Welcome to Partners in Time, a self-study course that explores society's treatment of people with developmental disabilities from ancient times until today.

The history of people with disabilities is a powerful story of discrimination, segregation, abuse, ignorance, silence and good intentions that brought bad results. The mistakes, successes and actions of earlier generations have shaped the world we live in, who we are, our values and views of how people with developmental disabilities are allowed to work, learn, live and participate in their communities.

It is up to each generation to decide what to do with their knowledge of the past…whether to learn from these experiences to change the future or ignore these lessons and continue on the same path. This course has been created to help you understand the complex history of people with developmental disabilities. In this course, you will:

• Learn how people with disabilities lived, learned and worked from ancient times to the present.
• Recognize ways in which history repeats itself and how those abuses continue today under new names.
• Connect early glimmers of progress with current initiatives.
• Learn about some of the people throughout time whose efforts changed the course of history for people with developmental disabilities.
• Explore recent progress and celebrate the groundbreaking efforts that are creating a more just, inclusive society.
• Apply these lessons to create a vision for a future that embraces all people, regardless of ability.

Ready to begin? Click on TAKE THE COURSE to begin your journey through time.

Partners in Policymaking ® is an innovative, award-winning leadership training program for adults with developmental disabilities and the parents of young children with developmental disabilities throughout the world. Four critical outcomes guide our work:

• Independence - Through increased personal choice and control;
• Productivity - Through expanded positive employment and job advancement opportunities;
• Self-Determination - Through the freedom to choose how, where and with whom to live and work, the freedom to choose recreational activities, and the freedom to choose care providers;
• Integration and Inclusion - Through full, equal participation with all citizens in the community, at school and in the workplace.