The gift of Ben Boisot: a parent perspective.

Abstract

This essay was written in response to McTernan and Ward (2005), who are, respectively, president and immediate past president of the Voice of the Retarded (VOR). As parents of adults with severe developmental disabilities, their advocacy is to maintain a place in society for large institutions for people with severe or profound mental retardation. Because VOR purports to be an advocate for people with disabilities, such as my son, I have followed their advocacy over the years. Their perspective has not matured with time, rather, it has become overburdened with references to research, state audits, media, and peer-reviewed studies. They are more concerned with what politicians and governmental agencies are doing relative to supporting or tearing down their cause than being honest with themselves. McTernan and Ward’s (2005) use of stiff and technical words, such as empirical indicators, measures, quality, and tenured, are veils that cover a desperate fear, a fear that could be eliminated if they choose to do so. The VOR lobbies and intimately follows the movement and decisions of every government-directed agency, policymaker, statistician, academic, media outlet, vocal parent, or organization (statewide and nationally) that has anything to say or do on the subject of institutions and people with developmental disabilities. I have known ‘‘fear’’ intimately, and it is ever present in the work and words of VOR.