My name is Kayla Rodriguez and I’m a 23-year-old autistic self-advocate. I am Vice President and Chief Ambassador of Autistic Self-Advocacy Atlanta, an affiliate group of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network. I have trained under the Bobby Dodd Institute Ambassador Program, the GaLEND (Georgia...

Happy New Year everyone! With a new year comes a new shift in schedule for me. Soon, I will be spending more time at the Capitol and in legislative meetings when the legislative session begins. The legislative session is a 40-day non-consecutive work period where senators and representatives...

Due to overwhelming interest and maximum capacity, the registration for Team Leads is now closed. Thank you to everyone who showed interest to be a Team Lead. The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is seeking Team Leads for its 2020 Advocacy Days. Geared at preparing...

Picturing Justice, an annual photography exhibition hosted by Atlanta Legal Aid (ALA), opened this month and aims to use photography to illuminate and create empathy for stories of lives improved by the work of social justice advocates. Every year, the exhibition features four to five...

by Shannon Turner, Photographer Lynsey Weatherspoon Michael Griggs is a 34-year-old man living in Jonesboro, Georgia. When Michael was three months old, he came down with a very bad cold. It led to meningitis. After three months in the hospital, Michael came home, seemingly healthy again....

by Shannon Turner, Photographer Lynsey Weatherspoon Callie Moore, a 22-year-old woman with seizure disorder and cerebral palsy is on a new journey toward independent living. She’s learning how to be independent of her mother, Pam, and is looking at getting an apartment in nearby Athens. It’s...

by H. M. Cauley While the issues facing people with developmental disabilities are many, a few key areas have the most impact on the quality of life. Five of those specific areas – education, employment, formal and informal supports, real communities and self-advocacy – comprise the cornerstone...

by John B. Wells Fourteen years ago, my son, Joshua, used to work in a sheltered workshop. He was frustrated and wasn’t thriving. So, with the help of an employee at the workshop, my wife and I decided to take “Employment First” into our own hands. We advocated for him, deciding together that...

Earlier this summer, when Welcoming Community Dialogues (WCD) implemented its community meetings, the key question was, “Who’s missing from the table?” This month, the WCD team will bring together communities throughout Georgia for an extensive dialogue on issues, lessons and next steps for...