In 1972, Dr. Mike Wilkins, a physician at the facility, declared himself Carabello's personal guardian and obtained his legal release from the Willowbrook State School. Soon afterwards, Wilkins was fired from the school. That day, Wilkins arranged for an ABC news reporter, Geraldo Rivera, to expose the conditions at the school and interview Carabello. Rivera’s 30-minute piece, The Last Great Disgrace, created a massive reaction of public outrage.

Carabello has since transformed himself into a major force in the movement for self-advocacy in New York and across the nation. He began work to organize a statewide self-advocacy organization and founded the Self-Advocacy Association of New York State in 1986. He continues to advocate for the rights and freedoms of people with disabilities today.

A story written by Dr. Beth Mount:

I will always remember the time Bernard Carabello celebrated his 50th birthday. On a cold, snowy night in January, 200 of his closest friends gathered together to laugh and cry as one person after another spoke of the acts of kindness, inspiration, and irritation Bernard has bestowed on them by being a true friend.

Bernard is a craftsman in the art of relationship building. He repeatedly brings people together to join in a purpose that is bigger than his own. He respects and recognizes the contributions of each person, whether they provide him with personal support or benefit the civil rights of all people. He is genuinely compassionate and irreverently intolerant of disrespect. He is generous beyond measure with his time, resources, and concern for others.

I find it hard to believe that he spent most of his childhood isolated and abandoned to a hostile and haunting institution. During the 20 years he spent at Willowbrook State School, he spent all of every Sunday sitting by the window hoping that someone would come to visit him, which rarely happened. As he was freed from isolation, he gave and received from others without ceasing. He lives with an insider's view of the healing power of relationships and the way that interdependence and cooperation can change the world.

Tanya was previously one of the first learning disability liaison nurses to work within an acute hospital in the country. This innovative post was designed to ensure that people with a learning disability have the same access to secondary healthcare as the rest of the general population. This was achieved by providing training, making reasonable adjustments, and providing hands-on care and support for the patients when needed.

Tanya’s career has been lead by a desire that services should be fair to all, and that people have a basic right to be respected, treated with dignity and compassion, and receive a good quality of care no matter what diagnosis or label they have been given.

Simon is best known for defining key concepts such as individual budgets, self-directed support, the citizenship model and many others. He is the author of the book, “Keys to Citizenship” and many articles and papers. He now runs The Centre for Welfare Reform.

Simon has found a number of ways of putting his ideas into practice. He founded and led the organization In Control from 2003 to 2009. He also founded Shop4Support.com and the support provider Altrum. From 2000 to 2003, Simon worked as Director of Consultancy for Paradigm, promoting Person-Centered Planning and Self-Directed Support. In 1996, he founded the service provider Inclusion Glasgow to provide radically individualized support for people leaving institutional care. From 1990 to 1994 Simon led early experiments in individual funding and brokerage within Southwark Consortium (now Choice Support).

Simon began his career as an NHS Management Trainee at the King’s Fund College in London. He was a Harkness Fellow in 1994, where he researched inclusive education and welfare reform in the J. F. Kennedy Center in Denver, Colorado. In 2001, Simon obtained his doctorate in moral philosophy from the University of Edinburgh with a thesis arguing for the objectivity of morality. In 2007, Simon was awarded the RSA’s Prince Albert Medal for his contribution to Social Innovation. In 2011 the Social Policy Association gave Simon an award for making an outstanding contribution to social policy. He is also an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham’s Health Services Management Centre.

Graham rejected the then accepted curriculum model, which at the time was supposed to be delivered in an “asocial” manner. Instead he developed his teaching rationale and methods by successfully adopting Intensive Interaction as his main classroom practice.

In 2003 Graham took up his current post of Intensive Interaction Project Leader for the NHS in Leeds in the UK, where he continues to work locally, nationally, and internationally to support others to adopt, sustain, and develop the quality of their Intensive Interaction practices and services. Graham is one of the founding directors of the Intensive Interaction Institute, he edits the UK Intensive Interaction Newsletter, and has been the primary organizer of the annual UK Intensive Interaction conference since 2005.

He has worked throughout Canada, the United States, and England. Among his methods of education and group work, Dave utilizes "group graphics." This innovative model dynamically captures a group's words, images and colors enabling participants to, quite literally, "see what we are saying," getting everyone on the same page, and positioned for action.

Dave has worked extensively with diverse groups, large and small. He has supported groups interested in youth, people with disabilities, community development, the arts, inclusive education, literacy, health and social services, social planning, coalition building, and community economic development.

