2000: AADD creates Interfaith Disabilities Network
AADD establishes the Interfaith Disabilities Network, an innovative program designed to help faith communities become more accessible and welcoming to persons with disabilities.
2001: AADD formalizes Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Education and Awareness Program
After a decade of teaching middle school students at the highest risk for teen pregnancy about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, AADD leadership decides that the program needs to reach more women of childbearing age. The Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) Education and Awareness program is funded and begun. It now includes education at college campuses as well as training for healthcare professionals.
2003: Ninety percent are abused
Of all persons with developmental disabilities, an estimated 90 percent will be victims of sexual abuse, violence, and economic abuse. Women Against Violence (WAV) is one of a handful of programs in the country providing a forum for abused women with developmental disabilities. At weekly meetings the women discuss, process, and move past the abuse they have experienced, going on to help staff and other professionals learn how to support others who have been abused.
2004: Civil rights for persons with developmental disabilities remains one of our nation's most pressing issues
Today persons with developmental disabilities are seldom automatically sent to an institution. Inclusion in our communities, however, still is neither automatic nor guaranteed.
As The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."
At AADD we are compelled by what still needs to be done to create support, acceptance, and opportunity for persons with developmental disabilities. We are compelled to move mountains of injustice and strike down barriers of discrimination. Until all have full membership in our community, our task is not finished.
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
— Edmund Burke
Mission Statement
The mission of the Atlanta Alliance on Developmental Disabilities (AADD) is to build communities of support, acceptance, and opportunity for children, families, and individuals living with developmental disabilities.
Vision Statement
The vision of AADD is to build strong communities that encourage and support all people to:
- Make informed choices
- Actively participate
- Live in safe and positive environments
- Grow and develop
- Access and utilize resources
- Achieve health and wellness throughout their lives.
