The Larry Bregman, M.D. Educational Conference (Bregman) offers adults with developmental disabilities, their families and their caregivers the opportunity to learn about topics that might not be addressed in other venues. This symposium provides opportunities for participants to socialize with others who share their interests and needs in a unique conference atmosphere.

Bregman began in 1993 to honor the memory of Dr. Larry Bregman, a member of Jewish Family & Career Services’ (JF&CS) Developmental Disabilities Committee and a prominent Atlanta pediatrician who worked to see that children with disabilities and their families were informed and educated about the many abilities people with disabilities posses.

The first Bregman was comprised of three sessions. One session was held for families with young children; one for families with adults with disabilities and the third for people with disabilities.

Because of the success of the third session, the committee, comprised of all volunteers, decided to focus the Bregman series solely on people with disabilities.

For the second conference, the committee added an additional track to the series for family members and professionals but kept the consumer track the main focus of the conference. Georgia States Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education agreed to co-sponsor the conference with JF&CS. This allowed the attendees to experience the conference in a university atmosphere and was an experience that most of them had never had, each attendee was given a certificate showing they had participated in the conference at GSU.

The third conference was also held at Georgia State with an attendance of 250. Each year has seen an increase in attendance as the series becomes widely known. The goal for the future is to have continued growth in subject matter, speaker selection and attendance as well as to provide a full weekend of learning and socializing.

Bregman is a program of Developmental Disabilities Services - Tools for Independence, a division of Jewish Family & Career Services.