By J. F. Scherer

No one ever is satisfied with present conditions. In the field of mental retardation, the most substantial grounds for future gains lie in the research work done by those who dedicate their time and energy to investigate the causes, and prevention, treatment and care, education and vocational training of the mentally retarded.

Allied with research is the necessity for demonstrating new findings and new techniques of education and medical treatment. Every school and every classroom dealing with the retarded child, an institution, private or public, should set up a demonstration center for all who may wish to see and learn.

Throughout the country there is a growing interest in group programs for parents of handicapped children, an interest which is not surprising since group programs for parents of well children have been part of many American communities. Quite naturally the major attention of these organizations has from their inception been concentrated on the children. But individual parents have been reaching out for more -- a kind of knowledge and help that they hardly defined for themselves.

Many agencies serving the needs of the retarded must come to realize the need for two different types of parent programs: one with focus on community action to improve services for all children especially the handicapped, and the other with focus on helping the parents.

Knowing that other parents have the same problems and are meeting to discuss them has proved a great source of comfort for many parents of retarded children. There is no one who understands the mother of a retarded child better than another mother of a retarded child.

These meetings give parents an opportunity to meet and talk things over with other adults. In parent group education, the goal of the leader is to help the group explore all aspects of the situation which they find themselves with their children. They must seek to gain greater knowledge and understanding of their children’s physical and emotional progress, of their own roles as parents, and of the complexity of the parent child relationship. They do this through the exchange of ideas and experiences, looking at both facts and feelings -- theirs and their children’s.

The retarded child is well trained by the family, away from home he is at the mercy of the neighborhood. This is the point at which some retarded children go astray. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the community is as much the problem as the children themselves. Clinical services and day nursery care for these children to give some relief to the mothers would be a good civic undertaking.

The three basic elements in administration are germane to the process of proper planning for the individual retarded person that is evaluation (stating the problem, getting the facts, and assessing them); planning; and implementation (or execution). Most people engage in this basic process with respect to their own lives or those of their children in securing good health, education, and economic security. For the retarded these phases must be more consciously and expressly reinforced. Every person suspected of mental retardation should have the benefit of expert comprehensive diagnosis and evaluation. Presently the physical and emotional needs of the retarded are neglected. Adequate treatment of their needs is essential to their total well-being.

There should be available in every community a fixed point of referral and information which provides a live consultation service for the retarded. Pilot studies of recreational programs and resources for the retarded should be conducted and the results used as a basis for planning recreational provisions for retarded children and adults.

Many retarded persons, especially those who live in institutions, are denied the fulfillment that comes through the married state. It would be a comfort for them to experience a spiritual relationship with God through prayer and faith. It is the obligation of religious organizations to take the initiative in supplying state and private institutions with services of a minister, rabbi, or priest who would be responsible for conducting services of worship. It is the obligation of religious leaders to provide special opportunities for religious instruction and worship needed for retarded persons living in the community. Every opportunity to inform others about mental retardation is a step in the right direction. In great causes such as this, education leads to effort, and effort eventually leaks to success. Since the problem respects no race, creed, or economic level, and continues into adult life, all of us must be interested personally in the matter.