POSITION

STATEMENT

INCLUSION

POLICY STATEMENT

All Americans gain when people with mental retardation and related developmental disabilities [1]are fully included in their communities.

ISSUE

In the past, individuals with mental retardation and related developmental disabilities have often not been treated equally. They have been labeled by their disability and separated from the community. For many years they were relegated to sterile, dehumanizing institutions. Even as they have begun living in the community, they have experienced exclusion from its schools, jobs, and social life. Moreover, the services they receive frequently segregate, isolate, and focus on an individual’s deficits rather than strengths and lifestyle choices.

POSITION

All our constituents have the right to participate fully in their diverse communities. Needed supports should be available and affordable so that each individual with disabilities can live, learn, work, and play with others who do not have disabilities.

Children should:

Live in a family home.

Grow up enjoying nurturing adult relationships both inside and outside a family home.

Learn in their neighborhood school in a regular classroom that contains children of the same age without disabilities.

Participate in the same activities as children without disabilities.

Play and participate with all children in community recreation.

Have the opportunity to participate in an inclusive spiritual life.

Adults should have the opportunity to:

Have maximum control over their lives.

Have relationships that range from acquaintances to life partners.

Live in a home of their choice, with whom they choose.

Engage in meaningful work in an inclusive setting.
Enjoy inclusive recreation and other leisure activities.

Participate in inclusive spiritual activities.

Adopted: Board of Directors, AAMR

May 28, 2002

Congress of Delegates, The Arc of the United States

November 9, 2002

[1] "People with mental retardation and related developmental disabilities" refers to our constituency, i.e., those defined by the AAMR classification and the DSM IV. In everyday language they are frequently referred to as people with cognitive, intellectual and developmental disabilities although the professional and legal definitions of those terms both include others and exclude some defined by DSM IV.