Statement by the President Regarding the Need for a National Plan in Mental Retardation, 11 October 1961

2 - 2 - their friends. Thus, mental retardation is a serious personal na tter to at least one out of every twelve people. It disables ten times as many as diabetes, twenty times as many as tuberculosis, twenty-five times as many as muscular dystrophy, and six hundred times as many as infantile paralysis. By 1970, at this rate we will have at least one million more retarded persons than there are at present. Over half will be children under nine, many of whom will suffer from both physical and mental handicaps. This growth in mental retardation is particularly anomalous in view of the advances in the medical sciences. Deaths at the time of birth have been reduced 75 percent in 20 years, tuberculosis 30 percent in 5 years, and such scourges as whooping cough, diphtheria and scarlet fever have been almost completely eliminated. But the prevalence of mental retardation has steadily increased. Today, one out of four beds in State institutions is assigned to a mentally retarded person. Nevertheless, all public facilities have long waiting lists. Children needing service cannot obtain it. Our State institutions are overcrowded. The average State hospital has 367 patients more than its rated capacity. Its waiting list numbers 340. Many retarded persons never reach a hospital. Their impairment, though mild, is a matter of serious concern. Over 700, 000 draitees were rejected as unfit during World War II because they were mentally deficient or illiterate. The number of retarded who could not participate in the war effort was even greater. In many instances, illiteracy and mental retardation are indistinguish- able. Every year 126, 000 babies are born who will be mentally retarded. Neither the rich nor the poor, the urban dweller or the farmer, the captain of industry or the manual laborer, or any other part of our society is exempt from the threat. It is a national problem and it requires a national solution. There are no reliable estimates of the cost to each family for the care of the mentally retarded. Community costs of the 4 percent confined to institutions total approximately $300 million annually. The other 96 percent live in private homes. The financial strain of providing for them represents a stag- gering burden to each family that has this responsibility. But the financial hardships are not the most serious aspect of the problem. It is the emotional strain, the problems of adjustment, training, schooling and vocation the attempt to make possible a full life for the child, that repre- sents the major impact of retardation. Our goal should be to prevent retarda- tion. Failing this, we must provide for the retarded the same opportunity for full social development that is the birthright of every Ane rican child. In addition to research, the current problems are those of diagnosis, evaluation, care, appropriate training and education, family guidance, the need for sympa- thetic environment, a lack of public understanding and a dearth of private and public facilities. There are difficult issues involving not only our social re- sponsibility for adequate care of the retarded, but the extent of the responsi- bility of the retarded individual himself, as, for example, when he gets into trouble with the law. For a long time we chose to turn away from these prob- lems. The standard treatment consisted of commitment to institutions, segre- gation from society, and silence about the affliction. In this vast reservoir of children and adults who need various degrees of as- sistance to enable them to adjust to the demands of our complex society, we have a largely unused resource. As society becomes more complex, the problems will of necessity increase both in size and in seriousness, It is just as important to integrate the mentally retarded within our moiern society and make full use of their abilities as it is to make a special effort to do this for the physically handicapped, The grim struggle for survival does not allow us the luxury of wasting our human resources. MORE