Surprisingly little has been written about adults with mental disability. Until now, nearly all attention has focused on childhood and adolescence—the years of growth and formation when a child or young person with a handicap still has so many opportunities for treatment and rehabilitation. These are the formative years, when therapists, educators, parents, and friends can make a profound difference. This period lays the groundwork for a peaceful life ahead.
But what comes after? How do we continue that education—which we believe must last a lifetime—into old age?
As with all of us, but especially for those with mental disability, learning capacity diminishes with the passing years. Yet the deepest needs of the person remain unchanged. The handicapped adult needs, above all, to be accompanied, helped, and loved. He needs to be stimulated, encouraged to act, to live alongside others, to grow, and to live an authentic and peaceful life.
How do we make this possible? What decisions must we make? What attitudes must we take? This brief but thoughtful book, rich in reflection and practical wisdom, seeks to answer these questions—the ones that parents, educators, and friends ask themselves every day.
The author works with the Center for Research on Social Distress and Maladjustment at the Catholic University of Brescia. In these pages, he follows the adult with a handicap through family life, institutional care, community settings, and work, illuminating both the person's deepest needs and how they might be met. The final two chapters focus on volunteer work and volunteer formation.
Throughout, the author draws on the life and work of Jean Vanier, his witness and his spirituality, offering extensive quotations and reflection.
We feel it too—his vision is beautiful, familiar, and demanding. There is no escaping it: when we speak of education—and especially lifelong education—we speak of difficulty, of hard work. Yet we also look to the models before us: the lives lived in peace and joy, the goals achieved despite the struggle. We are convinced, together with the author, that difficulty and effort will bear their fruit.
- Natalia Livi, 1993