Middle-school aged students sit around a table at school with microscopes and plants. The teacher assists a boy slightly out of frame.
Education/in /by TheArcAdmin
All children and youth with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities1 (I/DD) must receive a free appropriate public education that includes fair evaluation, ambitious goals, challenging objectives, the right to progress, individualized supports and services, high quality instruction, and access to the general education curriculum in age-appropriate inclusive settings. These are essential for achieving the nation’s four policy goals of equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency (the four policy goals). Parents and families must be supported as essential partners in the education and transition to adult life of their sons and daughters

ISSUE

People with I/DD continue to face numerous barriers in their education. Lifelong education is essential for all individuals with I/DD to achieve the four policy goals of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and to pursue opportunities for rich lives and contribute to the public good. “Disability is a natural part of the human experience and in no way diminishes the right of individuals to participate in or contribute to society. Improving educational results for children with disabilities is an essential element of our national policy of ensuring equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for individuals with disabilities.” (IDEA, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act).

Many students with I/DD remain segregated in self-contained classrooms or separate schools, with few or no opportunities for academic achievement or social engagement in inclusive settings. Students with I/DD frequently do not have appropriately ambitious2 and personalized goals, challenging objectives, high quality instruction, individualized transition planning, and related services and supports necessary to engage as full members of their school learning communities. Consequently, many students with I/DD leave school unprepared for further education, employment, and independent living in the community.

Many schools have policies and practices that push youth with I/DD out of school and into the juvenile justice system (known as the “school to prison pipeline”). Further, many of those in detention facilities with qualifying disabilities are not provided special education and related services.

Many parents, families, and students themselves are excluded from systemic participation as essential partners in the evaluation of the student’s strengths and limitations, as well as the development and implementation of their Individualized Education Programs (IEPs).

Administrators, educators, and support staff too often lack sufficient training and knowledge about the legal rights, learning needs, and abilities of these students. School districts struggle to identify, recruit, and retain qualified special education personnel. Paraprofessionals providing support in inclusive classrooms are often poorly paid and do not always receive or seek professional development relevant to students’ learning needs.

Outdated, inaccurate beliefs about students with I/DD persist, leading to low expectations, segregated classrooms, inappropriate disciplinary practices, and diminished accountability for these students. In some communities, an unexamined sole focus on student performance has led to an erroneous conclusion that students with I/DD are “bringing down” test scores and are to blame when schools and school systems do not achieve adequate progress.

POSITION

To ensure students with I/DD receive the education to which they are legally entitled, all those involved in the education of these students must work to fully implement our nation’s civil rights and education laws and accomplish the following actions.

All Means All: Zero Reject

  • Assure timely evaluation, identification, and provision of education and related services to all students with I/DD, incorporating all aspects of the students’ diversity, including age, gender, ethnicity, culture, language, socio-economic circumstances, sexual orientation, and family environment.
  • Disciplinary actions (suspension, expulsion, segregation) and alternate placements should not exclude the student from access to appropriate education and related services.

Non-Discriminatory and Comprehensive Eligibility Evaluations and Appropriate Assessments

  • Assure that the needs of the individual are considered fairly and comprehensively, including cognitive, emotional, functional, and developmental needs, as well as all areas of suspected disability and mental health needs.
  • Assure that multiple assessments, including those that identify a student’s strengths and abilities, are used and that IQ is not the sole measure of human functioning, nor does IQ alone determine placement or access to the general curriculum.
  • Exercise clinical judgment that is built upon respect for the person and emerges from specialized training and experience in I/DD, specific knowledge of the person and his/ her environments, extensive data, and use of critical thinking skills.
  • Assure that any predictions about a student’s potential learning are evidence-based and founded in high expectations for further education, employment, and independent living.
  • Assure that all educators implement appropriately ambitious goals and challenging objectives and use measurements of progress that are aligned to the unique ways that students with I/DD learn. Develop adaptations for assessment and grading, when necessary, that accurately capture the strengths and limitations of students with I/DD.