His work adds vision, forming a crystallizing catalyst, charting a course of action.

While studying for his master’s in autism, Simon developed a more dynamic approach to working with people, and it is this belief that has fueled his work since then.

Simon manages a supported accommodation service for adults with autism, and also co-owns and manages the Devon Autism Centre, a Relationships Development Intervention (R.D.I.) certified centre that offers family interventions and support services.

During the 1980s, as the Principal of Harperbury Hospital Special School in the UK, Dave was one of the originators of the Intensive Interaction approach. Dave left his Principal post in 1990 and established the Intensive Interaction Institute and has since dedicated his work to the dissemination of Intensive Interaction throughout the world. With his colleagues at the institute Dave spends his time speaking at conferences, giving seminars, and publishing books, articles, and training materials.

As well, working as a consultant, Myles has done a great deal of work with the media. Myles’ goal is to help others with FASD find their voice and to help society understand that we are greater when we are untied and work together.

Dave has written many books and journal articles, and writes an award winning disability blog. Dave lectures at the national and international level on a broad range of disability related topics. In 2009 Dave was inducted into the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame.

She served as the state of Rhode Island's Executive Director of the Division of Developmental Disabilities from 1996 to 2005, serving in the public sector for 24 years. Her work included assisting in the closure of the state's institution, The Ladd Center, in 1993, collaborating on an individualized funding and budgeting approach for persons served by Rhode Island's Division of Developmental Disabilities, and serving as President of the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services, and on the Association's Board for 8 years.

Her 40 years of experience has taken her from institution to community settings, involving values-based person-centered planning as a means to facilitate individual and organizational change. She is passionate about leadership, change, and personal engagement to work towards a more just world where everyone's voice and gifts are welcome.

She helped found Rhode Island's Service Quality Network, and later was instrumental in creating the Rhode Island Facilitator's Forum, which still thrives, as well as being a catalyst in the state's Integrated Initiative on Positive Approaches, eliminating aversive and restrictive procedures.

Lynda also currently serves as Board President for Neighbours, Inc., an innovative organization based in New Jersey that assists people in living full lives and directing their own supports.

Doreen is now the Director of Partners for Inclusion in Scotland which she set up 12 years ago. Partners for Inclusion provides support that is tailor-made rather than trying to fit people into services that often don’t suit. “We set up the organisation because we recognized that services were often mediocre and just good enough, but did not put the focus on the individual. We wanted to do something different: to provide support that just wasn’t okay, but was first class”.

Partners for Inclusion works with 45 people. Some people live alone and have come-in staff, some people have flatmates or live-in staff, and some people live with families. The organization is committed to person-centred values and focuses on making the most of community support and relationships in the individual’s life.

Doreen is a Director of Beyond Limits, based in Plymouth in the South West of England. Beyond Limits has been set up to support people who have labels of being extremely challenging and are piloting this tailored approach using Individual Health Budgets (IHB’s). Beyond Limits supports people who, due to their perceived behavior, are placed “out of area” to come back home and take up their rightful place in their community, offering the tailored support that people need to do this successfully.

Doreen is also a founding board member of Manavodaya International UK and In-Control Scotland.

With the support of everyone who lived in the home, but against the will of the local authority, Gary supported the closure of the home. Each person living in the home was subsequently supported to make their own choices about where they wanted to live: if they want to live with others, who they would like to live with, and who would support them.

Since this time, Gary has strongly advocated for the closure of large residential care homes and for people to be able to take control of and direct their own lives. More recently, Gary founded a new organization called New Key which specializes in supporting people to have lives rich in self-control, relationships, citizenship, and natural support.

Diana has carried out research into supporting older people in care homes at night. This research has led to a renewed interest in night care, especially in relation to people with dementia. Diana works with night staff to develop training and improve services. Diana also has a lifelong interest and involvement with music making and has been advocating the use of music with people with dementia for many years. Previously, Diana was the Course Director for the MSc in Dementia Studies at the University of Stirling. Diana is the author of a number of publications on dementia, intellectual disabilities and dementia, and on nighttime care of older people.

Peter conducts workshops, develops training materials, writes songs, speaks and sings at conferences, and works with organizations, government agencies, families, and paid supporters. Peter promotes positive support, inclusion, building healthy relationships, and thinking differently about people who are called “challenging.” Peter himself is known to be non-compliant at times and can often be found exhibiting attention seeking behavior.

