Where People Come First!

The Arc is the nation's largest volunteer organization solely devoted to improving the lives of all children and adults with intellectual disabilities and their families. The association also fosters research and education regarding the prevention of mental retardation in infants and young children.

The Arc is people - people with cognitive, developmental, and intellectual disabilities, parents and other family members, and friends of people with intellectual disabilities and professionals who work with them. The Arc is essentially a grass-roots organization formed in 1950 by a small group of parents and other concerned individuals. Today there are 140,000 members and 1,200 state and local chapters across the nation.