TN UCEDD Develops Public Database of Stories From Individuals With Disabilities and Families

March 30, 2012

Everyone has stories of life experiences to share with others. In advocating for improved services and supports for persons with disabilities and their families in Tennessee, disability organizations have learned that sharing family stories is one of the most powerful ways to demonstrate the need for change.

The annual Tennessee Disability Days on the Hill is a time for families to share their stories in person with their State representatives and senators. Often national disability organizations hold meetings in Washington DC, coupled with attendees meeting with their U.S. Congressional representatives or staff.

While sharing stories face to face is powerful, so, too, are sharing family stories via a publication. In recent years, The Arc Tennessee has partnered with the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (TN UCEDD) to publish Tennessee Family Stories and to share them with legislators. The booklets have been very well-received and at the urging of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center's Community Advisory Council, a website has been developed to provide a way to make it easy for Tennesseans with disabilities and their families to share their stories. The website is called Tennessee Kindred Stories of Disability.

The Kindred Stories website is searchable by disability, age range, county, storyteller perspective, and topic. The topics illustrate what families experience in areas like education, transition, employment, and wait lists. Many stories have been submitted directly from families, while others have been collected from family interviews conducted by Vanderbilt and Belmont University undergraduate and graduate students as part of a class assignment.

To view Tennessee Kindred Stories of Disability, visit: kc.vanderbilt.edu/kindredstories. For more information, contact [email protected]