For almost 20 years he worked for Options in Community Living, a supported living agency in Madison Wisconsin. His roles included direct support, service coordination, recruiting, and supporting direct support staff, community building, and administrative responsibilities.

Christine currently works in private practice continuing to assess children and young adults with a wide range of learning and behavioral challenges.

Dr. Lunsky also is a co-author on the Canadian primary care and developmental disabilities consensus guidelines and has advised Ontario policy makers on developmental disability legislation, the dual diagnosis policy guidelines, and the standardized assessment of support needs for adults with developmental disabilities in Ontario.

Joseph is recognized as a national leader in the advocacy and advancement of the direct support profession. He has co-authored a series of publications titled “Voices from the Frontlines”, produced an award winning Realistic Job Preview for community-based human services organizations titled “Working as a Direct Support Professional: We Get It Done”, and has assisted more than 500 direct support professionals to advance their college education through the “Disability Studies Certificate”.

In addition to her consulting work, Elizabeth also works as a sessional instructor at the University of the Fraser Valley in the Early Childhood Education/Child and Youth Care programs. This is a rewarding experience in which Elizabeth has the opportunity to share her passion with future practitioners.

Having worked at a senior level in both residential and personalized support services in the West of Scotland Kay founded LEAF (Life, Employment and Friends) in 2001. Her work has particularly focused on supporting people who have become marginalized to maximize their own potential. She specializes in working with individuals, families and staff who are stuck or who have run out of ideas. She often also works as a mediator between services and individuals.

Kay has also supported wider system change, working particularly closely with North Lanarkshire Council - one of the most innovative Scottish local authorities. Kay has helped social workers and managers to learn new skills and focus on capacity-building within their local communities.

Kay has expertise in person-centered approaches, community mapping and bridge-building, overcoming communication difficulties, sexuality and family-centered work. She is well known for her creativity and positivity and she believes like Charlie Chaplin that "A day without laughter is a day wasted".

In addition to her social activism, Beth Mount creates art that complements and defines her unique style of cross cultural and multi-literate communication. She supports people to create person-centered plans via art, and she creates quilts that help people communicate the spirit and beauty of personal, organizational, and social change.

Through her publications and art, Beth weaves together stories, symbols and patterns of the longings, joys, struggles, and beauty of a people who are learning together, which brings the gifts of every person to life and creates a more beloved community by doing so.

Judith has been a Commissioner and she has worked for a Health Authority, Local Authorities, and a number of third sector organizations. She wrote ‘Better Services for People with Autistic Spectrum Conditions” for the Department of Health in 1996 and she is privileged to include in her CV the roles of Chief Executive of Kingwood Trust, Corporate Director of Reach (Supported Living) in Wales, and Director of Consultancy for Paradigm. Her driving purpose is to improve services for the people who use them and for the incredible people who work in them.

Harvey, along with his late wife Ethel and self-advocate Bernard Carabello, was instrumental in starting up the Self-Advocacy Movement in New York City. In late 1988, along with others, they were rewarded with the certificate of incorporation as a non-profit organization in New York State. Harvey looks forward to continuing his involvement with the self-advocacy movement and helping those with disabilities for as long as he can. Harvey is the proud father of Samantha Pacht.

Jointly with his wife and partner, Lynda Kahn, Jack conducts workshops, consults with organizations, and collaborates with people with disabilities and their families, to engage in positive change that honors the gifts and contributions of all. Earlier, Jack, his late wife Marsha Forest, and John O'Brien, collaborated to create several person-centered approaches such as PATH, MAPS, and Circles of Friends. The collaboration continues now with John and Lynda.

Jack's forty years of organization experience include seven years in Africa implementing post-war reconstruction; sixteen years as President of Canada's oldest literacy organization, Frontier College; and nearly two decades as a full-time publisher and presenter.

Jack is the founding director of the Marsha Forest Centre: Inclusion, Family, and Community and remains its Executive Director. Jack and Lynda Kahn work internationally and have expanded their network beyond Canada and the United States to include people in Australia, England, India, China, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Scotland, and Uganda.

You might say their behaviors are "messages" which can tell us important things about their lives. Learning to listen to the person’s difficult behaviors is the first step in helping the person to find a new (and healthier) story.

David also believes, to paraphrase Jean Clark, that a "person's needs are best met by people whose needs are met." Supporting a person with difficult behaviors also involves an honest assessment of and attention to the needs of a person's supporters.

In the recent past, David has provided consultation and training for individuals, families and professionals throughout the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, England, and the Republic of Ireland.

