"This work aims to contribute thought and experience to the difficult task that schools and families in particular have undertaken—a task society is now rediscovering in urgent terms, yet without adequate solutions."
An undeniably useful and thoughtful book. The authors ground their observations and work in "a conviction that is at once scientific and moral: beyond the barrier raised by multiple disabilities and blindness between us and the child, there exists and lives a child with unsuspected potential. We can draw out only a small fraction of this potential, limited as we are by our knowledge of the problem, by the inadequacy of structures designed for such delicate and complex work."
Having articulated this shared conviction, each of the four authors presents the fruit of their own experience—some writing as physicians, others as teachers and educators. The chapters will interest different readers depending on their background. The fourth chapter stands out as particularly valuable: A. Passaro presents educational therapy programs addressing autonomy, bladder and bowel control, and behavior—urgent concerns for both teachers and parents alike. The remaining chapters, written in a style and vocabulary suited primarily to professionals and psychologists, may hold less immediate appeal for the general reader.
by Nicole Schultes, 1986