Help us build a movement!

  • The IDD Advocate Corps is a grassroots advocacy movement that aims to build a community that creates change from within healthcare organizations.
  • Our group includes self-advocates, family members, healthcare professionals, and healthcare professionals with IDD. 
  • We work together to co-develop tools, resources, and activities to make healthcare safe and inclusive of people with IDD.

Our Mission: to create and empower a community of advocates to transform healthcare from within for people with IDD.  

Our Goals:
  1. Identify change agents, allies, champions, influencers and collaborators.  
  2. Bring together advocates in a safe and nourishing community.  
  3. Equip advocates with resources, shared learning, peer support, and training. 
  4. Co-develop a vision of a healthcare system that is universally designed to equitably support people with IDD.  
  5. Co-design the actions we want individuals and organizations in healthcare to take.  
Our Values

We believe that healthcare works best when it…. 
  1. Is person-centered and validates every person it serves. 
  2. Recognizes inherent human worth and rights instead of judging people’s worth based on ability. 
  3. Helps each person reach their full potential rather than aiming to be “normal.”
  4. Respects each person’s ability to make, and honors their self-determination in making, decisions about their own health needs.
  5. Builds trust by being flexible and willing to invest time in understanding and meeting each person’s needs.
  6. Views patients as equal partners whose personal wisdom about their health needs is as valuable as professional expertise in solving problems together.
  7. Understands that best medical practice standards matter most when they are used in service and in concert with a person’s health goals.
  8. Is designed and delivered so that care is easy to access, easy to navigate, and affordable for everyone.
  9. Helps people thrive by connecting them with community services beyond healthcare.
  10. Offers the greatest financial and other rewards to healthcare partners that deliver results that matter to patients. 
Nothing about us, without us.
FAQ & Definitions:

What is a self-advocate?
People with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD) who advocate for themselves and/or others to exercise their rights as citizens, share their knowledge and lived experience, participate in decision-making, and be included in the development of policies and programs at the local, state, and national level.

What is a healthcare professional?
A person who has received training, has experience, and/or is employed in the healthcare industry. They can be clinicians, researchers, policymakers, educators, insurers, and others who work in organizations that are focused on health. 

What is a sector?
A sector is a group of organizations that specialize in similar services, products, or activities related to healthcare. An example of a healthcare sector is insurance. Insurance providers include multiple organizations such as: Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance companies. 

When will meetings take place?
Sector workgroups will set their own meeting schedule based on member availability. 

Will I receive payment for participation? 
Self-advocates and lay family members will be paid for their participation in IDD Advocate Corps meetings and activities!

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