Suggested Reading

Books from Amazon

Mental Retardation: Nature, Cause, and Management Mental Retardation: Nature, Cause and Management is an easy-to-read review of the many issues and concerns related to mental retardation. Educators, mental health providers, residential program staff, health care providers, administrators, policy-makers, and students are offered a wealth of information related to a variety of topics, including: etiology, impact of MR on individual psychosocial functioning and personality, history and nature of support services for persons with MR, MR & sexuality, and dual diagnosis.

News Items

Massachusetts to Spend on Mentally Retarded - December 20, 2000 BOSTON (AP) -Massachusetts has agreed to quadruple spending on mentally retarded adults to settle a class-action lawsuit over the long wait to get into state-funded homes. The agreement was submitted Wednesday to a federal judge for approval. The lawsuit was filed in 1999 on behalf of more than 2,200 retarded adults, some of whom had waited more than a decade for the state to provide housing and home care. A federal judge ruled in July that 90 days would be a reasonable amount of time to wait.  Accord reached for Mentally Retarded - December 21, 2000   Responsibilities such as brushing Margaret Sullivan's teeth, feeding her, and calming her after seizures is part of the daily fabric of Anita Sullivan's life. But at 80, the Walpole resident doesn't know how much longer she'll be able to care for her 41-year-old daughter. And a class-action lawsuit settlement announced yesterday doesn't ease her fears. After a fruitless six-year search to find Margaret a suitable place to live, Anita Sullivan still questions whether yesterday's agreement will ensure that Margaret doesn't languish on the state's lengthy waiting list of mentally retarded people seeking homes and help.

Katherine Boo

Washington Post series by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Katherine Boo on deaths in Washington, D. C., group homes: Article I, March 14, 1999     Article II, March 15, 1999     Article III, May 4, 1999    Online Interview 12/06/99    Online Interview 12/09/99 Commendation of Katherine Boo by AFSCME stating: "Ms. Boo illuminated the horrors of profit-driven group home operators for some of the most vulnerable among us, the mentally disabled. And yet privatization of public services continues to be promoted by D. C. officials and elected officials nationwide.  Let the undocumented deaths of the mentally disabled that were uncovered by Ms. Boo be a reminder that we need compassion and accountability -- not profiteers in public service."  AFSCME is campaigning against privatization.

American Prospect

The American Prospect article in May 08, 2000 issue, "Neglect for Sale"