Ann Costello, Director of the Golisano Foundation presented the Foundation’s 2019 Move to Include Award to Dr. Matthew Holder, an international leader in the care of individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD).

The Move to Include award was presented at this year’s annual American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry’s (AADMD) One Voice Igniting Change Conference, which was held in Rochester, NY.

Since 2015, the award has been given to those who both “believe” and “act” in the purest realm of the essence of “move to include,” in the hope that the understanding of “include” can be elevated, promoted, ingrained and demonstrated at the highest levels of human behavior.

In presenting the award Costello said, “Matt is a gifted doctor who epitomizes the characteristics of the Award every day in his work, life and professional associations. Throughout his career he has demonstrated that inclusion is never an afterthought or a “do over” effort in social justice. He understands that true inclusion is not something created through a mission statement, a tagline or a bumper sticker.”

About Dr. Matt Holder

Dr. Holder began working on what would result in Developmental Medicine becoming a recognized medical expertise soon after starting his career.

In 2002, he took over the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry (AADMD).  Since then the AADMD has set the curriculum and standards that guide medical students, residents and fellowship-level physicians to better treat and understand patients with IDD.  Medical schools and residency programs around the world have implemented curriculum changes based on the work done by Dr. Holder and the AADMD.

In 2005 Dr. Holder became Global Medical Advisor for the Special Olympics. He has trained thousands of healthcare providers in addressing the health needs of athletes with IDD. He also assists the American Medical Association and the American Dental Association in developing and passing resolutions that improve the lives and healthcare of IDD patients.
Dr. Holder, alongside colleague Dr. Henry Hood, designed and developed a unique, interdisciplinary patient care and teaching model that meets the health needs of adults with IDD living in the community – the first of its kind in the nation. Today the Lee Specialty Clinic exists as a testament their shared vision.

Dr. Holder is a graduate of the University of Louisville School of Medicine. He earned a BA and MBA from the University of Louisville.

Previous Honorees of the Golisano Foundation Move to Include Award:

• Rick Rader, MD, Co-Founder, American Association of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry and Director of the Morton J. Kent Habilitation Center at Orange Grove Center
• Julie J. Christensen, PhD, LMSW, former Director of Employment Programs for the University of Rochester Medical Center, Strong Center for Developmental Disabilities
• Rick Guidotti, Founder and Director of Positive Exposure
• Daniel M. Meyers, former CEO of Al Sigl Community
• Martha Mock, PhD, Associate Professor and Director, Institute for Innovative Transition at the University of Rochester’s Warner School of Education
• Joseph A. Ruffalo, CEO Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center
• Shirley F. Szekeres, PhD, CCC-SLP, Director of the York Wellness and Rehabilitation Institute at Nazareth College

About the Award – An Award that Challenges its Very Name

Written by Rick Rader, MD, Co-Founder, American Association of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry
The Golisano Move to Include Award was established in 2015 and is given to those who both “believe” and “act” in the purest realm of the essence of “move to include.” It is given in the hope that the understanding of “include” can be elevated, promoted, ingrained and demonstrated at the highest levels of human behavior.

Samuel Beckett, the novelist and poet observed, “Words are all we have.” If that is true then we need to be mindful of those we use.

The disability field is fond of the word “include,” believing it refers to society embracing and celebrating value in human diversity.  The reality is that the word is derived from the Latin word meaning “to shut in, enclose.” It can mean to “make room for,” “take into account,” “work in,” “accommodate,” and “admit.” All of which, does not describe the Golisano Foundation’s Move to Include Award.

This Award is not given to individuals and organizations that strive to “fit people in,” and “make room” for people with intellectual disabilities. The Award is not intended to honor the movement to include people despite their disabilities; and certainly not because of their disabilities

The Golisano Move to Include Award was designed to demonstrate that inclusion should never be an afterthought, a “make room” effort or a “do over” effort in social justice. The Award points out that in our society there are individuals and organizations that understand that inclusion, true inclusion is not something that is created through a mission statement, a tagline or a bumper sticker. The Move to Include Award celebrates the “movement” – the arduous and tenacious movement  –  that strives to embrace people, not as an afterthought, and equally important to move the psyche of individuals, systems, communities and societies that will one day eliminate the need to offer awards noteworthy for succeeding in “allowing people; people with novelties” to be welcomed into the fold.

We do not learn anything by simply “including,” “allowing,“ or “permitting” others to live and work alongside of us. We do not profit or grow by “accepting,” or even “welcoming” people with disabilities.

We, as a neighborhood, community and society learn, grow and profit by “believing” in the sanctity, value and merit of “together.” The essence of “together” transcends “inclusion.”  The Golisano Award belongs to those who believe that being together, not by mandate, statute or fiat; is the only way we can benefit from the joys, challenges and perspectives that “believing in being together” can be promoted and realized.