Here you will find the same things you find in the reference shelf of any library - resource guides, dictionaries, directories - anything you need to look stuff up.

Acronyms - for some reason, people in the disability field feel as if they absolutely MUST use letters instead of plain English. If you have a person with a disability in your family, you will soon be hearing a lot of people using just the initials to refer to laws and programs that may affect your family member. We really, really, really encourage you to ask questions in any meeting with anyone when you are not sure of what they mean. We know that is not something a lot of people from our reservations are comfortable doing, but it is for your family, your child, your grandmother, your aunt or someone else important to you. To give you a hand, though, here are some acronyms we are sure you will hear and what they mean

Disability Dictionary - All those weird words like 'anemia', 'dysnomia' and terms like 'Individual Transition Plan', you will find defined right here.

Disability Definitions -- The answer to “What is a disability?” varies by agency and even from year to year. A few years ago, there were eight categories of disability that qualified a student for special education services under federal law. Now there are thirteen categories. A person with a developmental disability is entitled to a much wider array of services than students in special education without developmental disabilities. Confused? Here is your introduction to definitions of disability, in 25 slides or less.

Directory of state Protection and Advocacy and Client Assistance Program offices. These programs, required by federal law, guard the rights of people with disabilities. This document has their phone numbers, addresses, fax numbers, email and web addresses for all 50 states.

Disabled Village Children - This book has over 600 pages on everything from making your own crutches to sex. There are chapters on disabilities common in poor, rural villages. The book was written by and for rehabilitation workers in poor rural villages. It is written in a style to be easily understood by almost anyone. Some staff members or families may feel it is 'talking down to them'. We liked it. Many people in the world do not have more than a grade school education. Even if you are not one of them, this book has a lot of information that will help people with disabilities and we highly recommend it. (You don't have to read all 600 pages!)