- The ARC - California Edition -

The ARC Research Fund

Since its inception, The Arc of the United States, with the support of its local and state member units, have been very supportive of research activities. Within the national organization's bylaws, a charge for the organization to pursue the "reduction of the incidence and limiting the consequence of mental retardation" has been included.

Arc-California recently received a communication recognizing the Arc-California membership's long-term support of the Arc Research and Prevention Fund, which is the collective source of funding for efforts to find better ways to reach this objective. The following is an abbreviated version of our national President Quincy Abbot's words.

"I am delighted to thank Arc-California for your .... continuing efforts to fund .... The Arc of the US Research Fund. As Californians especially know, over the years many research projects supported by this fund have produced important outcomes. Through this program we also annually recognize an outstanding researcher with The Arc's Distinguished Research Award."

One of the earliest projects supported by the fund led to the development of a blood test to identify PKU (phenylketonuria) in newborn babies. In very recent years, the fund has supported work that led to the development of a blood test that is capable of determining the potential for ethanol damage to a fetus. Simply put, this information will enable earlier prevention of drinking during pregnancy and earlier intervention for at-risk children.

Building on The Arc's earlier support of research in PKU, funds from the program during 1997 have been applied to supporting research to answer the question "Can Tyrosine Supplementation Prevent Cognitive Defects in Children Treated for PKU?" The funded researchers will examine a supplement to traditional treatment for PKU that may change the way we currently treat that disorder.

Also in 1997, Dr. Michael Guralnick was the recipient of The Arc's Distinguished Researched Award presented at the national convention in Salt Lake City. Dr. Guralnick was selected for his distinguished work in the areas of early intervention and integrated pre-school programs. His research has resulted in more and better preschool programs for young children.

Sometimes because of the rigor and language associated with research, it does not receive deserved recognition. "I believe," Abbot said, " that research is essential to our continuing efforts to move forward, a belief that The Arc's chapters in California share. It is for that vision and for your donation to The Arc's Research Fund that I want to again extend a very sincere thank you."

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