High Expectations and Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)

  • Develop and implement IEPs with high expectations that include appropriately ambitious personalized goals and challenging objectives and that build on a student’s strengths; meet the student’s learning, employment, and independent living needs; and offer related services and supplementary services necessary and likely, based on evidence, to ensure the student will make progress toward achieving the nation’s four policy goals.
  • Ensure that all students have access to the general education curriculum. General education includes the academic curriculum, extracurricular activities, and other school activities.
  • Incorporate evidence-based, peer-reviewed instructional strategies and interventions, provided by professionally qualified teachers, related services personnel, and other staff, all of whom receive the training, preparation, and supports they need to be effective professionals.
  • Ensure that a range of appropriate technology options are made available in a timely and culturally and linguistically appropriate manner to all students who could benefit from them, and that the necessary training for use of the technology is provided immediately and consistently.

Autonomy, Self-Determination, and Decision-Making Supports

  • Incorporate and support the development of autonomy, self-determination, self- advocacy, and leadership skills throughout students’ educational experiences, including meaningful participation in the student’s IEP.
  • Assure that school policy and semi-annual in-service training emphasizes autonomy, self-determination, and decision-making supports, and that teachers and other non- lawyers do not give families legal advice related to guardianship.

Inclusion and the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

  • To the maximum extent appropriate, every student has a right to be educated in their inclusive neighborhood school and in the general education curriculum in that school. Any exception should be rare and considered only when education in the general education classroom cannot be satisfactorily achieved. Each student has a right to the related services, supplementary aids and services, accommodations, and modifications needed to learn alongside students without disabilities.
  • Assure that the student is integrated in academic and social aspects of the general curriculum.
  • Include an explicit written plan to achieve more integration in both academic and social aspects of the general curriculum when the student is currently in a restricted setting.
  • Foster the development of peer relationships and membership in the school community to create a receptive, welcoming atmosphere, including extracurricular activities and school trips.
  • Avoid the long-term costs of segregating students with I/DD, including the reduced opportunities for learning, employment, independent living, and social engagement.
  • Ensure that all teachers and related services personnel are trained, prepared, and supported to teach and support students effectively in the general education curriculum and in inclusive settings.

Safe and Supportive Education Environments

  • Ensure safe school environments that provide mental health supports and protection against bullying.
  • Ensure that all students with I/DD have effective culturally and linguistically appropriate communication systems and technology that reduces the need to use behavior to communicate and maximize educational engagement.
  • Assure development and ongoing use of school-wide and system-wide intervention models, including school-wide positive behavioral supports and using the principles of universal design for learning (UDL) in designing curricula, materials, instruction, and assessments to create maximum access to learning environments for students with diverse abilities and learning styles.
  • Avoid harsh policies and procedures, such as “zero tolerance”, that lead to exclusion, injury, loss of education, or involvement with the criminal justice system by implementing school-wide positive behavior support that includes students with disabilities to prevent or eliminate such situations. Assure appropriate evaluations and IEPs, and avoid the criminalization of behaviors that are the manifestation of the student’s disabilities.
  • Prohibit the use of mechanical or chemical restraint, isolation, or aversives. Emergency, time-limited, monitored restraint may be used only by trained personnel and only when the student’s behavior presents an imminent danger of serious physical harm to the student or others and less restrictive interventions are insufficient to mitigate the imminent danger of serious physical harm. Physical restraint which restricts airflow, including prone restraint, and mechanical restraint must be prohibited.
  • Ensure that supports and strategies are planned and implemented to successfully reintegrate a student who has been restrained or secluded back into the school or classroom environment.
  • Assure that students are not disciplined for the manifestation of their disabilities.
  • Assure safe school transportation for all students with disabilities, provided by trained and monitored drivers with background checks, in order to avoid abuse and maltreatment of students. Schools must assure the sufficient allocation of transportation resources such that transportation is not used to justify early departures, late arrivals, or excessive travel times.

