Community Organization in the Area of Mental Retardation A History of Three Manhattan Organizations Affiliated With State Institutions Which Arose to Meet a Need in the Community for Service to the Mentally Retarded Child, 1939–1956
Abstract
Background of the Study. "It is a platitude and also a truth that it can be one of the easiest things in the world to become, and one of the hardest things in the world to be; a parent. It is another platitude that is equally truthful to say that it is one of the hardest things in the world to be the parents of a backward child." It would be difficult to be able to state in writing the joys, hopes and frustrations of a married couple and what they must endure before they reach parenthood, but all this seems to fuse into total happiness when the child is born. But there is a different feeling for those who give birth to a defective child. Some of the joy of birth recedes into the background and troubled, bewildered and sometimes disillusioned parents emerge with a variety of emotional reactions. It would be difficult to generalize on this point since all parents would react to the situation differently. Many times it might happen that parents do not even realize the child is defective until some time after birth.
Subject Area
Social studies education|Mental health|American history|Social work
Recommended Citation
Cornelius, Leo Paul, "Community Organization in the Area of Mental Retardation A History of Three Manhattan Organizations Affiliated With State Institutions Which Arose to Meet a Need in the Community for Service to the Mentally Retarded Child, 1939–1956" (1957). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI30670783.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI30670783
