1970: AADD demands appropriate care
Recognizing that people with mental retardation and persons with mental illness need different supports, AADD leadership demands that state officials create more appropriate opportunities for each group. As a result, the Georgia Retardation Center admits its first residents in 1970. The new facility, coupled with the opening of more special education classes in public schools, leads to the closing of the Fairhaven School.
1971: ". . . it's like a prisoner of war camp."
— A Georgia legislator, after touring Milledgeville.
"The Stench at Milledgeville," an article in The Atlanta Journal , reveals that for most, conditions have not improved. Even after more than ten years of negative press on conditions at Georgia institutions, fifty-seven women with mental retardation are warehoused in a single room with supervision by only one attendant. There are no programs, no therapy, no attempts at education.
1972: Again, AADD helps to move Georgia forward
Long lobbied for by AADD, the Community Services Act passes the Georgia General Assembly requiring local health boards to provide a full range of services for people with mental retardation. The bill appropriates $2.6 million for pilot group homes, new day service centers, and new diagnostic and evaluation centers.
1973: New training centers and an award!
AADD produces an award-winning film, "Normalization: The Right of Respect."As orders for copies of the film roll in, the Fulton County Commission agrees to set up three new training centers to serve 300 persons with developmental disabilities.
1974/75: Federal law bans sterilization and lobotomies
In response to Federal law, Georgia stops sterilizing and performing lobotomies on persons with developmental disabilities.
1975: AADD victorious; football star helps dreams come true
AADD lobbies long and hard and scores again as the Georgia General Assembly passes the Mentally Retarded Offender Act. This bill requires treatment or education as rehabilitation for persons with mental retardation, which affects an estimated 40% of jailed juvenile offenders and 28% of adult offenders.
The General Assembly also passes an AADD-backed bill requiring Georgia teachers and principals to take five college hours in understanding and identifying children with developmental disabilities.
AADD, with the support of Atlanta Falcons football hero Tommy Nobis, facilitates the opening of a vocational training center for persons aged sixteen years and older who have developmental disabilities.
1976: AADD supports creation of the Georgia Advocacy Office
With AADD support, DeKalb County creates the DeKalb Developmental Disabilities Planning and Coordinating Council. AADD also writes the plan to establish the Georgia Advocacy Office, a private, nonprofit organization to provide protection and advocacy for Georgians with developmental disabilities.
1978: AADD is driving force in legislation to protect newborns
The Metabolic Screening Bill passes the Georgia General Assembly. AADD has led the charge in lobbying for this legislation requiring that newborns be tested for six metabolic disorders. If undetected and untreated, these disorders can cause developmental disabilities. From 1978 to 2004 an estimated 5000 Georgia babies have been found to have this condition and have, thanks to early detection, remained free from developmental disabilities.
