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“I really don't think there's an area of my life that the pandemic hasn't touched, whether it's through my home healthcare or my ability to go out and do things socially.” Teri Whitaker has muscular dystrophy, which impacts her lung function. She…

In 1998, Indiana’s “317 Commision” of consumers, advocates, and state officials published A Comprehensive Plan for the Design of Services for People with Developmental Disabilities, addressing the need for services to support people with…

"Some of us have a lot of health issues that we were born with, along with getting this virus makes it a whole lot worse," Ashley Porter points out in an interview about how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the lives of Hoosiers with disabilities.…

In the 1970s, schools systems throughout the state of Indiana sent children with challenging behaviors to the Developmental Training Center (DTC) for educational support and service. Kim Davis, an employee at the DTC during that time, talks about the…

In 1977, Sue Beecher started her professional career at New Castle State Hospital in New Castle, Indiana. In this video, Sue recounts some of the institution's early history and speaks about her experiences working there.

"We'd learned that, it's no surprise, people with disabilities were the most underserved group in the mortgage and lending industry." In this video, Deborah McCarty explains the launching of the Back Home in Indiana Alliance in 1997. The original…

"She shouldn't have to be put on a bus and spend 45 minutes on a bus one way to go to school," explains Pat Howey of her daughter's experience at six years old being sent to a school for children with physical disabilities. Pat discusses her…

"We were asking teachers to do some things they had not done before, to interact and support and teach kids that they didn't have a lot of experience doing in the past." An educator and a parent discuss the beginnings of integration of students with…

The supported employment movement, an initiative to expand the opportunities for people with disabilities to find work in their own communities through vocational rehabilitation and ongoing job coaching, began spreading across the United States…

The Sweetest Little Boy I Ever Knew: A Handmade History for an Institutional Life tells the story of a baby orphaned with disabilities in Nashville, Tennessee at the end of World War II. Despite the loving effort of Edith Mumpower, an older woman who…