The Alberta Association for Community Living (AACL) releases Hear My Voice

2006. The book, Hear My Voice: Stories Told by Albertans with Developmental Disabilities Who Were Once Institutionalized, is released by the Alberta Association for Community Living (AACL). The book captures the stories of several men and women with developmental disabilities who lived in the Michener Centre, an institution in Red Deer, Alberta, but who have since moved into various communities in Western Canada (AACL, 2013). The book as been described as "a powerful testimony to the resiliency of the human spirit, its capacity for forgivness and hope fulfilled" (AACL, 2013, para. 4).

AACL developed the book with the hope of capturing and preserving the unique oral histories of this particular group of people, before it is lost (AACL, 2006). Many of those institutionalized are now an aging population, which made the book particularly pertinent (AACL, 2006). The book is meant to be a tool for social change, and to present a healing experience for those with disabilities (AACL, 2006).

-Colette Leung