Fonds F0333 - Developmental Disabilities Resource Centre fonds

The Council for Retarded Children of Southern Alberta was formed in 1952, led by Chistine Meikle-Harris, 1909-1997, and Emily Follensbee, 1903-2003. The name was changed to Calgary Association for Retarded Children in 1954, to Calgary Association for the Mentally Retarded by the late 1960s, to Calgary Association for the Mentally Handicapped in 1981, and to the Developmental Disabilities Resource Centre of Calgary in the 1990s. Its objectives are to promote the development to the maximum of mentally retarded individuals, and to educate their families and communities about their needs. The association successfully lobbied for a school for retarded children, which was constructed in 1957. The Vocational Rehabilitation and Research Institute was completed in the late 1960s, to further expand the association's programs. In 1985 a new headquarters was built in Lincoln Park, and a teaching program for severely handicapped adults was implemented. For further information see Then and Now...The History of the Developmental Disabilites Resource Centre of Calgary / by Harry Sanders and Lorelei Piotto. -- Calgary : DDRC, 1997.