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CHANGING EXPECTATIONS: EARLY DAYS OF THE ARC FROM INTERVIEWS WITH James Trent, author of Inventing the Feeble Mind, and Gunnar Dybwad, former director of The ARC, the National Association of Retarded Citizens The rehabilitation of disabled World War II veterans had a strong influence on young Americans during the post war years as did the sense of relief that peace had arrived. The increased expectations spilled over into every aspect of life. James Trent agrees that World War II was a turning point in the sense of opportunities for many people with disabilities but he cites the experiences of two thousand conscientious objectors assigned to public service jobs as being especially important. These men were Quakers, Mennonites, Church of the Brethren, Catholic Workers, and were part of the Civilian Public Service. Most of the men were worked in so-called mental hospitals but about 250 of them worked in state schools. They tended to be well-educated young men. And inside these institutions they encountered many disturbing things which they wrote about immediately after the war, after they left the facilities. Newspapers around the country picked up the story. Some of the stories exposed conditions in mental hospitals, others focused on state schools. There were a lot of horrors, and it was very difficult to not take them seriously. These disclosures anticipated other kinds of stories that were beginning to appear in the media. In the next decade, a number of prominant Americans acknowledged that they had children with severe cognitive disorders and even celebrated the value of those childrens' lives. This came in sharp contrast to previous generations in which families were embarassed by and often hid cognitively impaired children away. One of the most famous to come forward was Pearl Buck, the best selling author of The Good Earth. JAMES TRENT: "The thing that Pearl Buck did that was very different was to write a book and tell people that she had a retarded child. That was just unheard of before this time. It was a very unusual for a person to do that. Mental retardation had been associated with the lower classes for most of the century and for someone well-educated, upper middle class to come out and say,'I have a retarded child' was unusual." But by the fifties many parents began to feel that something needed to be done to improve these children's lives and the conditions in which they lived. Institutions needed upgrading and the most basic kinds of services developed. GUNNAR DYBWAD: "These parents got angrier and angrier. They began to attend the meetings--some of them, a very small group-- of the American Association of Mental Deficiency." This was the professional organization of social workers, educators, and doctors interested in people with developmental problems. DYBWAD: "Some in that organization said,'Oh, that's fine. Let these parents join with us as an auxiliary. They can raise money for us.' Elizabeth Boggs, who happened to be the incoming president of the American Association of Mental Deficiency said, "Absolutely not! These parents should have their own voice. They should be an independent organization." So small little groups of parents who were beginning to agitate came together in Minneapolis. In 1950 they created the National Association for Retarded Children." In addition to Pearl Buck, there was another celebrity confession. Dale Evans and Roy Rogers had a child with Down syndrome. TRENT: "Dale Evans-Rogers' book, Angel Unaware was a sacred equivalent to Pearl S. Buck's secular book. Dale Evans' child was born with Down syndrome and lived only two years. She would die from mumps and encephalitis. Unlike Pearl Buck, Dale Evans, kept her child at home for only two years. She certainly affirmed parents keeping their kids at home not so much because she deplored the institution but because she saw her daughter as God's gift. Being so, the kid needed her family's attention." DYBWAD: "Dale Evans gave the entire proceeds of her book, over forty thousand dollars, which in nineteen hundred and fifty-four was a lot of money. She gave it to the National Association for Retarded Citizens and that is how NARC could establish an office." The National Association for Retarded Citizens eventually became one of the most powerful consumer groups representing people with developmental disabilities and their families. Gunnar Dybwad was the executive director of the ARC from that point until the late 1960s. Slowly but steadily, and together with other organizations parents and advocates for people with cognitive problems, The ARC helped push the envelope of possibility. |
JFK Speech
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