Accessible Audio for Making A Difference

Article from the Fall 2024 edition of the Making a Difference magazine for the Self-Advocacy Spotlight feature. The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is driven by its Five Year Strategic Plan goals to improve services and supports for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (I/DD). The Council, charged with creating systems change for individuals with devel...

Article from the Fall 2024 edition of the Making a Difference magazine for the Public Policy for the People feature. The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is driven by its Five Year Strategic Plan goals to improve services and supports for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (I/DD). The Council, charged with creating systems change for individuals with...

Article from the Fall 2024 edition of GCDD's Making a Difference Magazine from the Include College Corner feature. The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is driven by its Five Year Strategic Plan goals to improve services and supports for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (I/DD). The Council, charged with creating systems change for individuals wi...

Article from the Fall 2024 edition of the Making a Difference magazine for the GCDD Impact feature. The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is driven by its Five Year Strategic Plan goals to improve services and supports for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (I/DD). The Council, charged with creating systems change for individuals with developmental dis...

Article from the Fall 2024 edition of the Making a Difference magazine for the Expert Update feature. The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is driven by its Five Year Strategic Plan goals to improve services and supports for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (I/DD). The Council, charged with creating systems change for individuals with developmental d...

Article from the Fall 2024 edition of the Making a Difference magazine for the In The Community feature. The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is driven by its Five Year Strategic Plan goals to improve services and supports for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (I/DD). The Council, charged with creating systems change for individuals with developmenta...

The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is driven by its Five Year Strategic Plan goals to improve services and supports for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (I/DD). The Council, charged with creating systems change for individuals with developmental disabilities and family members, will work through various advocacy and capacity building activities to...

Elite Squad Inc., founded in June 2023 by Dorinda Peterson and Amy Hines, is an advocacy and social connection group in metro Atlanta dedicated to changing societal perspectives on how people interact and engage with people with disabilities. The group accomplishes its mission by hosting and leading various social events for people of all backgrounds to meet, learn various life skills, and have a...

Tracy Rackensperger is faculty member of the University of Georgia (UGA) Institute on Human Development and Disability (IHDD). She serves as the resource and outreach manager for the Advancing Employment program, a technical assistance center for best practices in employment support, particularly concerning employees with disabilities. The program aims to transition workers out of subminimum wage...

Mark Friedman, Ph. D., and Ruther-Marie Beckwith, Ph. D., of Blue Fire Inc., a grantee of the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD), have recently done extensive research through the Georgia Technology White Paper with two objectives: to identify the barriers to technology access for people in the intellectual and developmental disability (I/DD) community and to make concrete recomm...

Established in 2016 at the Center for Leadership in Disability within Georgia State University’s (GSU) School of Public Health, the Inclusive Digital Expression and Literacy (IDEAL) program was founded to provide students with intellectual disabilities (ID) the same academic, social, and career opportunities as their peers.  The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is driven by its...

Uniting for Change self-advocates in Georgia are engaged in advocating for voting rights and participating in the 2024 Caravan for Disability Justice and Freedom, traveling across the country to raise awareness. They'll also lead Zoom workshops on supported decision making and voting, while organizing community meetings and training programs to empower individuals with disabilities.  The Geor...

Caroline O'Brien, a self-advocate and tech mentor from Savannah, Georgia, faces the challenge of services drop-off as she prepares to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, embarking on a journey towards a career in acting.  The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is driven by its Five Year Strategic Plan goals to improve services and supports for people...

This article goes over who is on the ballot, how to be prepared to vote, and how we can ensure candidates are listening to the disability community in Georgia. It starts with the highest office and works its way down. The article will not break down each district, but it will give you a good idea of what is coming up and how to find this information.    The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabil...

What were you doing in 1999? I graduated from high school. Interestingly, Georgia self-advocates Lois Curtis and Elaine Wilson were making history.  D'Arcy Robb, executive director of GCDD, reflects on the the landmark Supreme Court decision for people with disabilities.  The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is driven by its Five Year Strategic Plan goals to improve servic...

For children with disabilities, school can be a stressful and overwhelming time. The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) sat down with Leslie Lipson, an attorney and director of the Georgia Coalition for Equity in Education , to discuss how students, parents, and primary school faculty can navigate the process of laying out the individualized education program (IEP) for students w...

The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities’ (GCDD) public policy team has made tireless efforts to foster new relationships and educate legislators on the need for policy change that promotes opportunities for Georgians with developmental disabilities (DD) to live, learn, work, play, and worship in their communities – and it’s showing results.  This year, GCDD hosted three Advocacy Days. Ad...

The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) Equitable Dinner event, “A Seat at the Table: A Transformative Conversation Around Equity, Disability and Support” attracted capacity crowds for in-person and virtual sessions this past February. Presented by GCDD, Equitable Dinners, L’Arche Atlanta, and Out of Hand Theatre, these two gatherings brought together 175 Georgians with disabiliti...

As I sit down to write this, I’m feeling raw. We just wrapped up Georgia’s General Assembly session, and it was a real mix of wins and losses. Win – the developmental disability (DD) rate study. All summer, fall, and winter long, we at the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) worked in tandem with multiple other organizations to press the case for why a rate increase was so critica...

For most kids, summer is one of the most wonderful times of the year. And one thing that makes it pretty awesome is summer camp.  There was a time when children and young adults with developmental disabilities (DD) didn’t have access to the same summertime activities as many others. However, more programs are emerging to give everyone enjoyable experiences while adding the life skills of self-conf...

The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) hosted its annual Advocacy Days at the Capitol during the 2024 legislative session, which began in January. Using the power of self-advocates from Uniting for Change, GCDD was able to educate and inform lawmakers on issues affecting the developmental disability (DD) community throughout Georgia.  GCDD hosts three separate Advocacy Days each...

On January 24, 2024, the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) hosted its annual Inclusive Post-Secondary Education (IPSE) Advocacy Day at the Georgia State Capitol. The event serves as an opportunity for students with intellectual disabilities (ID) to advocate to the General Assembly for state-supported funding for IPSE programs. There are nine active IPSE programs in Georgia, with...

The State of Georgia kicked off its legislative session in January, and the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) was front and center to advocate for the disability community across the state. During the session, GCDD hosted its annual Advocacy Days at the Georgia State Capitol. Advocacy Days is an opportunity for GCDD, self-advocates, and the developmental disabilities (DD) commun...

With the expansion of telehealth and similar methods of virtual care, many people, particularly people with disabilities, may have questions about the efficacy and availability of telehealth. A study at the Morehouse School of Medicine’s (MSM) National Center of Primary Care (NCPC) strived to answer these questions.  Led by Megan Douglas, principal investigator and director of research and policy...

Navigating the world of employment after college can be very intimidating, and for individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID). An inclusive post-secondary education (IPSE) program at Georgia Institute of Technology is striving to provide students with a foundational education that equips them with the necessary skills to succeed in their academic, professional and personal lives.  The EXCEL p...