School Choice

  • Charter schools and private schools that accept public funds through a voucher or voucher-like system must comply with IDEA, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 504). Specifically, they must provide zero reject and free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment, including nondiscriminatory evaluation, individualized appropriate education plan, access to the general curriculum (academic, extracurricular, and other school activities), procedural safeguards, and parent participation.
  • Ensure that school choice efforts do not diminish the resources and effectiveness of public school systems in which they operate.

Family and Student Participation

  • Ensure the meaningful participation of students, families, and their chosen advisors in the evaluation of students and the design and monitoring of the students’ IEPs.
  • Assure that parents with special needs, including those with disabilities or language or cultural differences, receive the information, supports, services, and full ADA/504 rights to effectively exercise their rights to partner in the education of their children.
  • Expeditiously connect students and families with information, resources, and training that help them understand and exercise their rights under the IDEA, Section 504,
    the ADA, Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
  • Assure that school personnel provide timely explanations that are understandable and use functional descriptive language for special education and related services being proposed for the student.

Lifelong Education, Transition, and Post-Secondary Education

  • Provide early intervention and preschool services to infants, toddlers, and preschool-age children with disabilities alongside their typical peers and provide transition planning for children to ensure access to the general education curriculum and full integration in neighborhood schools as they move to kindergarten or first grade.
  • Develop and implement transition plans based on student strengths, preferences, and interests to facilitate each student’s successful movement from school to adult life, including postsecondary and vocational education, competitive integrated employment, independent living, and community participation.
  • Develop an individualized postsecondary and/or pre-employment program, including choices and creative career exploration through apprenticeships and internships, in coordination with IDEA and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).
  • Ensure that all students receive meaningful evidence of their school achievements including diplomas.

System Capacity Development, Funding, Oversight, and Accountability

  • Assure that the training, preparation, compensation, supports, and accountability systems needed to build a cadre of effective professional teachers, other education personnel such as school principals, related services personnel, paraprofessionals, and other staff are evidence-based and effective to meet the child’s specific needs.
  • Assure a cadre of effective lay and legal advocates to assist families and individuals to exercise their rights.
  • Increase active monitoring and enforcement through local, state, and federal agencies to ensure that the IDEA, ADA, Section 504, and state special education laws and mandates are met.
  • Fulfill the federal commitment to fully fund the IDEA.
  • Ensure that all students with disabilities, including those with the most significant cognitive disabilities, continue to be included in public school, district, and state level accountability systems. Ensure that states are not allowed to exempt more than 1% of students (that is, exempt only those students that the state determines have the most significant cognitive disabilities up to 1%) from their general accountability data.

 

Rev’d 2018
Joint statement with the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD).

1“People with intellectual disability (ID)” refers to those with “significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills. This disability originates before age 18,” as defined by the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) in its manual, Intellectual Disability: Definition, Classification, and Systems of Supports (Schalock et al., 2010), and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5), published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA, 2013). “People with developmental disabilities (DD)” refers to those with “a severe, chronic disability of an individual that- (i) is attributable to a mental or physical impairment or combination of mental and physical impairments; (ii) is manifested before the individual attains age 22; (iii) is likely to continue indefinitely; (iv) results in substantial functional limitations in 3 or more of the following areas of major life activity: (I) Self-care, (II) Receptive and expressive language, (III) Learning, (IV) Mobility, (V) Self-direction, (VI) Capacity for independent living, (VII) Economic self-sufficiency; and (v) reflects the individual’s need for a combination and sequence of special, interdisciplinary, or generic services, individualized supports, or other forms of assistance that are of lifelong or extended duration and are individually planned and coordinated,” as defined by the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act 2000. In everyday language, people with ID and/or DD are frequently referred to as people with cognitive, intellectual and/or developmental disabilities.

