Individual and Family Advocacy Program in Review 2025

Throughout 2025, Inclusion BC’s Advocacy Team has been supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families in overcoming barriers to inclusion across a wide range of issues. The top three are:

• Access to K-12 Education
• Transition and Access to Adult Services
• Access to Community Inclusion and Other Disability Supports

Each of the over 1,150 calls we have supported so far in 2025 represents a story of a person who has been denied one or more of their fundamental rights as a person with a disability.

We are at a time when meaningful inclusion, accommodations, and person-centred supports are questioned in almost every situation we support. We understand budget limitations, but many of the challenges stem from attitudinal barriers. People with disabilities are constantly questioned about whether they require the support and services they are asking for. These are the basics to ensure their participation in the community.

We need our systems to show up with curiosity to understand people’s circumstances, with a collaborative mindset to find solutions, and with a vision of abundance in which every person can get what they need to not only live but thrive in their community.

The Inclusion BC team remains committed to showing up alongside people guided by our principles: rights-based, person-centred, collaborative and solutions-focused.

We hope that 2026 will bring meaningful outcomes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in all areas of their lives.