Supporting persons with intellectual and developmental disability: will our emerging political leaders build on President Kennedy's legacy?

Wolf-Branigin (2007) read every major disability speech that President John F. Kennedy gave. He tracked how Kennedy talked about people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The paper is a story-style review, not an experiment.

The goal was to see if today's leaders still use the same hopeful, action-focused words Kennedy did.

Kennedy's speeches framed disability support as a proud national duty. He spoke of research, education, and community life in the same breath.

The review shows that modern presidents rarely give that kind of full attention to IDD issues. The spotlight has dimmed.

Wolfensberger (2011) picks up the timeline where Michael stops. Wolf agrees progress has been uneven and says practitioners must keep pushing for fixes.

Swenson (2015) goes further, telling the field to 'honor the past, then get over it.' Both papers accept Michael's point that Kennedy-era energy is gone, but they urge new national goals instead of nostalgia.

Butterworth et al. (2024) gives a fresh example: employment rates for adults with IDD are still dismal 60 years after Kennedy. Their data extends Michael's rhetorical warning into a concrete policy failure.

If leaders aren't talking about IDD, funding and laws slide down the list. BCBAs can fill the gap. Use outcome graphs, family stories, and plain numbers when you talk to school boards, state reps, or insurance reviewers. Make the issue visible again, one meeting at a time.