2In March 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District RE-1 clarifying the test for determining whether school districts have met their obligation to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to students with disabilities guaranteed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The Court ruled that a child’s educational program must be “appropriately ambitious in light of his circumstances,” a more demanding standard than the “merely more than de minimis” test applied by the Tenth Circuit.

A small group of nursery school students sit around a teacher on a wood floor as she reads them a book
Early Childhood Services/in /by TheArcAdmin
All young children who are at-risk for or who have been identified with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities1 (I/DD) should have access to high-quality, affordable developmental services in natural environments. These services should build on the strengths of the child and family, address their needs, be responsive to their culture and personal priorities, and be delivered through research-based practices.

ISSUE

Access to and quality of intensive intervention for children with developmental delays and disabilities remains inadequate, despite a validated knowledge-base that establishes its critical importance. Early intervention services are inconsistent at the state and local level. Often such services are neither appropriate, nor well-timed, nor sufficient in intensity and quality to promote positive development or to prevent secondary conditions. Many children at risk for developmental disabilities due to environmental and/or biological factors are not identified in a timely fashion. Major barriers include inadequate funding and service systems which do not accommodate the needs of families.

POSITION

Early childhood services must be strengthened at the national, state, and local level. Screening and early identification must be readily available in the community and widely publicized through awareness campaigns and local child-find initiatives. Early childhood services should enhance the overall well-being and development of children who have or are “at risk” for developmental disabilities. Early childhood services should also provide family support that:

  • Responds to families’ strengths and needs;
  • Is delivered in a family-centered way;
  • Improves family quality of life; and
  • Assists family members in carrying out appropriate therapeutic practices in the home.

Children with, or at risk for, developmental disabilities must be identified and served as early as possible. Clear evidence has established that:

  • Earlier is typically better when providing early childhood services and supports; and
  • Providing services to children who are at-risk for developmental delay is a sound developmental and fiscal investment.

Measurable, cost-effective, and sound intervention will advance the development of children and support their health, well-being, and community participation. Substantial research and successful experience have established that early childhood services should:

  • Be delivered in natural settings and, to the maximum extent possible, with same-aged peers who do not have disabilities; and
  • Maximize opportunities for children to experience family, school, and community participation.

Families are the constant in children’s lives, and the primary source of lifelong support and early learning. Families should be supported in making informed decisions and in partnering effectively with professionals to achieve positive outcomes. Research and practical experience have established that:

  • Families must have full access to the best available research, family wisdom and professional expertise to enable them to make informed decisions;
  • Family partnerships with professionals which are based on mutual respect and trust are effective and contribute to family quality of life outcomes; and
  • Children who are either in foster care or adoptive homes must be particularly targeted for screening for at-risk issues.

Children and families must have access to a system of evidence-based services which is:

  • Community-based and coordinated;
  • Responsive to individual and cultural differences;
  • Provided by supportive and skilled personnel;
  • Directed towards:
    • seamless transitions between early intervention and public education;
    • community inclusion; and
    • measurable benefits for children and their families.

Research and successful practical experience have established that:

  • When early childhood services are provided in natural environments, both children and families will experience increased community inclusion during early childhood and across the life span;
  • State-of-the-art service coordination will enhance the access of children and families to support and services from multiple agencies and community resources; and
  • Ongoing monitoring and evaluation of services will ensure measurable outcomes, equity and effectiveness.

The Arc of the United States and the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities support universal access to high quality, research-based, family-centered early childhood services for all children, between birth and five years at risk for developmental delay.

 

Rev’d 2013
Joint statement with the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD).

1“People with intellectual disability and/or developmental disabilities” refers to those defined by AAIDD classification and DSM IV. In everyday language they are frequently referred to as people with cognitive, intellectual and/or developmental disabilities although the professional and legal definitions of those terms both include others and exclude some defined by DSM IV.

A 3 or 4 year old boy is upset at his mother, standing nearby, and raising his arms as he throws a temper tantrum. They are outside.
Behavioral Supports/in /by TheArcAdmin
A full and active life supported by caring relationships can reduce the occurrence of challenging behaviors in people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities1 (I/DD). However, if such behaviors occur, people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities and those who support them must have access to positive behavioral supports that focus on improved quality of life as well as reductions in the behaviors.

