- Coos County Community Resources - ....a website for people with disabilities, their families, advocates and professionals.... ...sponsored by the Coos County Transition Learning Collaborative Disabilities The battle for self determination in underway. Self-determination theory (SDT) is a macro-theory of human motivation concerned with the development and functioning of personality within social contexts. The theory focuses on the degree to which human behaviors are volitional or self-determined - that is, the degree to which people endorse their actions at the highest level of reflection and engage in the actions with a full sense of choice. There's the word, choice. What choice do people with disabilities have in this county? How can we grow their choices to give them a fuller richer life?

Oregons Developmental Disability Definition by Rule -

What is a developmental disability?

A developmental disability is a disability diagnosed as a mental or physical condition or a combination of mental and physical conditions resulting in significant impairments to daily functioning. The disability:

• Must have its origin in the brain
  
• Must be established prior to the age of 22, or in the case of mental retardation the condition must be determined before 18 years of age
  
• Must be expected to last indefinitely
  
• Must result in significant impairments in at least two areas of daily functioning: self care, communication, cognitive, mobility, self direction, capacity for independent living and economic self sufficiency
  
• The impairments must not be primarily related to: mental illness, substance abuse, an emotional disorder, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a learning disability or sensory impairment

The most common developmental disabilities include: mental retardation, Down syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and fetal alcohol effect or fetal alcohol syndrome.

Check out Bridges Advocacy Center

FAST FACT

• More than 34,000 Oregonians experience a developmental disability, about 1% of the population.
• Thousands of individuals with developmental disabilities and their familes continue to wait for critical services and supports.
• DD services contribute more than $365 million each year to local economies in Oregon. source http://www.oregonddcoalition.org/