The Convergence of Disability Law and Policy: Core Concepts, Ethical Communities, and the Notion of Dignity

Rud Turnbull: I became a student of disability, people with disabilities in the policy context. I became a person able to use my training as a lawyer. I remained a father. I remained a husband. I could not have done what I've done without Jay as my teacher, without Ann as my colleague, and what I have done is not just for us today. It's for people in the generation of my daughters Amy and Kate. It's for the future. And so I want to talk with you for a little bit, as Colleen has asked me to do, about some of the future issues that I see in disability.

Colleen Wieck has asked me to talk about some of the issues that I am thinking about working on now, and I want to speak about four of them. I want to talk about my work in the area of families. I want to talk about how we think about this called intellectual disability. I want to talk about how we use the law to compel each other to change our relationships to each other. And, finally, I want to talk about It's called positive psychology. And I want to relate it to the law and to the areas of intellectual and developmental disability. Let me begin by talking about the issue of families.