CHAPTER 1
Laying the Cornerstone
Furthermore, professional literature from the early
1950s revealed that parents felt inadequate, overwhelmed
and thoroughly unprepared to provide effectively for their
children with disabilities. Community supports and services
were nearly non-existent at the time.
GRASSROOTS EFFORTS
In the middle of the 20
th
century, efforts to raise awareness
and create services for children with disabilities slowly began
to spread across the country. In 1951, a group of Central
Massachusetts parents whose children had developmental
disabilities sat around a kitchen table, discussing how to
deliver the best possible care to their offspring.
Two years later, the group incorporated as the Worcester
Area Association for Retarded Children (WAARC), Inc. e
fledgling organization met in the basement of an old building
at City Hospital but offered little in the way of services at
that time.
For decades, society harbored an attitude
of indifference at best and hostility at
worst when it comes to individuals with
disabilities. Parents whose children were
born with a disability were advised that
their offspring would never improve or
lead productive lives. ese children
were thought to be "uneducable," and
institutionalization was routinely
recommended. Research studies found that
those who were institutionalized often
suffered "structural neglect."
Stanley Kubrick, photographer, LOOK Magazine Photograph Collection, Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division,
[Reproduction number e.g., LC-L9-60-8812, frame 8].
City Hospital,
Worcester, MA
