Conferences
Sharing Information, Building Skills, Expanding Horizons
The Arc strives to assist consumers, families, professionals and agencies to plan, implement and evaluate high-quality state-of-the-art supports and services based on emerging best practices. To further this aim, The Arc of Texas sponsors three major conferences annually targeted to unique needs of specific audiences:
For more than a decade The Arc of Texas Inclusion Works! Conference has been a nationally recognized source of state-of-the-art training and best practices in educational inclusion. More than 1,000 teachers, administrators and parents attend the IW! Conference annually to learn from nationally renowned experts and educational practitioners who are making inclusion a reality in Texas classrooms. The IW! Conference offers the latest in training, technology and educational supports that can enhance a collaborative local effort to enable children with disabilities to be educated in regular educational settings alongside their non-disabled peers.
The Arc of Texas provides staffing, technical assistance and other supports to the Texas Advocates, a state self-advocacy organization for people with disabilities. Each year more than 500 Texas Advocates and their advisors from local chapters all across the state gather at the Texas Advocates conference to discover the latest in self-advocacy skills and practices, learn how new policies and practices will shape the future of local community-based services and supports, and organize to advocate effectively with local, state and national human services decision makers.
At The Arc of Texas Family Retreat and Annual Meeting, families come together to consider the futures of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Participants receive briefings on the latest developments shaping community services and support; explore best practices and share goals, concerns and expectations regarding the inclusion of family members with disabilities in the Texas of tomorrow. The Arc also holds its annual business meeting at which delegates from local chapters elect state officers and Board members and conducts other state business as required.
