It would be more comfortable if the Institute on Human Development and Disability could be put into a tidy box; easily understood. But like the people it serves, IHDD defies simple categorization.

   Beginning this year, its full title is "The Institute on Human Development and Disability: The Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education for the state of Georgia," but from 1965 through 2000, IHDD also carried the title of being a University Affiliated Program, one of 60 programs in the United States associated with universities and teaching hospitals that were established as part of a federal initiative to help improve the quality of life for people with disabilities and their families.

   "Someday, I'm going to write a small book on the joys of collaboration," says Dr. Zo Stoneman, director of IHDD, following one of the many meetings she attends to discuss various conferences and projects that involve the Institute. "Then, I'm going to write a really big book on the challenges of collaboration."

   Stoneman and the rest of the IHDD staff embrace collaboration as an integral part of their nearly 20 projects that are funded by a wide variety of organizations. Collaboration includes working with state agencies to arrange conferences and training; working with faculty members both at the University of Georgia and other academic institutions; and, most importantly, collaborating with those with disabilities who are the end-users of the many projects overseen by IHDD.

   "Self-advocacy and self-determination is an idea that dates back nearly 20 years, but in Georgia there's been an immense increase in these goals during the past five years," Stoneman says. The roots of self-advocacy can be found in efforts by students with physical disabilities to attend universities, but now it has grown to encompass those with cognitive disabilities, as well.

   An interesting side note: IHDD is now located at River's Crossing, a building that once housed people with severe cognitive and physical disabilities. As a result of a change in federal law a decade ago, most of the River's Crossing residents were moved into community settings - living with family, friends or other caregivers and receiving the support they need with funding through Medicaid, Social Services block grants, state dollars and other funding sources. A study by Stoneman has shown that nearly all of these former residents have successfully transitioned to community living and many have made great gains in their lives as a result.

   But living in a community isn't enough, Stoneman says. Now, an added effort is employment and workforce development for those with cognitive disabilities. "When you talk with people with disabilities," she says, "the number one thing they say they want is to work."

   Employment issues are addressed by a number of IHDD projects including the Americans with Disabilities Act project, which educates business owners about the types of accommodations they must make for people with disabilities. But, Stoneman says, there are also institutional barriers that must be addressed. For example, if a person with a disability makes a certain amount of money he or she may be at risk of losing Medicaid funding.

   While addressing the needs of those with disabilities will always be a prominent part of IHDD's mission, Stoneman says the institute is beginning to focus on more general topics.

   "If you only focus on developing projects that address the needs of those with disabilities, you're never going to have inclusion," she says. "Now, we're looking at the underlying philosophy of more generic systems and making sure that philosophy includes those with disabilities."

   An example is a project IHDD is developing for the Georgia Office of Adolescent Health and Youth Development.

   "AHYD decided that practitioners needed to shift their thinking from focusing on Ôteenage problems' to seeing youth as participants in positive youth development," Stoneman says. "With that in mind, we're developing and will implement an ongoing, comprehensive, statewide youth development personnel training system with the goal of helping those in Georgia's Adolescent Health/Youth Development system learn the skills to improve the behavioral, developmental, and health status of Georgia's youth, including youth with disabilities."

   Underlying all of IHDD's work is its training mission. "When the program began we primarily worked with students in special education, psychology, and teacher training," Stoneman says. "Now we're trying to touch all areas of the university because people with disabilities interact with the rest of society."

   "Law school students, economics majors, journalism majors, all benefit from understanding people with disabilities and their roles in society," Stoneman says. "The reality is that nearly everyone will at some time have someone with a disability as a customer, an employee, a neighbor or a family member."

   For many years, IHDD has offered students from undergraduates to post-doctoral students the opportunity for interdisciplinary training. Students can work on projects with staff members, develop research practica that they conduct in cooperation with IHDD faculty, or work in internships under the guidance of IHDD that gives them direct experience working with people with a range of disabilities.

   Since obtaining institute status, however, Stoneman says IHDD will soon be offering a certificate program for interested students.

   "There has been a need and an interest in doing this," she says. "A certificate can highlight for future employers or graduate schools that a student has this expertise. For students in majors that aren't generally considered related to disability studies, this can be a real plus."