Position Statements

On Education
The Arc of Colorado demands an educational system where all children/youth attend school together in their local neighborhood and receive a program to meet their unique needs in the regular education classroom or in community employment based education in accordance with their IEP and the supports needed for participation and facilitation of inclusion and curriculum modification appropriate to meet individual needs.

The Arc of Colorado is committed to achieving specific outcomes in any educational program. These include:

• Educational services to be provided to children in their neighborhood school in classrooms with typical students in natural proportions;
• Educational services being provided in non-school environment should be limited to community based employment services;
• Integrated opportunities must occur through inclusive, participatory education in regular education classrooms with chronologically age appropriate peers with the appropriate supports;
• Interaction with friends and peers in the community throughout their school career;
• Having children’s educational needs met in all the major life areas, and
• That qualified, competent professionals (i.e. regular education, special education and related service personnel) provide services to all children in need.

It is The Arc of Colorado’s position that the Colorado Department of Education and each local educational agency is the logical entity to ensure a free appropriate public education in the neighborhood school for all children with differing abilities, ages 3-21 inclusive, participatory regular education classrooms with chronologically age appropriate peers with the appropriate supports.

The Arc of Colorado will work with all of the agencies and parent groups to actualize this vision.

On Community Living
The Arc of Colorado supports the following:

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Provision of Services and Activities Which are Consistent with Current Federal Policy and The Mission of The Arc

WHEREAS, the U.S. Congress has enacted laws in recent years, such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), The Rehabilitation Act, The Developmental Disabilities Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), whose purposes and policies increase freedom of association for people with mental retardation and other disabilities through elimination of segregation in schools, work places and choice of residence and lifestyle;

WHEREAS, Freedom of association is a civil right guaranteed by the constitution of the United States;

WHEREAS, The Arc is committed to promote the prompt and effective implementation of these laws;

WHEREAS, Many people with developmental disabilities have long been denied equal access, opportunity and the necessary supports to participate fully in all aspects of community life;

WHEREAS, Many people with developmental disabilities have articulated and advocated a need and desire for full participation and membership in their communities;

WHEREAS, The Arc is dedicated to the aforementioned principles of equal access and opportunity and the necessary supports to participate fully in all aspects of community life;

WHEREAS, The mission of The Arc states: "The Arc is committed to securing for all people with developmental disabilities the opportunity to choose and realize their goals of where and how they learn, live, work and play.";

WHEREAS, it is essential for Arc chapters to provide leadership and to set a positive example in their activities, programs and services consistent with the spirit and intent of the federal laws identified above and the mission The Arc;

BE IT RESOLVED, that The Arc and all its member chapters will:

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Resolution on Health Care

WHEREAS, the USA spends more per capita on health care than any other country, and

WHEREAS, people with developmental disabilities are systematically denied quality health care;

THEREFORE, be it resolved that The Arc of Colorado supports and promotes the creation of a new health care paradigm which distributes health care resources on a more equitable basis. This new paradigm must bring quality health care to those most vulnerable in our society while maintaining the strengths (positive free market focus, technology, etc.) of the current system.

Resolution on the Right to Communicate

The right to communicate is both a basic human right and the means by which all other rights are realized. All people communicate. In the name of fully realizing the guarantee of individual rights, we must ensure:

• that all people have a means of communication which allows their fullest participation in the wider world;
• that people can communicate using their chosen method and;
• that their communication is heeded by others.

Where people lack an adequate communication system, they deserve to have others try with them to discover and secure an appropriate system. No person should have this right denied because they have been diagnosed as having a particular disability. Access to effective means of communication is a free speech issue.

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           Access to Communication. All persons born with disabilities should be given therapy and training directed towards permitting them to communicate freely. All people with communication disabilities should be given the full opportunity to use augmentative and alternative communication. "Access" includes access to assessment to judge the suitability of the method, access to training in the method; and access to any equipment needed, both in the short term during training and in the longer term for continued use on a daily basis if training is successful.

           Education. Education in communication techniques is an essential element of the education of people with communication disabilities. People using augmentative or alternative communication must be given any assistance necessary to use that system in the education system. Any equipment, training or staffing necessary to enable communication to take place must be supplied both to that person and to those with whom he or she wishes to interact on a regular basis.

           Freedom to Communicate. No person should be able to veto the use of another person’s augmentative or alternative communication, and in any instances where such use is forbidden, there should be recourse to the legal and protective systems. People with communication disabilities must be allowed to use the communication system of their own choice in all communication interactions in any setting.

           Legal Issues. People using augmentative communication must be permitted to use the system of their own choice in court. Any person using a communication strategy requiring the involvement of another person to receive and relay their communication (e.g. manual sign, communication boards, facilitated communication) must be permitted to use the partner of their choice in court.

           Presumption of Competence in Decision-Making and Advocacy. People are presumed to have an active interest in decisions affecting their lives on a short-term and long-term basis. In planning or decision making on a person’s behalf that person’s participation must be ensured regardless of the formal communication modalities used. This may include the involvement of allies, advocates and communication partners before and after meetings, and may also include the involvement of a "communication ally" during the course of the meeting.