AAIDD POLICY STATEMENTS

AAIDD/ARC Position Statements

QUALITY OF LIFE

The primary goal for all persons with mental retardation and related developmental disabilities* is to enjoy and maintain a good quality of life.

Quality of Life. People with mental retardation and related developmental disabilities must be able to live the lives they choose and have a good quality of life.

POLICY STATEMENT

People with mental retardation and related developmental disabilities must be able to live the lives they choose and have a good quality of life.

ISSUE

Our constituents often do not have the services, supports, and personal relationships they need to lead a full life in the community. Many are unemployed or underemployed. People encounter public policy and other barriers that keep them from choosing where they live and work. Moreover, they often lack opportunities to participate in and contribute to their communities.

POSITION

A good quality of life exists for our constituents when they:

Receive the support, encouragement, opportunity and resources to explore and define how they want to live their lives.

Choose and receive the services and supports that will help them live meaningful lives.

Direct the services and supports they receive.
Lead a life rich with friendships.
Have their rights, dignity and privacy protected.
Are allowed to take risks in their choices.
Are assured of health and safety.

Public agencies, private organizations, and individuals providing services and supports must:

Be responsible and accountable to individuals and their families.
Continuously improve their efforts to support individuals in leading meaningful lives.
Be recognized when they make meaningful contributions to the quality of life for individuals.
Be replaced when they fail to make meaningful contributions to quality of life for individuals.
Be part of a program of ongoing monitoring, independent of the service provider, to ensure desired outcomes and the satisfaction of the people served and their families.

*"People with mental retardation and related developmental disabilities" refers to our constituency, i.e., those defined by the AAMR classification and the DSM IV. In everyday language they are frequently referred to as people with cognitive, intellectual and developmental disabilities although the professional and legal definitions of those terms both include others and exclude some defined by DSM IV.

Adopted: The Arc, Congress of Delegates, November 9, 2002
AAIDD Board of Directors, May 28, 2002