Impact: Feature issue on supporting diversity (vol. 9, no. 3)

2004

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The focus of this issue of Impact is on services for persons with developmental disabilities that support the whole person by acknowledging, respecting, and incorporating aspects of identity such as race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, age, and class. This issue is about learning from people how to best serve them, rather than making assumptions about what they need or expecting them to fit into a certain system or model. It is about asking tough questions regarding the best ways to meet the needs of culturally diverse persons with developmental disabilities and their families, and being willing to hear a variety of answers, some of which are critical of the ways things are currently done. It is about the role of cultural communities in meeting the needs of persons with disabilities. And it is about the successes being experienced in innovative programs across the country. In this Impact, most readers will find something that will affirm and articulate some aspect of their experience, and something that will challenge them and perhaps even evoke some defensiveness. We hope that, in the end, these articles will have raised awareness, informed about promising practices, and encouraged creativity and an expanded vision for services that meet the complex needs of very diverse, whole people.

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