About Inclusion Alberta

We share a dream of meaningful family life and community inclusion for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Inclusion Alberta is a family-based, non-profit federation that advocates on behalf of children and adults with intellectual disabilities and their families. We share a dream, with our partners and allies, where children and adults are valued, participating and welcomed community members. We are deeply committed to enabling families and individuals to be fully included in community life.

More than 40 non-profit organizations, along with thousands of families from every corner of the province, belong to Inclusion Alberta. Our main offices are in Edmonton and Calgary with staff in every region of Alberta. We belong to Inclusion Canada and Inclusion International.

Our Mission

To foster family leadership and advocacy in the pursuit of fully inclusive community lives for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.

 

Who we support:

Inclusion Alberta supports and advocates on behalf of children and adults with intellectual disabilities and their families in their efforts to be fully included in society. Individuals with an intellectual disability have significant limitations in both intellectual functioning and adaptive behaviour, originating prior to adulthood. Intellectual disability can, but does not always, coexist with other conditions such as ADHD, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), physical or sensory disabilities.

Developmental disabilities consist of a much broader range of disabilities, of which an intellectual disability is just one.  The term IDD (Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities) is often used to refer to individuals with an intellectual disability and other disabilities.

The Alberta government’s Persons with Developmental Disabilities program (PDD) uses the term ‘developmental disability’ as synonymous with intellectual disability, and not inclusive of a broader range of disabilities. To learn more about how the government of Alberta defines developmental disability in relation to its PDD program you can visit the PDD website where you can also view their Developmental Disabilities Guidelines.

You can also learn more about how intellectual disability is defined through the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities website.

The definition of inclusion:

*Adopted by Inclusion Alberta. Originally created by our national federation, Inclusion Canada. Principal Author: Bruce Uditsky with contributions from Janet Klees & Robin Acton

Think about the lives of most Canadians. Life starts with family, growing up at home, being loved and wanted, going to playschool, childcare and/or kindergarten and school, having and making friends throughout the journey, having friends and family who support you and your dreams, developing a career identity, participating in community activities, being a teenager, developing a positive sense of self over time, having dreams, playing sports, possibly involved in music/dance/art, going to college/university, traveling, falling in love, getting a job, pursuing a career, perhaps owning a business, finding a soulmate, a home of your own, having friends over for dinner, looking after your parents, growing older and continuing to contribute at every step of the way, it is assumed and expected that you will grow, relate, adapt, contribute and be included in the fullness of community life amidst your family, friends, and colleagues.

Inclusion happens when the lives of children and adults with intellectual disabilities unfold no differently; immersed together with their non-disabled peers in the same pathways and experience of life common to us all.

Check out an expanded version of the definition of inclusion here.