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"The biggest thing is the values that started with the Deinstitutionalization Project and went on through all of our projects about consumer advocacy, self-determination, empowerment to people with disabilities, language use... just totally different…

"Dickerson, I finally get it," a fiscally conservative State Senator from Hendricks County remarked. "He said, 'I'm on the board of directors of the bank and we hired this fellow with a disability. I don't even know what his disability is, but he's…

The first Special Olympics games were held at Soldier Field in Chicago in 1968. Athletes from the United States, Canada and France participated in the games. In 1969, a group of volunteers organized the first Special Olympics Indiana games in…

Sandy Braunbeck grew up with an agency serving people with disabilities in southern Indiana. Now known as Rauch, Inc., it was founded in New Albany in 1953. Her father, George "Tooter" Tinius, worked at Rauch and her brothers helped with the summer…

Bettye Dunham got her start in the disability field in 1975. She was a support person to an Indiana University student needing assistance with note taking and studying. Bettye says, “The things I learned from Chris really endeared me to the field.”…

"I think it's extremely important that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities be a continued and increasingly strong voice in developmental disability issues of the day. And be in the rooms where decisions get made about funding,…

"There's a new crop of people that are saying, wait a minute, I'm not ashamed of anything. I don't need to distance myself from anything. In fact, I am a disabled person first." In this interview, Lawrence Carter-Long discusses his views on the…

“What I learned is that I had to prove myself constantly, that people with very good intentions just didn’t think I was capable of doing things because of my vision. They wanted to protect me,” says Peter Bisbecos talking about his school…

“I have a servant's mentality… so what do I do? Well, now my focus is on helping families with young children with disabilities and as they go up through the school system, how do you get supports after age 22.” Erika Steuterman has two daughters…

When Frank Epperson's van was pulled over by the Southport, Indiana police in 1988, it wasn't about a broken taillight. They wanted to give him an official escort upon his triumphant return from the Paralympics in Seoul, South Korea. Frank competed…