Many of the abuses that characterized the treatment of people with disabilities in ancient times continue, under new names and couched in more "acceptable" terms. In recent years, however, significant progress has been made, thanks to people just like you who took a stand and said "Enough."

These "changemakers," whether professionals, self-advocates, parents, teachers or scientists, chose to look at age-old problems in new ways. Their actions created the impetus for further progress and began a cycle of change that grows stronger by the day.

You, too, can be an agent of change. Momentum is building. People around the globe are pooling their knowledge, passion and dedication to improve the lives of people with disabilities today and to plant the seeds for a future that is far different from what anyone could have envisioned even 50 years ago.

However, you cannot change what you don't know. Understanding the past will help you and society move forward without repeating yesterday's mistakes.

As the decisions made by earlier generations impacted the past and the present, so the decisions you make today -- what you chose to do and what you chose not to do -- will live on.