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"The social and economic significance of vocational rehabilitation should not be underestimated." Patients at Warm Springs and handicapped people the world over are fully appreciative of the meaning of this statement, and on learning what the federal and state governments are doing to promote vocational rehabilitation, they should be considerably encouraged. The last few decades have been ones of remarkable development for all kinds of social work; that is as it should be in a period when millions of people all over the world are suffering from obstacles which they cannot surmount unaided. We approve heartily of the steps taken in this direction, particularly that of rehabilitation which touches closely the lives of many of us here. We hope that this development will eventually be carried to even higher steps. One which we would like to suggest is that vocational rehabilitation services would do well to employ on their staffs one or more of the handicapped people whom they are helping. Most of this work could be done as well by a capable handicapped person as by an able bodied person, and the employment of such an individual would not only be advantageous to the handicapped person by rehabilitating him, but would also be to the interest of the staff in giving them an idea of the handicapped person's outlook first-hand. The importance of having on the job someone who understands and shares through his common experience, similar ideas as the other people whom the service wants to help can not be exaggerated. The suggestions of such a handicapped person trained for rehabilitation service would be of infinite value in the selection of a vocation and ultimately of job placement for other handicapped people.

A great deal has been and is being done of value by the Federal and State Rehabilitation Services. The inclusion of handicapped people in these Services would not decrease the amount done -- it should increase it by giving the staffs a new understanding of the people for whose rehabilitation they are working, and it would seem to be a logical step in the work of these valuable branches of our government.