ISSUE

People with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities need supportive and caring relationships in order to develop full and active lives. Historically, people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities across the age span have frequently been subjected to aversive procedures (i.e., electric shock, cold water sprays and deprivations like withholding food or visitation with friends and family) that may cause physical pain, discomfort and/or psychological harm. Children and adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities are frequently subjected to physical restraint, including the use of life-threatening prone restraint and seclusion for long periods of time.

Research indicates that aversive procedures such as deprivation, physical restraint and seclusion do not reduce challenging behaviors, and in fact can inhibit the development of appropriate skills and behaviors. These practices are dangerous, dehumanizing, result in a loss of dignity, and are unacceptable in a civilized society.

POSITION

Research-based positive behavioral supports should be readily available in natural settings including the family home. Families, caregivers, educators, direct support personnel, and other professionals and paraprofessionals should be provided with training and support in implementing effective positive behavioral interventions and supports in all environments. Behavioral supports should be individually designed and positive, emphasize learning, offer choice and social integration, be culturally appropriate, and include modifying environments as needed.

The Arc and AAIDD are opposed to all aversive procedures, such as electric shock, deprivation, seclusion and isolation. Interventions must not withhold essential food and drink, cause physical and/or psychological pain or result in humiliation or discomfort. Physical restraints should only be used as a last resort to eliminate the danger of physical injury to self or others.

The following factors should be considered in developing a positive behavioral intervention plan:

  • The circumstances and environment in which the behavior occurred;
  • The perspectives of the individual, his or her family and their social/cultural background and values;
  • The contributing factors, such as physical or medical conditions, social and environmental influences;
  • The completeness and accuracy of any data which has been collected about the behavior;
  • The nature, extent, and frequency of the perceived challenging behavior; and
  • The function of the behavior, especially what the person may be trying to communicate.

Further, any positive behavioral inventions must also include consideration of:

  • The potential secondary effects and risks associated with the intervention;
  • The legal, social and ethical implications;
  • The ease and practicality of implementation; and
  • The consistency with values of the individual’s culture.

Positive behavioral supports should be:

  • Designed in a person-centered process involving the individual;
  • Developed within the broader context of providing quality medical, psychological, educational, and facilitative services;
  • Based on a functional analysis of the behavior and the circumstances under which it occurred, a thorough assessment of each individual’s unique abilities and contributions, and an understanding of how previous interventions worked;
  • Provided through a least restrictive strategy and described in a written plan;
  • Grounded in evidence-based procedures that will:
    • prevent challenging behaviors;
    • teach new skills that may replace challenging behaviors;
    • prevent the on-going reward of a challenging behavior;
    • reinforce positive behavior;
    • ensure safety (when necessary); and
    • provide systemic information on the effectiveness of the support.
  • Used in a humane and caring manner respecting individual dignity;
  • Implemented in positive, socially supportive and culturally appropriate environments, including the home;
  • Carried out by individuals (i.e., staff, family members and others) who have been trained and are qualified to effectively apply positive, non-aversive approaches;
  • Include adaptations to the environment and reinforcers that people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities and their families identify as positive; and
  • Monitored continuously and systematically to ensure appropriate implementation and that the support is consistent with individual needs, positive in its methods, successful in achieving established goals, and changed in a timely fashion if success is not evident or occurring at an appropriate rate.

 

Rev’d 2015
Joint statement with the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD).

1“People with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities” refers to those defined by AAIDD classification and DSM IV. In everyday language they are frequently referred to as people with cognitive, intellectual and/or developmental disabilities although the professional and legal definitions of those terms both include others and exclude some defined by DSM IV.

