Janaki Amma loves hosting, making chai, and doting on her daughter. She is a woman with cognitive disabilities, with a frame frail and a great sense of humor. As we sit down for tea, she wants us to see her new shoes and clothes that she has folded with great care. She insists we have...Read More

Relationships and a sense of belonging fuel our lives, and give it meaning and a desire to thrive against all odds. However, in the lives of many people with disabilities, freely given, unpaid relationships are few, if at all. And this wound can shake the very core of one’s being.Read More

For many people with intellectual and developmental disability, especially those in segregated programs, waiting often becomes one of life’s most frequent activities. Waiting for someone to listen, waiting for the next activity, waiting for a family visit, waiting for the next meal, waiting for someone to assist you. For Sumitra, institutionalized for over a decade...Read More

When you first hear about Rick, you will likely hear all sorts of good things about him. “He knows what he wants – he’s a definite kind of guy.” “He’s a good traveler by road and train.” “He’s a thoughtful, observant guy, easy going and kind.” In fact, last September, that’s how a group of...Read More

Grief is a universal human experience as beloved elder family members pass from this world. Mukund, a young man living in Lucknow, experienced just such a loss this past year. He, along with his brother, grew up with his “Amma” at the center of his life, as she took care of him and his brother...Read More

Valued social roles often lead to very good things in life – important things like belonging, freedom, a decent reputation, and a positive self-image. This is theory – simple facts that might be very useful when supporting people with disability to live full lives.Read More

Aratrik is a nineteen plus—almost twenty—young man. If you took a peek at his official records, including his government disability certificate, it would tell the story of a young man with significant and even so-called ‘catastrophic’ disability.Read More

Across India, small, community-based supportive services for people with developmental disability are rising out the imaginations of families and activists. These days, such sorts of services are often fueled by the desire to create human-scale alternatives to large institutional settings.Read More

Efforts to help people with disability to fully contribute their gifts, as well as to lead full, expansive lives requires more than hoping, wishing, and half-hearted efforts. In fact, much of the work of elevating the status of marginalized people goes against the grain of societal devaluation, and so it stands to reason that many...Read More

Mr. Arvind Sekar is the sort of person who reveals himself only over time. About a year ago, his circle of support – a group of people who care about Arvind and his future, spent some time helping him to think about what the future might hold for him. After holding down a number of...Read More