The Arc of the United States is an organization serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The organization was founded in the 1950s by parents of people with developmental disabilities. [1] Since then, the organization has established state chapters in 39 states, and 730 local chapters in states across the country. [2] The Arc of the United States is based in Washington, D.C.
The organization advocates for disabled people and helps them with issues like finding jobs, and helping employers adapt to the needs of disabled people. [3]
According to financial statements submitted to the IRS, the organization's 2019 income was $9.8 million. Its end of year assets were reported to be $13.4 million. [4] Major sources of income are charitable donations; dues for membership in local and state chapters; and government grants, contracts, and fees. [5]
The Arc has condemned the use of physical punishment to modify behavior in people with disabilities. [6]
The first organization of families was the Children's Benevolent League, incorporated in 1936 in the state of Washington. [7] The San Francisco chapter was founded in 1951. [8] [9] [10]
The organization was called the National Association for Retarded Children from 1953 to 1973 and then was the National Association for Retarded Citizens from 1973 to 1981, the Association for Retarded Citizens of the United States from 1981 to 1992, and it assumed its present name in 1992, as part of expanding its function and reacting to the euphemism treadmill. [11] [12]
In the summer of 2008, the Arc strongly criticized the movie Tropic Thunder , in which Ben Stiller portrays an actor whose roles include "Simple Jack", a man with an intellectual disability. The Arc called the portrayal "offensive" and also objected to the use of the words "retard", "moron", and "imbecile" throughout the movie. The Arc was among a group of disability organizations, including the Special Olympics and the National Down Syndrome Congress which called for a boycott of the film. [13] Spokespeople for Tropic Thunder, along with Ben Stiller, argued that critics like the Arc did not understand that the movie was intended to make fun of actors and the movie industry, not individuals with disabilities, describing the movie as "an R-rated comedy that satirizes Hollywood and its excesses and makes it point by featuring inappropriate and over-the-top characters in ridiculous situations." [13] However, the Arc continued to criticize the film as containing hate speech, promoting offensive stereotypes of people with intellectual disabilities, and being offensive to people with disabilities and their families. The Arc of the United States called for all of its chapters across the nation to picket and protest against the film, launched educational campaigns, and wrote open letters to Ben Stiller and the film's creators explaining their criticisms and calling for Stiller to meet with disability advocates to engage in "honest and open dialogue about the offense this film perpetrates." [14]
In May 2021, the Massachusetts Independent State auditor released findings that accused the management and board of directors of the Berkshire County Arc of misappropriating $777,844 in state funds meant for developmentally disabled persons. [15] An article in the Berkshire Eagle interviewing the new CEO Maryann Hyatt cited her saying: "The end result was that there was no finding of wrongdoing or financial misappropriation of funds. But the audit did make us aware of the need to review some of our internal policies and procedures. The agency has experienced growth over the past few years and the audit made us aware that some policies needed to be tweaked in the light of growth. It was actually helpful to have a third-party review. We have made the necessary changes and we believe strongly that the agency has the proper policies and procedures in place for the present and the future." [16]
I Am Sam is a 2001 American drama film co-written and directed by Jessie Nelson. It stars Sean Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dianne Wiest, Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning, Richard Schiff, Loretta Devine and Laura Dern.
Timothy Perry Shriver is an American disability rights activist, film producer, and former educator who has been Chairman of Special Olympics since 1996 and is the founder of UNITE. He is a member of the Kennedy family as the third child of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and Sargent Shriver, who helped found the Peace Corps.
Willowbrook State School was a state-supported institution for children with intellectual disabilities in the Willowbrook neighborhood of Staten Island in New York City, which operated from 1947 until 1987.
The Walter E. Fernald State School, later the Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center, was the Western hemisphere's oldest publicly funded institution serving people with developmental disabilities. Under its third superintendent, Walter Fernald, it became a model for state institutions for the developmentally disabled. It later was the scene of medical experiments in the 20th century. Investigations into this research led to new regulations regarding human research in children.
Self-advocacy is the act of speaking up for oneself and one's interests. It is used as a name for civil rights movements and mutual aid networks for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The term arose in the broader civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s, and is part of the disability rights movement. Today there are self-advocacy organizations across the world.
Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) are professionals who work directly with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, with the aim of assisting the individual to become integrated into their community or the least restrictive environment.
