Political Advocacy Groups

"The American Association of People with Disabilities is the nation's largest cross-disability organization. We promote equal opportunity, economic power, independent living, and political participation for people with disabilities." (www.aapd.com/what-powers-us/aapd-mission.html)

"The mission of the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law is to protect and advance the rights of adults and children who have mental disabilities. The Bazelon Center envisions an America where people who have mental illnesses or developmental disabilities exercise their own life choices and have access to the resources that enable them to participate fully in their communities." (http://bazelon.org/Who-We-Are.aspx)

"The mission of the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund is to advance the civil and human rights of people with disabilities through legal advocacy, training, education, and public policy and legislative development." (http://www.dredf.org/about/index.shtml)

"NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. NAMI advocates for access to services, treatment, supports and research and is steadfast in its commitment to raising awareness and building a community of hope for all of those in need." (http://www.nami.org/template.cfm?section=About_NAMI)

"The mission of the National Organization on Disability (NOD) is to expand the participation and contribution of America’s 54 million men, women and children with disabilities in all aspects of life. Our current focus is on improving employment prospects for America's 33 million working-aged Americans with Disabilities." (http://www.nod.org/about_us/our_mission_vision/)

"As a leader in disability advocacy for more than 35 years, the mission of TASH is to promote the full inclusion and participation of children and adults with significant disabilities in every aspect of their community, and to eliminate the social injustices that diminish human rights." (http://www.tash.org/about/mission/)