Ryan Henley

Ryan Henley is a Research Project Specialist at the Kansas University Center on Disabilities (KUCD). Ryan’s research centers on self-determination and inclusion skills for young adolescents and adults with developmental disabilities as well as improving independent living skills for adults with physical disabilities. For adolescents and adults with developmental disabilities, his main areas of research include self-determination and inclusion skills in schools, the workplace, and the community. For adults with physical disabilities, his main areas for independent living skills for individuals with physical disabilities are affordable and accessible housing as well as access to transportation services for their homes and in the community.

At his current position with KUCD, Ryan is involved with putting materials together for trainings, plain language reviews, data collection and management, and drafting content for newsletters and reports, among other tasks across several project teams. These teams include the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) team, the Information Dissemination team, the Plain Language team, and the Inclusive Research team. In addition to his current position with KUCD, Ryan has worked with the Beach Center on Disability as well as the Research and Training Center on Independent Living (RTC/IL) throughout his time at KU’s Life Span Institute (LSI). As a self-advocate, Ryan looks to grow his own self-advocacy skills and advocate for others with disabilities in his community, the state of Kansas, and across the country.