On A Mission: The Power of People-IAC 11th Annual Conference

Our field is at a true inflection point. Today the very idea of disability evolves from a label long used to diagnose and marginalize others. The newly popular concept of neurodiversity isn’t just a variation on the same theme but represents an ideal of inclusion and integration. The agencies IAC champions and supports are remarkably well suited to help lead the way as disruptors and innovators. This talk will focus on a series of developments that will help shape the future and their relevance to our work and the cause we champion. New understandings of brain and body, the rise of AI, the reinvention of aging and other changes are opportunities for providers who have helped bring about enormous changes in the way we understand and respond to the differently abled. There are many daunting challenges ahead, and none of us can say with certainty what the future will bring: the aim of this presentation is to provoke new thinking, new optimism and new conversations about the related but distinct opportunities that lie ahead.