Impact Feature Issue on Stories of Advocacy, Stories of Change from People with Disabilities, Their Families, and Allies (1988-2013)

“Throughout the United States and Canada increasing numbers of children with severe disabilities are becoming full members of their home school communities.”– Impact: Feature Issue on Integrated Education, Winter 1988 

“Early in this decade, supported employment emerged as a priority in federal human service agencies. Today, experience with this strategy is revealing that consumers of this service can achieve levels of community integration and independence once thought impossible.”– Impact: Feature Issue on Supported Employment, Spring 1989

“We’ve witnessed incredible growth in the range of services available to young children with handicaps and their families, and there’s every indication that this growth is going to continue.”– Impact: Feature Issue on Early Intervention, Summer 1989 

“Just a few years ago many students with disabilities were viewed as ‘eternal children’ and taught to perform meaningless tasks, resulting in little or no demonstration of their personal capacities for independent and productive lives. Today, transition is a high priority across this nation.”– Impact: Feature Issue on Transition, Fall 1990

“...nearly 400 people involved in self-advocacy met at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, Colorado, to participate in the First North American People First conference.”– Impact: Feature Issue on Self-Advocacy, Winter 1990/91

 “As services to persons with disabilities are becoming increasingly community based, the roles of direct service staff are changing. With that change comes the need for additional education and training.”– Impact: Feature Issue on Training of Direct Service Staff, Spring 1992

“This past year Irving attended the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with a friend who was excited that it would help immediately. Irving was more excited, however, for the children that will benefit from ADA a few years from now.”– Impact: Feature Issue on Aging and Developmental Disabilities, Spring 1993 

“In the present system, funds are allocated to providers, and people with disabilities and their families have little or no say as to which providers supply services or what the configuration of those services should be. Changing this imbalance of power and control is at the heart of the push for self-determination.”– Impact: Feature Issue on Support Coordination and Self-Determination for Persons with Developmental Disabilities, Winter 1999/2000

“One group of people historically thought of exclusively as recipients of volunteer service, rather than providers of it, are people with developmental disabilities. The result is that our communities have missed out on their contributions.”– Impact: Feature Issue on Volunteerism by Persons with Developmental Disabilities, Fall 2001

“For many people with disabilities, access to transportation is the primary factor that determines whether they will be able to live and work independently in the community.”– Impact: Feature Issue on Meeting Transportation Needs of Youth and Adults with Developmental Disabilities, Summer 2005

“Women with disabilities face a double jeopardy situation when selecting a meaningful career. Their options may be limited by gender roles as well as disability stereotypes.”– Impact: Feature Issue on Employment and Women with Disabilities, Summer/Fall 2008

“Parents no longer ask, ‘How can I stop sexuality from developing in my child with an intellectual disability?’ Instead we are asking, ‘How can I help my child express sexuality in a way that’s consistent with his or her ability and within the standards of the community in which we live?’”– Impact: Feature Issue on Sexuality and People with Intellectual, Developmental and Other Disabilities, Spring/Summer 2010

“According to one calculation, over 500,000 students with disabilities in U.S. schools have limited English proficiency. These are students whose first language is not English, and in school they have the dual challenges of learning in a new language while navigating the education system as students with disabilities.”– Impact: Feature Issue on Educating K-12 English Language Learners with Disabilities, Winter/Spring 2013