Timeline

1980s: AADD receives United Way Funding
As a member agency of the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta, AADD is able to throttle back its fundraising efforts and turn more attention to programs for persons with developmental disabilities.

1981: AADD launches new programs; services directory
Persons with mental retardation and their families herald the availability of a new directory of programs and services, researched and published by AADD.
AADD also begins a swim and gym program for Atlantans with mental retardation.

Group homes meet with major opposition

From newspaper articles:

Efforts to bring persons with disabilities into the community are met in some quarters with discomfort, distrust, and fear. Yet, it is the persons with disabilities and their families who have greater cause for fear: untrustworthy opportunists see them as ready victims for exploitive schemes. Massive fraud is discovered in the boarding home industry, which is paid to provide services to 1,000,000 of the nation's elderly citizens, and persons with disabilities. The fraud includes appropriating and cashing residents' SSI checks - sometimes long after the residents have died.

1986: Georgia babies win with AADD-backed Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Bill
AADD's advocacy helps The Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Bill gain approval in the Georgia General Assembly. This landmark legislation requires bars and restaurants to post signs warning of dangers of drinking during pregnancy. The American Medical Association recognizes FAS as the leading cause of mental retardation in the United States.