Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities

PUBLIC AWARENESS / PUBLICATIONS

The Council is committed to changing systems through grass roots advocacy and education of the general public about topics important to people with disabilities. We are currently funding the following projects in the areas of public awareness and advocacy:

Tennessee Disability Information and Referral Office: This office provides a central source for information about disability services; publishes an exhaustive list of services in three (3) volumes; hosts a website with access to its database; and maintains a calendar of training events of interest to professionals, individuals with disabilities, and family members. To contact the I & R office call toll free 1-800-640-4636.

Vanderbilt University/Kennedy Center - Breaking Ground Newsletter: Produces six issues of the newsletter, Breaking Ground, for the Council to inform a broad statewide audience about Council activities and increase awareness about disabilities issues and innovative programs for individuals with disabilities.

Vanderbilt University/Kennedy Center - Tennessee Family Pathfinder: As part of the Administration on Developmental Disabilities Family Support Grant, this web site provides information for increasing the awareness of family support resources.

Publications of the Council on Developmental Disabilities

Breaking Ground Newsletter: This publication informs a broad statewide audience about Council activities and increases awareness about disability issues and innovative programs for individuals with disabilities.  Breaking Ground is published six times per year.  Every summer, an issue is devoted to the arts, featuring short stories, poetry, photographs, drawings, paintings and cartoons. Work with disability themes is preferred and contributions by individuals with disabilities are especially sought.  The editor will consider for publication original contributions, including news and feature stories throughout the year. 

Subscription requests, change of address and submissions for possible publication should be directed to the Editor, Breaking Ground, Box 40, Peabody College, Nashville, Tennessee 37203.  Click the picture for more information.

The Arc of Tennessee - The  Legislative Monitor:  a publication of the Council's that reports on State and Federal Legislation affecting persons with disabilities, and provides up-to-date listings of Tennessee State and federal legislators.

Kindred, an exhibit of photographs of Tennesseans with disabilities:  The Council and the John F. Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development created this collection to be a traveling exhibit illustrating individuals with disabilities living in their communities.  The 36 photographs, by Simon R. Fulford, and word portraits, by Ned Andrew Solomon, have appeared at fourteen sites across Tennessee since January 2000.  For information on hosting the Kindred exhibit, contact the Council at 615-532-6615.

See Kindred on-line at www.vanderbilt.edu/kennedy/kindred/ 

Journeys . . . Redefining Ability, is a show dedicated to promoting awareness and understanding of disability issues.  Produced by United Cerebral Palsy of Middle Tennessee under a grant from the Council.  Journeys editions include investigative reports on accessible public transportation, long term living supports, technology and many other issues pertinent to the lives of people with disabilities.  Profiles feature individuals whose lives illustrate everyday challenges and the compelling truth about living with a disability in our society.  For information on obtaining copies of the Journeys programs, please contact UCP of Middle Tennessee at 615-242-4091.

For examples of the programs, visit www.ucpnashville.org/journeys.html 

Learn More About It!

http://www.civilrights.org/ Civil Rights information

www.ncd.gov/ National Council on Disability, and independent federal agency that makes disability policy recommendations to the President and Congress.

www.ncil.org/ National Council on Independent Living, a membership organization that advances the independent living philosophy, and advocates for the human rights of people with disabilities.

http://www.thearc.org/ The Arc of the United States, a national organization of and for people with mental retardation and related developmental disabilities and their families.

www.tash.org/ TASH is a membership organization that has addressed equity, quality and social justice for people with disabilities since 1975.