Who is The Arc?

The Arc was founded in 1950 from a grassroots movement of families working to create services for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). With more than 600 state and local chapters across the country, The Arc is the oldest and largest organization advocating for and serving people with IDD.
Learn more about The Arc.

Find a chapter of The Arc in your area.

What is The Arc@School?

Since its founding, The Arc has advocated for students with IDD to have access to educational supports and services. The Arc was a driving force in the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1975, which required schools to educate all students with disabilities for the first time. The Arc@School is The Arc’s newest initiative in special education. The mission of The Arc@School is to build the capacity of our nationwide network of chapters to provide individual advocacy that helps students with IDD and their families navigate the special education system. The Arc@School is available to chapter staff for technical assistance, training, and resources on special education advocacy.

As part of its program planning, The Arc@School conducted an investigation of existing special education advocacy practices. The investigation included a scan of academic research journals for articles on special education advocacy, identification of existing advocacy training programs, conversations with key special education advocacy stakeholders, and outreach to special education advocates in The Arc’s chapter network.  The investigation report identifies a list of recommendations, which form the basis for The Arc@School’s current efforts.

The Arc@School was established in 2016 and serves as the primary special education advocacy hub for The Arc of the United States, focusing on bridging the education gap for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and providing guidance on how to better understand the complex legal landscape of special education.

We offer resources to help our community to navigate Special Education, with The Arc@School’s Special Education Advocacy Curriculum being our flagship offering.

Beyond The Special Education Advocacy Training, we offer a robust library of free resources and digital tools to assist families in real-time.