The Arc - Washington State

10/07/2026

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM)!

This month, we’re highlighting the contributions of people with disabilities in the workplace and sharing resources, stories, and ways to support disability employment.

Learn more about NDEAM, this year's theme, and resources at https://thearc.org/blog/how-and-why-to-celebrate-national-disability-employment-awareness-month-october/

10/01/2026

Upcoming event opportunity NEXT week, October 6th and 7th! 🧡

The National Disability Caregivers Conference is a free 2-day virtual event for families, advocates & professionals.

This free, virtual conference will bring together caregivers, self-advocates, and experts for two days of connection, resources, and information on topics including Supported Decision-Making, ABLE accounts, navigating disability services, and public benefits.

The conference is co-presented by The Arc of California and Caring Across Generations. Register for free using the link below and learn more about the sessions and presenters.

The webinar will be held virtually on October 6 and 7 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. each day.

To learn more and register for the event visit: https://www.caringfutures.org/conference

10/01/2026

In 1978, the General Telephone Company of the Northwest (GTNW) made a public commitment to serve citizens with development disabilities. They created a partnership with The Arc of Snohomish County and even traded board leaders between the two organizations.

GTNW produced a ten-page paperzine to share the stories of people with IDD and promote the work they were doing alongside The Arc. The articles below feature a company in Lynwood that operated what was called a ‘sheltered workshop’. As a result of the parent movement that became The Arc relentlessly educating the wider public about the capabilities of people with IDD, Washington state started providing funding for these workshops to pay people with IDD to perform jobs back in the 1950s.

The articles below give a glimpse into the changing attitudes and perceptions of people with IDD. In the same decade, Washington passed the Education for All act that would become the precursor to the national IDEA law.

These historical artifacts are being shared as part of The Arc of Washington State’s ongoing celebration of the organization’s 90th anniversary in 2026 and were originally curated and collected by former board member Larry Jones. Many of these artifacts use outdated and sometimes harmful language in reference to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. They should only be considered as representative of a moment in history and not as a recommendation for language to be used today.

09/29/2026

Despite the advances being made federally and socially in how people with IDD were being understood, treated, and included, the decade would end with the largest number of people with IDD isolated in state institutions in our state’s history. At the peak, 4,197 people were confined to state “schools” across Washington.

The news article below from the October 9, 1966 edition of the Tacoma News Tribune details the inhumane and appalling conditions at the Rainier Residential Habilitation Center (RHC) also known as Rainier School. A combination of severe understaffing, resident overcrowding, and lack of state accountability led to a disastrous and unacceptable situation that stripped residents of their dignity and basic human rights.

The trauma of these institutions is still alive and well-remembered by many people with IDD who once endured these conditions. Many of them today are self-advocates who continue to call for the shutdown of the remaining four RHCs in Washington State. The Arc of Washington State is proud to advocate alongside them for Washington to once and for all make a plan to fully transition out of the era of institutionalization.

These historical artifacts are being shared as part of The Arc of Washington State’s ongoing celebration of the organization’s 90th anniversary in 2026 and were originally curated and collected by former board member Larry Jones. Many of these artifacts use outdated and sometimes harmful language in reference to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. They should only be considered as representative of a moment in history and not as a recommendation for language to be used today.

09/29/2026

Act Now: Protect Head Start for Children With Disabilities

The Arc of the United States is asking people to speak up about proposed changes to Head Start that could weaken important protections for children with disabilities and their families.

Head Start connects many children with disabilities and their families to developmental screenings, early supports, and other services. The proposed changes could affect access to these supports, developmental screenings, family involvement, and protections for children.

You can help by submitting a public comment by October 6. Share why strong Head Start protections matter to you, your family, or your community.

Learn more and take action here: https://act.thearc.org/campaign/168429/

09/29/2026

In the photo below from The Arc of Washington State’s archives, President John F. Kennedy is handing a pen used to sign landmark legislation to fund community services, research facilities, and training of special education teachers to support children with developmental disabilities. Receiving the pen is his sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who would go on to found the Special Olympics. In the background is Mr. John G. Fettinger, who was president of the National ARC at the time and also received one of the bill signing pens that day.