A group home, congregate living facility, care home, adult family home, etc., is a structured and supervised residence model that provides assisted living and medical care for those with complex health needs. Traditionally, the model has been used for children or young people who cannot live with their families or afford their own homes, people with chronic disabilities who may be adults or seniors, or people with dementia and related aged illnesses. Typically, there are no more than six residents, and there is at least one trained caregiver there 24 hours a day. In some early "model programs", a house manager, night manager, weekend activity coordinator, and four part-time skill teachers were reported. Originally, the term group home referred to homes of 8 to 16 individuals, which was a state-mandated size during deinstitutionalization. Residential nursing facilities, also included in this article, may be as large as 100 individuals in 2015, which is no longer the case in fields such as intellectual and developmental disabilities. Depending on the severity of the condition requiring one to need to live in a group home, some clients are able to attend day programs and most clients are able to live normal lifestyles.
Tropic Thunder is a 2008 satirical action comedy film directed by Ben Stiller, who wrote the screenplay with Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen. The film stars Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Jay Baruchel, and Brandon T. Jackson as a group of prima donna actors making a Vietnam War film. When their frustrated director drops them in the middle of a jungle and dies in an accident, they are forced to rely on their acting skills to survive the real action and danger. Tropic Thunder parodies many prestigious war films, the Hollywood studio system, and method acting. The ensemble cast includes Nick Nolte, Danny McBride, Matthew McConaughey, Bill Hader, and Tom Cruise.
Emmanuel Serrière is an educator, administrator, and advocate for people with developmental disabilities, researcher on autism.
The Family Movement, also known in the past as the Parent Movement, is an arm of the disability rights movement, a larger social movement. The Family Movement advocates for the economic and social rights of family members with a disability. Key elements include: social inclusion; active participation; a life of meaning; safety; economic security; accessibility and self-determination. The family movement has been critical in closing institutions and other segregated facilities; promoting inclusive education; reforming adult guardianship to the current supported decision-making; increasing access to health care; developing real jobs; fighting stereotypes and reducing discrimination.
The Arc Montgomery County is one of the largest and oldest nonprofit organizations in the U.S. state of Maryland that serves individuals, families and employers affected by intellectual and developmental disabilities. Since 1958, The Arc has been the leading provider of lifelong educational, residential, vocational, and support programs and resources in Montgomery County.
Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ICF/IID), formerly known as Intermediate Care Facilities for Mental Retardation (ICF/MR), is an American Medicaid-funded institutional long-term support and service (LTSS) for people with intellectual disabilities or related conditions. Section 1905(d) of the Social Security Act enacted benefits and made funding available for "institutions" for individuals with intellectual or related conditions. According to federal law 42 CFR § 440.150 the purpose of ICD/IIDs is to "furnish health or rehabilitative services to persons with Intellectual Disability or persons with related conditions."
Gunnar Dybwad (1909–2001) was an American professor and advocate for the rights of people with disabilities, particularly developmental disabilities. He is best known for his support for the social model of disability, reframing disability accommodations as a matter of civil rights, not medical treatment. The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities gives out the Dybwad Humanitarian Award annually in his honor.
In typical usage, retard is a pejorative term either for someone with an actual mental disability, or for someone who is considered stupid, slow to understand, or ineffective in some way. The adjective retarded is used in the same way, for something very foolish or stupid. The word is sometimes censored and referred to as the euphemistic "r‑word" or "r‑slur".
Hall v. Florida, 572 U.S. 701 (2014), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that a bright-line IQ threshold requirement for determining whether someone has an intellectual disability is unconstitutional in deciding whether they are eligible for the death penalty.
Mary Meyers Rosenfield was an American community leader, active in special education and services for people with developmental disabilities in Texas.
Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 334 F. Supp. 1257, was a case where the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was sued by the Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC), now The Arc of Pennsylvania, over a law that gave public schools the authority to deny a free education to children who had reached the age of 8, yet had not reached the mental age of 5. The law had also been used by the state in multiple occasions to deny free public education to children who had a hard time integrating into classroom environments and schools. This was the first major legal case to provide equality to students with disabilities. The case was filed and settled by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and lasted between 1971 and 1972. The case was over seen by three judges, Circuit Judge Adams, and two District Judges, Masterson and Broderick. The language used during this case is outdated to modern times; therefore, the use of the word "mentally retarded" refers to any intellectual disability.
Singapore does not have a formal definition of disability. Singapore signed on to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2013 and coordinates the Enabling Masterplan with both government and non governmental organisations.
AHRC New York City is an organization serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in New York City. The initialism AHRC once stood for Association for the Help of Retarded Children. While the name is no longer used, the organization retained its four letters.
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