys & Girls Clubs of the Gulf Coast – Forest Heights

Positive communities don't happen by accident.

They grow because organizations invest in young people by giving them safe places to learn, encouraging them to dream bigger, and surrounding them with caring adults who believe in their potential.

That's exactly what Boys & Girls Clubs of the Gulf Coast does through programs that help children and teens succeed in school, make healthy choices, and develop leadership skills.

This summer, one of our SEA interns had the opportunity to support children and staff at the Forest Heights Center, gaining valuable workplace experience while contributing to an organization that serves more than 6,300 youth across Mississippi's Gulf Coast each year.

A special shoutout to Morgan Bogolin, Khalil McGowan, and the entire Forest Heights team for partnering with IDS over the past several years and continuing to create meaningful summer internship opportunities for our students.

Summer Enrichment Academy is made possible through our continued partnership with MDRS. 💙