In the autumn of 1951, two Calgary mothers were informed that their sons would not be accepted into public schools because they had developmental disabilities, and that the only option for education available to them was an institution in Red Deer known as the Provincial Training School.
Those two mothers were Christine Meikle and Emily Follensbee, who went on to found the organization known today as the Developmental Disabilities Resource Centre of Calgary on May 21, 1952. From starting a classroom for six students in Meikle’s kitchen, to lobbying the public schoolboard to provide inclusive education, the history of the DDRC is that of a true grassroots movement.