Over 1 million website views since 1996 – Resources for Supporting Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
An easy to use transition guide we built back in the 1994. It may be old, but it’s still used here and there. It includes a summary plan as well. What’s this all about? Your answers to these questions can help you put together a transition plan. A plan to help you reach the best … Read more
Person-centered planning in California was written in law in 1992. That was the year that the Lanterman Act was amended to require that IPPs reflect a person’s own preferences, strengths, culture, and vision for their life. To this day, individuals and families often report a difference between that promise and what happens. You can download … Read more
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.
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
Person centered planning is learning how people want to live, about what is important to someone in everyday life and discovering someone might want to live in the future. However, as Michael Smull has said, “a plan is not an outcome.” And as Helen Sanderson has said “Outcomes describe the specific things that the person … Read more