Most of John’s experience stems from more than two decades spent with direct support professionals and the people they serve. Over that time, he has educated thousands in the NADSP Code of Ethics and Direct Support Competencies. John travels around the United States training, consulting and learning from people with disabilities and direct support professionals. Most of the people with whom he has worked and supported over the last 25 years are people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and at-risk youth.

Job Path supports people with developmental disabilities as they make choices about their lives and play valued roles in their communities. Their programs enable people to pursue jobs and careers, live in their own homes, and be connected to their communities.

Over the past seventeen years, Neighbours has supported people in New Jersey and Pennsylvania in moving into their own homes, controlling their own supports and resources, and living full, rich lives as contributors in their local communities. Neighbours focuses on creating vehicles for delivering support through a variety of structures and practices: supported living; brokerage; support coordination; fiscal management services; and agency with choice; all driven by the principles of self-determination, citizenship, and asset based community development.

In 2009, Patti founded Neighbours, International, an organization focused on collaborative learning design, technical assistance, consulting, and facilitation of individual, agency, and systems transformation in a variety of states and countries. Patti is currently the Chief Executive Officer of both Neighbours. She is a faculty member of University of Delaware’s Leadership Institute.

Heather has worked extensively in diverse roles with the disability sector since 1994. Including roles as a support worker, group home manager, team leader, and development worker.

Heather has many stories to tell… and her passion is working in the ‘grey areas’ of human services. She loves the challenge of finding ways of applying the ideas she talks about everyday to the day to day practice of working in the disability sector.

Sam jointly owns Beyond Limits, a support organization that works with people with big, often unwarranted, reputations for challenging services. The aim of the organization is to move people out of Institutions, or to support them well so that they do not enter them in the first place.

Sam worked for several years as part of a Team in Cornwall England making public service systems changes to the services provided by the NHS after an abuse scandal in 2006. This led onto work with health and residential staff teams training them on cultural change in readiness for supporting people moving on from institutional care.

Kathie is the mother of Benjamin, a young man with disabilities. Kathie has learned from Benjamin and others with disabilities, and now shares these extraordinary lessons. Kathie believes we can generate better outcomes for children and adults with disabilities when we change our attitudes, words, and actions. The inclusion of people with disabilities can best be accomplished when they move from dependence on special services (client-hood) to the abundant supply of natural supports and generic services in their communities (citizenship).

Kathie is enthusiastic, positive, and passionate about ensuring children and adults with disabilities live real lives, fully included at home, school, work, and play. The commonsense strategies she promotes can help turn this dream into reality. Be ready for provocative questions, positive solutions, and innovative thinking, mixed with humor and real-life experiences.

She is particularly interested in the communication of people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities or autistic spectrum conditions. Her interests in both communication and human rights have involved her in both safeguarding and legal issues.

Since April 2008 she has worked as a freelance trainer, writer and consultant for a number of charities and other organizations. In 2009 she qualified as a Registered Intermediary, supporting vulnerable witnesses and victims in the criminal justice system. She is a trustee of an advocacy organization and enjoys trying to keep up with advances in technology for people with communication difficulties. She is passionate about the human rights of people with learning disabilities in every area of life.

He has given workshops and spoken at conferences on issues of violence in services, as well as the use of restrictive practices such as restraint, in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands.

Marc is the founding Editor of The SRV Journal, published twice a year, containing original articles, vignettes, book and film reviews, etc. on topics related to Social Role Valorization and PASSING. He is a member of the North American SRV Training, Development, and Safeguarding Council.

She is an educator in the Classroom and Community Support Program at Douglas College, is a provincial representative on the National FASD Family Advisory Committee with The Canadian Northwest FASD Research Network and a founding member of The FASD Collaboration Roundtable. Marsha's graduate studies were in Family Support and FASD and she currently works in private practice with home learners who have disabilities and their families. She parents an adult son who has FASD and she says that "he has been her greatest teacher!"

Kate had a leading role on some of the first Self Directed Support initiatives in the UK, and has used these experiences to share some valuable lessons about real system change and empowerment. She believes that real empowerment is so much more than simply moving money, but requires a radical change to the way in which we support people to lead change across all areas of life including our welfare systems and communities. Over the last few years Kate has been exploring approaches that assist people to best understand themselves and their impact. The work has led to a deeper understand of what we bring to our relationships, interactions and inclusion.

Kate developed Bright Souls, a community of like-minded people who share their learning and experiences to live positive and meaningful lives.