Valerie Barich

Valerie is a doctoral candidate in DHD at UIC. Valerie has a J.D. and a Master’s Degree from Northwestern University’s School of Communications. She has a young adult son with disabilities, and is very active in disability issues within her home community of Frankfort, IL. Valerie has served on parent advisory and governance committees of non-profit organizations in the south suburban communities of Chicago. She spent more than a decade as a trial attorney protecting the rights of people experiencing disability as a result of traumatic injuries, and is now pursuing her Ph.D. in Disability and Human Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago. As a research assistant in the Ph.D. program and a community connector for adults with intellectual disabilities, Valerie has worked with organizational, familial, research, and community stakeholders across a variety of research and social capital projects to develop, deliver and evaluate a variety of curriculum, training, and community-based supports for people with disabilities. These included a leadership institute, entrepreneurial training, and short-term stabilization homes for people with disabilities.

Why did you choose DHD at UIC?
Valerie chose DHD at UIC as a result of her encounters with UIC PhD graduates who pioneered a Full Life Model for adults with intellectual disabilities, as well as Northwestern University faculty who recommended the program.

What do you want to do with a DHD degree?
Valerie has a strong interest, skill, and enthusiasm for eliciting and sharing stakeholders with IDD and their families’ perspectives on community inclusion and organizational change to promote full lives for individuals with disabilities. She intends to continue advocacy at a community level for interdependent housing and employment.

Research Interests
Disability as a social structure in the economy; Interdependent community living.  

Education 
B.S., Political Science, Illinois State University, 1992; J.D., University of Detroit Mercy, 1998; M.S., Communication, Northwestern University, 2013.