‘Disability and Allyship 101’ series aims to inform, educate and sensitize caregivers, allies and the curious about intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), and everything related to it. This introductory batch of articles begins from the beginning. 

It explains the umbrella term, the four most commonly known but ill-understood neurodevelopmental conditions, the challenges they come with, ways to diagnose and seek help. 

The pack creates awareness on valuing and respecting persons with IDDs while translating what that would mean on a day-to-day basis — in words and action. We also reach out to you, the friend and ally, to amplify the need for equal rights for all, including ~35 million people in India with IDDs.

The Sarvodya Collective has published a report ‘Leading a Life of Dignity in the Post-COVID World: Learning from the lived experience of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities’ on the occasion of International Day of Persons with Disability (IDPD) 2021.

In line with the theme of this year’s annual observance – Leadership and participation of persons with disabilities toward an inclusive, accessible and sustainable post-COVID-19 world – the report brings forth the voice of the community to highlight ways in which the pandemic has impacted their lives, bringing a whole new set of urgent and worrying issues whilst exacerbating existing challenges. and recommends ways in which we can build back better, centred on the voice of PwIDDs.

In this series on the mind and the myths about Down Syndrome, cognitive researcher, writer and teacher Shivam Bohra deep-dives into research and lived experiences of persons with intellectual disabilities, their caregivers and teachers. He questions societal beliefs about the “limited” intellectual functioning of persons with Down Syndrome, and explores their potential for abstract thinking, which is believed to be absent but is being found to be otherwise.

The series attempts to showcase less known findings, and question the validity of what we know about intellectual disability. Here, Down Syndrome has been used as a proxy for all intellectual disabilities because of the availability of research.