The Texas Center for Disability Studies (TCDS) is an interdisciplinary team composed of professionals at the university level, persons with disabilities from state, regional and local communities, statewide service providers, and advocacy organization specialists.

Our mission is to serve Texas as a catalyst so that people with disabilities are living the lives they choose in supportive communities. We emphasize cultural and linguistic diversity as a foundation that guides our work.


All of our activities are guided by a belief in individualized supports, inclusion, self-determination, natural supports, and collaboration with organizations to address policy issues and systems change.

Overall Goals and Broad Objectives

To accomplish our mission to meet the needs identified in Texas, we apply our resources toward achieving four primary goals, representing the core functions of the center. The primary goals of the Texas Center for Disability Studies are:

1. To conduct interdisciplinary pre-service preparation and continuing education of students and fellows in order to strengthen and increase the capacity of this state and its local communities to achieve the independence, productivity, integration, and inclusion of people with developmental disabilities as valued members of their communities.

2. To provide community services and training or technical assistance for individuals with developmental disabilities, their families, professionals, paraprofessionals, policy-makers, students, and other members of the community; to provide services, supports, and assistance for people with disabilities and their families to promote their independence, productivity, integration, and inclusion.

3. To conduct basic or applied research, evaluation, and public policy analysis in areas that affect or could affect, either positively or negatively, individuals with developmental disabilities and their families to improve their lives, and to enhance the effectiveness of community-based programs and supports.

4. To disseminate information related to activities of the Texas Center for Disability Studies as part of a national network; to increase and support the independence, productivity, integration, and inclusion of people with developmental disabilities into the community.

Our center is one of sixty-seven nonprofit University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Research, Education, and Service (UCEDD) facilities based in colleges or universities throughout the United States and its territories. We are also a member of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities, a network of interdisciplinary centers advancing policy and practice for, and with, individuals with developmental and other disabilities, their families, and communities.



We are funded, in part, by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities, a division of the Administration for Children and Families at the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contents of this Web site are partially developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.  These contents, however, do not necessarily represent the policy of the U. S. Department of Education, and endorsement by the Federal government should not be assumed.