Mental Handicaps

I have had some limited contact with those who have mental handicaps. I remember a family in the suburb in which I grew up who had three good looking kids. The older boy and girl were both honor students in high school; the youngest son was retarded, however. Tom, who had a mental handicap, was retarded in speech and action. He stuttered and would always repeat the same thing every time he saw you. If he came to associate a particular thing with you, he would always ask you about that thing. For instance, every time he saw me he would ask what I was going to eat for dinner.

Tom was always smiling and always cracking what he considered to be practical jokes. He was very likeable for this reason alone. People generally got along well with Tom, and I think it was because his older brother and sister were popular. The family was very protective of him, and he was just expected to fit into the community, given his limited abilities.

In high school I knew a guy named Ron who was retarded. He was unkempt and strange acting, and appeared somewhat menacing. He was sort of the opposite of Tom in terms of appea

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tion service or function if the student is able to participate. Of course, a great deal of input from the parents as to the ability of the student to participate is solicited. Federal legislation has stacked the cards in favor of normalcy with regard to a retarded person's public educational environment, and has effectively increased the odds that retarded people will be able to make smoother transitions from the world of school to the world of work. The emphasis in public education has been to treat the retarded person in as normal a manner as possible, in preparation for a "normal" world. Unfortunately, sometimes mentally and physically challenged people have been handled well by the public educational system only to be institutionalized in their post-public school years. A happy exception to this general rule follows. The Washington Times reported on the Melwood Horticultural Training Center in Maryland. In existence for 28 years, Melwood has prepared mentally challenged adults for jobs in the work world. Naylor explains, "Melwood places about 500 workers at various sites--including Safeway stores, the National Zoo, and Prince George's County government buildings--on any given day. The workers keep regular hours, ea
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Approximate Word count = 2111
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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