This legislation, known as the Community Mental Health Act (CMHA) of 1963, served as a milestone and shift in federal funding priorities towards community-based services. The funding assigned as a result of this bill began our country’s slow, ongoing shift away from isolated institutions and towards community-based care for people with IDD.
These historical artifacts are being shared as part of The Arc of Washington State’s ongoing celebration of the organization’s 90th anniversary in 2026 and were originally curated and collected by former board member Larry Jones. Many of these artifacts use outdated and sometimes harmful language in reference to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. They should only be considered as representative of a moment in history and not as a recommendation for language to be used today.

09/28/2026

Yes! Spots are available for our October 17 Wings for® All event at SeaTac International Airport

Want to participate? https://bit.ly/Wings_participant
Want to volunteer? https://bit.ly/Wings_volunteer

Questions? Email Stacia at [email protected]

Wings for All® is a practice program to help reduce stress for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities, such as autism, cerebral palsy, and Down syndrome. The experience includes checking in for boarding passes, going through TSA security screening, waiting in the boarding area, and boarding an aircraft.

Please note: Participants 18 and older will need a Real ID. You must be registered to participate.

University of Washington Autism Center Seattle Children's Autism Center
The Arc - Washington State The Arc of Snohomish County
Highline Special Needs Parent Teacher Association Shoreline Special Education PTSA Northshore Special Education Community PTSA Seattle Special Education PTSA Bellevue Special Services - PTA Council Committee Lake Washington PTSA Special Education Group Federal Way Special Education PTA Issaquah Special Education PTSA Snoqualmie Valley PTSA Special Education and Disabilities - SED Committee

09/25/2026

Join us online for a discussion on what's changed with the passage of HB 1795 to reduce restraint and end isolation in Washington's public schools. Hosted by the University of Washington's WA INCLUDE ECHO program on Wednesday, September 30, 11:30 - 1:00 PM.

What we will talk about:
How the law changed
Why partners are working on this issue
What the new role is for medical professionals
What parents need to know
The state's Reducing Restraint and Eliminating
Isolation project

Join by clicking the Zoom link: https://washington.zoom.us/j/93777839348

Presenters: The Arc of King County and And Still We Rise, LLC

University of Washington News
Seattle Council PTSA
Bellevue Special Services - PTA Council Committee
The Arc - Washington State
Federal Way Special Education PTA Highline Special Needs Parent Teacher Association Issaquah Special Education PTSA Lake Washington PTSA Special Education Group Northshore Special Education Community PTSA Shoreline Special Education PTSA Snoqualmie Valley PTSA Special Education and Disabilities - SED Committee
Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint

09/24/2026

Dignity for every child: Our statement on the actions of hospital staff toward the Yeremeyev family

The Arc of Washington State is heartbroken and outraged by the account reported this week by The Seattle Times.

In September 2024, Aleksandr and Nataliya Yeremeyev were visiting Salem, Oregon, when their 8-month-old son became acutely ill. He was born with Down syndrome and other significant health conditions, and had already spent most of his short life in a hospital. He died at Salem Health.

According to the family's lawsuit, what followed was unthinkable. They allege that hospital staff kept them from their son while they waited for a medical examiner who never came, told them a funeral home would be "too expensive," and then directed them to lay their baby's body across the back seat of their car and drive four hours home to Seattle. They left with a handwritten note on a prescription pad as the only record of his death. Washington's Department of Health notes that transporting remains into the state without a burial-transit permit is against state law.

Salem Health has said it followed the family's wishes, hospital policy, and Oregon law. The court will weigh the facts. But the core question the family's attorneys have asked is one our community cannot ignore: why were these particular parents treated this way?

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and their families, know too well what it means to have a life treated as worth less. We see it in denied treatments, in "do not resuscitate" pressures, and in the quiet assumptions that shape decisions about care. Whether or not disability bias played a role here, this family deserved compassion, clear guidance, and basic dignity. By their account, they received none of it.

We are calling for answers from Salem Health about the policies and decisions that led to this family's experience, including whether their son's disability influenced how he and his family were treated. Oregon health authorities must review its hospital procedures when a patient from out of state dies, so no family is ever again left to transport a loved one on their own. This should lead to a commitment from every hospital to treat people with disabilities, and their families, with equal dignity at every stage of care, including at the end of life.

To the Yeremeyev family: we are so sorry. Your son mattered. We stand with you.

Seattle Times article:

A Seattle couple is suing an Oregon hospital and doctor after they were allegedly told to take their deceased infant’s body home in their personal vehicle.