"He told me that his teachers reported that...he was mentally slow, unsociable, and adrift forever in his foolish dreams." -- Hans Einstein, on his father, Albert Einstein

There are 1.9 million people with a disability in Michigan, many of whom want to participate in and contribute to all areas of life. While some disabilities appear at birth, any one of us can develop a disability at some time in our life due to illness, accident, or genetics.

The Office of Services to the Aging aspires to beliefs that:

• a disability does not define, nor should it marginalize a person;
• a person with a disability can function independently in their community with the proper support system; and
• all Michigan citizens have a fundamental right to participate in all aspects of society.

These links offer a wealth of information on resources available to Michigan citizens with disabilities, including older adults--from health, to protections, to services, to emergency preparedness, to statistics. There are a number of Michigan-based resources that are especially helpful.

• Michigan Commission for the Blind
• Michigan Commission on Disability Concerns
• Michigan History, Arts and Libraries, Talking Book and Braille Catalog
• Michigan Disability Resources
• Michigan Disability Resource Directory
• Michigan Disability Rights Coalition
• Disability Network-Michigan
• DisabilityInfo.gov
• U.S.National Library, Medline Plus
• Population Reference Bureau, Disability and Aging
• A Guide to Disability Rights Laws
• American Red Cross, Preparing for Disaster for People With Disabilities