An elderly woman stands with her hand on her mouth in front of a brick wall with foliage and flowers beside her
Aging/in /by TheArcAdmin
People with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities1 (I/DD) who are 55 years of age or older have a right to the same opportunities to enjoy full lives as other older people. They are entitled to full access to community supports, including support from those agencies that serve all older people.

ISSUE

For the first time in history, Americans living in the 21st century will experience millions of people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities living into their “senior” years. These Americans with disabilities want to enjoy their older years in the same manner as other people their age. Unfortunately, the discrimination that older people often experience in accessing community activities, housing, services, and supports and in enjoying all aspects of community life as they age, is experienced to a much greater degree by people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities as they age.

Like other older Americans, people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities may require greater levels of support to allow them to live full, active and healthy lives in their communities as independently and as long as possible. Unfortunately, many older people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities lack basic housing supports, as well as the specialized services needed to enable them to live more independently. They also lack the access to the health care services they need as they grow older, particularly access to preventative services and to ongoing habilitation and rehabilitation services.

Additionally, family members of people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities often lack information about and access to resources to enable them to support the person who is growing older. Many people with disabilities see no future for themselves as they grow older, other than one inside the walls of a nursing home or other institutional setting.

These problems are compounded by the fact that many community-based services for senior citizens are not prepared to meet the special needs of older adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. Likewise, many disability-based organizations have historically not planned for the challenges faced by older people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities and are not prepared to address these unique needs, including providing education and training on mitigating the risk of elder abuse and neglect for a potentially more vulnerable population of older people. In addition, a disconcerting trend is occurring. More and more aging individuals with disabilities are becoming caregivers for their even older parents.

POSITION

As they age, people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities must have every opportunity to be recognized as respected members of the community. Community services and supports that are geared to older community members must accommodate the supports needed by those who have also experienced lifelong disabilities.

People with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities who are aging should:

  • Be afforded the same rights, dignity, respect, and opportunities as other older people in their communities;
  • Be empowered, together with their families if asked, to advocate for themselves;
  • Be free from discrimination on the basis of disability and/or aging;
  • Have access to appropriate community-based social services, transportation, legal services, and other services;
  • Have access to a full array of affordable housing services appropriate to their age and physical and mental condition;
  • Have access to a full array of health care services appropriate to their age and physical and mental condition, including preventive health care, ongoing habilitation and rehabilitation services for as long as they are needed, including appropriate end-of-life care;
  • Receive the supports they need to live, work, play, and retire when, where, and how they prefer, including supports for family members who can assist them in the pursuit of a quality and self-determined aging experience;
  • Be free from the fear of inappropriate institutionalization;
  • Be free from the fear of elder abuse and neglect by family members, providers or community members; and
  • Have access to financial supports that will provide them with retirement opportunities like those that are available to other older people who no longer work.

 

Rev’d 2013
Joint statement with the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD).

1“People with intellectual disability and/or developmental disabilities” refers to those defined by AAIDD classification and DSM IV. In everyday language they are frequently referred to as people with cognitive, intellectual and/or developmental disabilities although the professional and legal definitions of those terms both include others and exclude some defined by DSM IV.

An attendee from The Arc's convention smiles with a crowd of people behind him
Life in the Community Summary/in /by TheArcAdmin
All people, regardless of disability, deserve the opportunity for a full life in their community where they can live, learn, work, and play alongside each other through all stages of life. People with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities1 (I/DD) need varying degrees of support to reach personal goals and establish a sense of satisfaction with their lives.

AGING

People with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities who are 55 years of age or older have a right to the same opportunities to enjoy full lives as other older people. They are entitled to full access to community supports, including support from those agencies that serve all older people.

BEHAVIORAL SUPPORTS

A full and active life supported by caring relationships can reduce the occurrence of challenging behaviors in people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. However, if such behaviors occur, people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities and those who support them must have access to positive behavioral supports that focus on improved quality of life as well as reductions in the behaviors.

