We Have Been There
Families Share the Joys and Struggles of Living With Mental Retardation
Compiled by Terrell Dougan, Lyn Isbell, and Patricia Vyas, 1983 Terrell Dougan was twelve when his parents started their local chapter of
ARC. As an adult, she helped to establish a group home, which her sister then could be kicked out of. Lynn Isbell's son Walter has Down Syndrome, as does Pat Vyas' son Peter. Peter has done well in his two years in a normal co-op preschool. Walter learned not to ride in the street via his mother's application of a Japanese rice server on his bottom.
The stories and advice pieces in this book are divided into nine topic areas. Some of the contributors wrote pieces for numerous topic areas, some wrote only one. Many families have pieces written by more than one member. The topics range from from the frustrations of advocacy to how to discipline a retarded child. Some of the retarded subjects are children; some are adults. As families are more involved with children than adults, this book has more pieces on children than adults. Some of the retarded subjects of this book write about themselves. My favorite piece is
Supplication by Ken Yockey, a fictitious conversation with the Lord.
Happy reading.
: 1:29 PM
