The Collaboration to Promote Self-Determination

What Happens After Graduation?
The Collaboration to Promote Self-Determination
By Serena Lowe, Board Member

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) engrained in the majority of United States primary and secondary educational institutions that all individuals are entitled to support, encouragement, and participation in the public educational setting, regardless of disability. The first generation of “post-IDEA” students is graduating from high school, and there is a great deal of work to be done to ensure that these individuals have the opportunity to determine their destinies as they transition from youth to adulthood.

The Collaboration to Promote Self-Determination (CPSD) is an informal network of approximately 12 national organizations, including the National Fragile X Foundation, National Down Syndrome Society, and the Autism Society of America, that have come together to promote opportunities for those with intellectual disabilities. The advocacy movement that has grown from this initial meeting in March 2007 is shaping into the most significant collective action of the intellectual disability community since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that began in the late 1980s.

The CPSD aims to eliminate current obstacles and potential barriers to empowering individuals with complex intellectual, developmental, and cognitive disabilities requiring significant support; create incentives that specifically address the unique needs of these individuals; empower adults living with intellectual disabilities by providing opportunities for meaningful engagement in the areas of employment, education, social interaction, and/or community engagement; and focus efforts directly on the long-term interests of the individual.

The CPSD has made great strides in a short time and will continue to serve as an action vehicle on behalf of the intellectual disability community in the years to come. Your contributions to the National Fragile X Foundation help us provide continued leadership, investment, and support to the CPSD’s work.

For more information on the CPSD, please see the full article