Disabled Adolescents in Foster Home Care A Follow-up Study of Five Spastic Children in Foster Home Placement
Abstract
Background of the Study. Children are born to their parents to be loved, to be brought up, and to be put on their own so that they may start the circle of life again. It is natural for parents to feel that this is a serious and challenging responsibility. They know that while much depends on their own attitudes and skills, it is also important to recognize their need for help in this task from those who by training and experience are equipped to guide them. For this purpose there have been created agencies for the protection and care of the dependent child and his parents, and clinics and organizations for the benefit of the ill and the disabled have been developed. Behind the statistics of disease, disablement, incident, associated handicaps, and rehabilitation programs, are always to be found human beings with hopes and fears, heartaches, disappointments and frustrations, and some successes. It is essential in dealing with the handicapped that this be kept in mind. Interest in cerebral palsy and the details of its prevention and treatment must always be oriented toward the individuals concerned - the person with cerebral palsy, his family, and his community. As recently as twenty years ago the term “cerebral palsy" was not used, much less understood. It was formerly referred to as "Little’s Disease", a name which has now been superseded by the more descriptive term of "cerebral palsy". Despite magnificent efforts there has been acquired little basic knowledge thus far about causation and cure in cerebral palsy. Although numerous threads are being pursued in the field of fundamental research, such as in neuropathology and in the study of regeneration of brain tissue, the basic approach to "cure" or "correction" has been to apply known principles and techniques of medical rehabilitation to the disabilities of the cerebral palsied, revising and improvising methods as experience and professional skill grow. Perhaps more important, however, there has been I earned a good deal about the social character and personality of a cerebral palsied person. The diagnostic classification has helped to distinguish his external physical characteristics and thereby to relate these to hi s total apparent behavior pattern.
Subject Area
Social studies education|Mental health|Health care management|Social work
Recommended Citation
Craig, Anne Celine, "Disabled Adolescents in Foster Home Care A Follow-up Study of Five Spastic Children in Foster Home Placement" (1957). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI30670784.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI30670784
