40 Big Ideas in Disability

What big ideas have most shaped the lives of people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (IDD)?

To mark its 40th anniversary, the Institute on Community Integration informally polled 123 self-advocates, direct support professionals, leaders of provider organizations, researchers, and others, asking them to rank major events and concepts in disability history over the last half-century. The top 40 ideas form the fall issue of ICI’s Impact magazine. Deinstitutionalization, inclusive education, community integration and inclusion, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Medicaid’s home and community-based services round out the top five ideas on the list.

More than 60 authors from around the disability field contributed to the issue, in keeping with the publication’s long-running mission to feature voices from ICI as well as from people with disabilities, researchers, providers, and others outside of ICI. Issue editors were ICI Director Amy Hewitt; Tia Nelis, a longtime disability rights leader; and Jerry Smith, ICI’s marketing and communications director.

In a forward-looking article putting the 40 Big Ideas in context with the serious challenges facing people with disabilities, their families, and people and organizations supporting them, Hewitt urges persistence, courage, and collaboration. She lifts up deinstitutionalization efforts that have resulted in most people with IDD now living in the community. More are working in competitive, integrated employment, and more are learning in inclusive classrooms.

“While many of these ideas have resulted in significant policy changes and real improvements in people’s lives, much work remains unfinished,” Hewitt writes, citing concerns about continued shortages in the direct support workforce and long waiting lists for services. “We must invest in a stable and respected workforce, demand accountability for meaningful outcomes, and build systems that are led by the voices of people with IDD and their families. Real progress will come not from words alone or the next big idea, but from bold action, with policies grounded in justice, communities that lead with belonging, and partnerships that refuse to settle for mediocrity.”

For a free subscription to Impact, click here.