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The fact that at this time almost 20 states have legislative or gubernatorial commissions or committees active, specifically concerned with mental retardation is an indication of the urgency of some of the problems posed by the developments of the last decade in the field. Considerable debate is taking place in many states as to which particular state department should be charged with the administration of a given service, a question that is not always easily determined due to the comprehensive nature of such services for the retarded with frequent overlapping into several areas.

This has led to proposals that one state department be designated as having major or overall responsibility for the welfare of the retarded. Some states have already taken or are considering this step, and significantly three different departments have so far emerged as appropriate for the overall responsibility: public welfare, public health, or mental health. Other states have organized or are working toward interdepartmental committees, but there is no unanimity as to composition and function of these bodies.

The problem of appropriate governmental organization is particularly difficult regarding services for the young adults. There is ample precedent as to how services should be handled for the preschool and school-age child, but who should manage sheltered workshops or the activity centers needed for those unable to work? Which department should arrange for community residences for young people deprived of their parental home, or for their recreation programs, or for counseling services for young adult retardates for whom existing services would not be adequate or appropriate?

In this connection the question arises as to how services to retarded children should relate to general childrens' -sic- services.

Private agencies have an opportunity to pioneer in the experimental new services which will have to be developed to find solutions to the many new problems posed in this field.

The Impact of the "Parent Movement"

Any appraisal of the present status of the problem of mental retardation, the role and function of the various institutions within our society, and the availability and effectiveness of services offered, would be incomplete and indeed incomprehensible without an assessment of the so-called "Parent Movement".

The corporate structure of this "movement" is the National Association for Retarded Children. It was founded in 1950 as the National Association of Parents and Friends of Mentally Retarded Children, i.e., as an organization that from the beginning did not limit its membership to parents, but invited participation from the community at large. The form, scope, and effectiveness of "NARC's" activities on the local, state, and national level constitute a new phenomenon. Originally a "do-it-yourself" organization, it has now incorporated in local, state, and national offices paid professional staff, but has kept the character of a volunteer organization, with continued independence of the 750 local groups. There is a definite resemblance in spirit to the cooperative movement and, more specifically, to the parent-cooperative nursery schools which have sprung up in so many parts of the country since World War II. It is interesting that NARC got its start in 1950, the year of the Midcentury Conference on Children and Youth, which laid such stress on citizen participation, but it is still more interesting that parallel associations sprang up at the same time in some European countries, and are now to be found on all continents.

As this national movement enters now on its second decade questions will arise as to its future role in community planning and in conducting pilot projects; in research and training; in relationship to other public and private agencies and in public education.

Research

The 10 years since the Midcentury White House Conference witnessed a sudden spurt of research activities in the field of mental retardation. Outstanding among them were: the assessment of research needs in the biological and social sciences undertaken for the National Association for Retarded Children by Doctors Masland, Sarason, and Gladwin and published under the title "Mental Subnormality", a widespread diversified research program supported by the U. S. Office of Education with initially earmarked funds from its new Cooperative Research Program; a group of inquiries and studies undertaken by the Project on Technical Planning in Mental Retardation established by the American Association on Mental Deficiency in 1956 with Federal mental health funds; and finally the "Collaborative Project on Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation, and Other Neurological and Sensory Disorders of Infancy and Childhood" sponsored by the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness with 16 medical centers throughout the country participating.