One of the largest and most complex human services systems in Western nations has evolved to address the needs of people with developmental disabilities. In the U.S., for example, school budgets are stretched thin by legally mandated special education, and billions of Medicaid dollars annually are consumed by residential and professional services to this population. The temptation of a quick fix is strong. Many parents desperately seek the latest ideas and place pressure on program administrators, who often are not trained to think critically about the evidence base for intervention efforts. The problems of people with developmental disabilities have historically been targeted by a wide range of professionals who rely on clinical experience and intuition and do not submit their claims to the tests of scientific research. Professional entrepreneurs have energetically promoted their treatments to a public perhaps too trustful of those with credentials. Thus, families and their children are buffeted by reforms founded on belief and ideologically driven management. Services fluctuate with the currents of social movements and rapidly shifting philosophies of care as policymakers and providers strive for increased responsiveness and individualization. These forces affect not only where and how, but how well people are served. Too often, services are less effective than they could be, or worse, damaging to personal growth and quality of life. Many treatments are based on poorly understood or even disproven approaches. What approaches to early intervention, education, therapy, and remediation really help those with mental retardation and developmental disabilities improve their functioning and adaptation? And what approaches represent wastes of time, effort, and resources? This book brings together leading behavioral scientists and practitioners to focus light on the major controversies surrounding these questions. The authors review the origins, perpetuation, and resistance to scrutiny of questionable practices, and offer a clear rationale for appraising the quality of services. In an era of increasing accountability, no one with a professional stake in services to individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities can afford not to read this book.
The twentieth century promised much in terms of progress. Europe was at peace, and America was poised to become a world superpower. Certain religious leaders envisioned new programs to help the poor, while others pondered plans to evangelize the world. Protestants in America were divided over issues such as biblical authority and social programs, but there was a surface unity, and a widespread agreement (shared with Catholic and Orthodox Christians) about the sanctity of human life, an ethic rooted in the Bible and church history. Seventy nations, responding to medical advances in obstetrics, fetology, and a growing concern for women's health, had moved to prohibit abortion. Today, 120 years later, there is a deep division among Christians, and in American society, about abortion (and much else). The causes are no doubt complex, but several things are clear. Worldwide there have been over one billion unborn children destroyed by abortion. There have been sixty-four million unborn children destroyed by abortion in the United States, over half of them to women who identify as Christians. In a century of massive violence due to war, planned famines, mass executions, and terror, abortion reigns supreme. That the Judeo-Christian ethic of the sanctity of life has been shredded owes much to the scandal of Christian discipleship.
America is the most prosperous nation in the world, with a strong military, abundant natural resources, innovative and industrious people, wonderful neighbors in Canada and Mexico, and formidable natural borders in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Oceans. America is also founded upon a strong democracy dating back to the Founding Fathers. But from time to time, America has had a propensity for self-inflicted wounds. This book is about one such self-inflicted-and still festering-wound. That is the failure to take advantage of one of the most remarkable negotiating wins in the history of the nation; the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)"--
A delightful journey along the beautiful river Camel - a must-read not only for those who know the river but also for those who have yet to discover it.
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