Christmas in purgatory

The first edition of this book was published in August, 1966, and was distributed \nwithout charge under the auspices of a group of parents and friends of the mentally \nretarded. These thousand copies were sent to prominent legislators, commissioners \nof mental health, university professors, and leaders in the parent movement \nin mental retardation. The response to the first volume was overwhelming, leading \nto the present Allyn and Bacon edition. \nThe purpose of this book is to present our findings in the hope that they will \ninspire constructive action among those in responsible positions. For those not in \npositions to legislate or reform, we hope to strike a chord of awareness, to shatter \nthe shell of complacency born of ignorance that surrounds the problem. From this \nelement of society, we hope for support. The first section of this essay represents \nconditions existing in too many institutions for the retarded. The second section of \nthe book is devoted to the heartening conditions we found at The Seaside. Our optimism \nfor the betterment of state institutions is based on the evidence of \nthe forward strides that have been made there. To us, The Seaside represents what \ncan be done with funds, intelligent administration and an adequate, sensitive and \nwell-trained staff. \nWe cannot permit ourselves thoughts of immediate radical reform as a result \nof our efforts. We can only hope for increased public interest. As Camus once wrote: \n"Perhaps we cannot stop the world from being one in which children are tortured, \nbut we can reduce the number of children tortured."

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