This interview features Dr. Jonathan Smith, who discusses the launch of a new, mission‑driven health center under Mercer University focused on providing comprehensive, integrated care for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in Georgia. Dr. Smith explains that the center aims to address longstanding health disparities through coordinated, under‑one‑roof services—including primary care, behavioral health, therapies, dentistry, pharmacy, and diagnostics—while also serving as an educational hub to better train medical students and community clinicians in IDD care. Influenced by both his medical background and his personal experience as a parent of a child with Down syndrome, Dr. Smith emphasizes three key priorities for improving outcomes for people with IDD: stronger coordination of care across systems, reducing barriers within insurance and waiver programs, and reforming medical education to include IDD care earlier and more meaningfully, with the ultimate goal of improving health equity, patient experience, and long‑term outcomes.

Brad Turner, Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Disabilities and Aging, discusses how his personal experience as a parent of a daughter with cerebral palsy shapes his leadership and commitment to improving supports for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). He highlights Tennessee's innovations, including extending early intervention services to age five, the Medicaid Alternative Pathways (MAPs) program promoting independence through technology, and the development of statewide Innovation Centers to expand assistive and enabling technologies. Turner emphasizes the need for inclusive, person‑centered systems, better mental health support for people with IDD, and addressing workforce and housing challenges. He also stresses the importance of broader advocacy, community integration, and ensuring people with disabilities have not only a seat and a voice at the table, but true belonging where their voices are genuinely heard.

Jacqueline Cuevas shares her journey as a self‑advocate living with Functional Neurological Disorder (previously known as psychogenic non‑epileptic seizures), a condition triggered by trauma and often misunderstood by medical professionals. Beginning with unexplained episodes at age 16, she spent years being dismissed and misdiagnosed, accumulating medical debt and emotional exhaustion before finally receiving an accurate diagnosis while pregnant with her first child. The condition has profoundly affected her life—causing mobility issues, memory loss, and the need for extensive support—but it also inspired her path into self‑advocacy. As the chair of Self‑Advocates of Michigan, she now speaks publicly, works with legislators, and pushes for greater awareness of hidden disabilities, cultural acceptance within communities of color, and more compassionate, person‑centered care. She emphasizes inclusion, open conversations about disability, and the importance of medical professionals treating patients with respect and an open mind.