Abstract Social inclusion of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) is related to positive mental health and social outcomes; yet, individuals with IDD experience societal barriers that limit opportunities for community participation. Providing opportunities for interactions between individuals with and without IDD…

EMARC, Inc. is a Massachusetts based nonprofit organization founded by family members in 1954 that provides support to individuals with intellectual disabilities and their families. This article describes EMARC's Life Choices Program which offers participants the opportunity to receive individualized attention in small groups through the program's…

The article chronicles and discusses "A Big Blue Whale's Dream," one of the first major theatre-in-education (TIE) projects commissioned by local and governmental cultural foundations in South Korea. Designed specifically for the non-disabled fifth and sixth graders of Inclusive Classes to enhance their awareness and perception towards…

Doctors, nurses and other health care providers are making observational associations that individuals with existing disabilities or those who may be medically fragile are susceptible to adverse effects from toxic exposures than the general population. Because of this, the American Association on Mental Retardation has launched an Environmental…

This manual describes the "Friends" project, a year-long effort in Minnesota to develop methods for the staff of residential service agencies to support people with developmental disabilities in establishing friendships with nondisabled people in their communities. Six agencies around the state selected a total of 23 individuals (ages 11…

This report provides a record of discussion during a workshop entitled "Assisting People with Developmental Disabilities To Speak Effectively for Themselves." Participants included developmentally disabled individuals, leaders from self-advocacy groups, paid staff, and volunteers. The discussion addressed three questions: (1) what works…

Highlights similarities and differences between the art making of normally developing and mentally retarded individuals. Defines pathological art as outsider art that can never be creative in the sense of relating to the artistic domain and engaging in a creative dialog with other artists that shape that domain. (MJP)

Presents a series of pictures drawn by an autistic adult over a period of years. The pictures represent recollections of a day in his childhood. This representation is notable because of its consistent theme, as well as its reflection of the ability to reexperience and enjoy pleasant past memories. (MJP)

Traces the development of artistic ability in a six-year-old boy with autism and mild mental retardation. Addresses questions concerning autism and artistic development including whether intellectual realism is a necessary precursor to visual realism and whether a two-dimensional photographic memory is used as opposed to three-dimensional…

Reviews the work of neurobiologist, David Marr, concerning artistic ability and autism. Summarizes Marr's theory of perceptual vision illuminating the relationships among object, observer, perceptual process, and image. Briefly reviews the cases of four autistic people with extraordinary drawing skills. (MJP)