Over 1 million website views since 1996 – Resources for Supporting Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
In March 2025, California released the Master Plan for Developmental Services: A Community-Driven Vision. It’s a big deal — the most ambitious effort in decades to rethink how the state supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and their families. Read a summary here.
If you have been referred to a regional center in California — or if you are a family member supporting someone who has — you may have heard the words “assessment” or “evaluation” and wondered – what does that actually mean? What are they looking at? And what happens with the results? You can find … Read more
Free websites about rights and support with California specific resources. Download here.
Divided into sections including Rights, Self-Determination & Quality of Life, Self-Determination, Quality of Life, The Supports Paradigm, Person Centered Planning and Inclusion, Disability Rights and Inclusion, an Families. You will find it here here.
Here’s a curated roundup of the most current articles, research, and websites on supporting people with IDD and their families.
This is a quick reference guide on using community and relationship building tools. Most of these tools have been adapted with permission from Community Connecting by HSA Press (ISBN 978 1 906514 05 1) for NorthStar Services Placerville, CA. You will find it here.
Those who support and those who develop plans with people who have disabilities should be able to answer the following 7 questions. The plans that are written with people who use disability services should contain these answers. The services and supports provided should reflect the answers to these questions.
Adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) are often victims of discrimination simply because they have a disability. People with ID who identify as LGBTQ+ face further bullying and harassment simply because of whom they choose to love or how they express their identity. Read the complete article by Margaret Walsh here.
While written over thirty years ago this piece, by Michael Smull and Susan Burke Harrison, is a classic and one of the first pieces written about person-centered planning and thinking in action. It deserves a read or reread. The handbook presents the tools needed to develop better community capacity to support people with “severe reputations.’ … Read more
by Michael Smull As we help people learn to do person centered planning with people with disabilities, repeatedly those who do the training are asked what to do when what the person appears to want conflicts with what a parent or guardian wants. As people learn to do plans they also ask what they should … Read more