EARLY CHILDHOOD SERVICES

All young children who are at-risk for or who have been identified with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities should have access to high-quality, affordable developmental services in natural environments. These services should build on the strengths of the child and family, address their needs, be responsive to their culture and personal priorities, and be delivered through research-based practices.

EDUCATION

All children and youth with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities must receive a free appropriate public education that includes fair evaluation, ambitious goals, challenging objectives, the right to progress, individualized supports and services, high quality instruction, and access to the general education curriculum in age-appropriate inclusive settings. These are essential for achieving the nation’s four policy goals of equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency (the four policy goals). Parents and families must be supported as essential partners in the education and transition to adult life of their sons and daughters.

EMPLOYMENT

People with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities can be employed in the community alongside people without disabilities and earn competitive wages. They should be supported to make informed choices about their work and careers and have the resources to seek, obtain, and be successful in community employment.

FAMILY SUPPORT

Family support services and other means of supporting families should be available to all families to strengthen families’ capacities to support family members with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities in achieving equal opportunity, independent living, full participation, and economic self-sufficiency.

HEALTH

All people, including people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, should have timely access to high quality, comprehensive, accessible, affordable, appropriate health care that meets their individual needs, maximizes health, well-being and function, and increases independence and community participation.

The health care system must be aligned to principles of nondiscrimination, comprehensiveness, continuity, appropriateness, and equity. Both comprehensive public and private health insurance must provide for necessary health care without regard to the nature or severity of disability, pre-existing conditions, or other health status.

HOUSING

People with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, like all Americans, have a right to live in their own homes, in the community. Children and youth belong with families. Adults should control where and with whom they live, including having opportunities to rent or buy their own homes, and must have the freedom to choose their daily routines and activities.

INDIVIDUAL SUPPORTS

People with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities must have access to individual supports, such as assistive technology and personal assistance, to support their participation in daily life.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR FINANCIAL ASSET BUILDING

People with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities must have the same opportunities to advance their economic and personal freedom by earning and saving money to enhance their physical, social, emotional, and financial well-being and the right to exercise choice in investment and spending decisions as their peers who do not have disabilities.

PARENTS WITH INTELLECTUAL AND/OR DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES

The presence of an intellectual and/or developmental disability does not in itself preclude effective parenting; therefore, the rights of parenthood must not be denied individuals solely on the basis of intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. Parents with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities should have access to support as needed to perform parental roles just as they are supported in other valued social roles and activities.

SEXUALITY

People with intellectual disabilities and/or developmental disabilities, like all people, have inherent sexual rights. These rights and needs must be affirmed, defended, and respected.

SPIRITUALITY

People with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities have the right to choose their own expressions of spirituality, to practice those beliefs and expressions and to participate in the faith community of their choice or other spiritual activities. They also have a right to choose not to participate in religious or spiritual activity.

TRANSPORTATION

People with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities must have access to both public and private transportation to lead full, independent lives.

 

1“People with intellectual disability (ID)” refers to those with “significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills. This disability originates before age 18,” as defined by the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) in its manual, Intellectual Disability: Definition, Classification, and Systems of Supports (Schalock et al., 2010), and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5), published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA, 2013). “People with developmental disabilities (DD)” refers to those with “a severe, chronic disability of an individual that- (i) is attributable to a mental or physical impairment or combination of mental and physical impairments; (ii) is manifested before the individual attains age 22; (iii) is likely to continue indefinitely; (iv) results in substantial functional limitations in 3 or more of the following areas of major life activity: (I) Self-care, (II) Receptive and expressive language, (III) Learning, (IV) Mobility, (V) Self-direction, (VI) Capacity for independent living, (VII) Economic self-sufficiency; and (v) reflects the individual’s need for a combination and sequence of special, interdisciplinary, or generic services, individualized supports, or other forms of assistance that are of lifelong or extended duration and are individually planned and coordinated,” as defined by the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act 2000. In everyday language, people with ID and/or DD are frequently referred to as people with cognitive, intellectual and/or developmental disabilities.