Caring For Mentally Challenged People

Every community in the country has its share of mentally challenged children and adults. These are very special people and I've always had a warm heart for them, especially since I came to know Eddie. Eddie came to our farm when he was sixteen. He was limited and malnourished. His mother had been unable to care for him and his siblings. My parents became his guardians. Eddie was with us all through my growing up years.
In all three of my mystery novels Orvllle Switzer appears. We meet him in the first of the series, The Spiral Bridge, where Orville is one of Tillie Tilden's students in her one-room school. The term mentally retarded or any of the other current terms was unknown back in the 1930s, so Tillie simply described him as slow. Here's a portion of Tillie's conversation about Orville with Eila, a young nurse who also roomed in Mrs. Wilson's Boarding House with Tillie in Rosemount, Minn.

On Thursday evening of that second week Tillie sat on the edge of Eila's bed and told her about Orville.
"He's really not a bad kid. He's, how can I put it, slow. I mean, really slow. He doesn't catch on. I don't think he's able to do much of anything. He's not real smart."
"Hey, Tillie, I know the Switzers. They've been to the clinic."
"Really. Tell me about them."
"Mr. Switzer is a farm hand. Theyre not educated. Pardon me if I sound stuck up, but they are what I meant when I talked about hicks."
"Now you sound like my mother."
"They're not stupid. They're simple people. They haven't had much experience."
"What are you talking about? Everybody has experiences."
"I mean their world is small, narrow."
"I don't suppose they've ever been any place other than around Rosemount."
"Exactly. They have little or no education. I tried to talk to Mrs. Switzer once about how to give some cough syrup to Orville. She kept getting the instructions all mixed up. Theyre all written out on the label, on the bottle, I said. Oh, dear, Nurse, she said. I don't read instructions so good. I can't see em. I think I need glasses, but we can't afford 'em. My Hermann he ain't never learned how to read. So maybe you could just go over them instructions again."
Tillie shook her head. "That's how Orville acts, only he doesn't need glasses. He sees the words, but what they mean doesn't stick."
"I know what you mean. When I told Emil about the Switzers, he said trying to teach them is like pouring water down a gopher hole. Ever try that?"
"No. I've never even seen a gopher, let alone its hole."
"You're about to, kid."
They laughed together.
Tillie continued, "I guess all of us teachers need to have an Orville in our classrooms. It keeps us on our toes. Funny thing, I enjoy Orville."
"Enjoy a kid who can"t learn?"
"He's a challenge. He's slow or delayed, but I am going to teach him something, even if it kills me."
"You like challenges?"
"I do, and, maybe I can learn something about teaching in the process."
As the days went on, Tillie found that Orville was her test, but she accepted it. The teacher was being taught by her student. Orville taught her patience. He taught her how little she knew about children with limited mental capacities. He taught her to be resourceful.
Superintendent Murphy shook his head when she asked for guidance. "You won't be teaching that Switzer child anything," he said. "And sure, it doesn't matter what you do. Keep him quiet as best you can. When he gets out of grade eight, he can work with his father. There's plenty of manure to shovel on the farm."
"That's it? Don't try? Face the facts? Give up?" Tillie wanted to spit in Murphys face, but what would that accomplish? Keep your thoughts to yourself, girl. He hasn"t forbidden you to try.
She enlisted Kathy Neunaber, a bright seventh grader, to help her work with Orville. Kathy, she decided, would learn as she helped Orville. Day by day teacher and apprentice labored.
Then one day Orville caught on how to read a very simple, short sentence. "Wow," he said with his usually slow, slurred, stumbling speech. "I can read. I can read. I'm gonna show my Momma tonight. I can read."
That was the highlight of her day. No, of her week. Orville was learning, regardless of what Murphy said. Im a teacher, she thought. Even my slowest student is learning.

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The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities' website is full of valuable information and resources for families facing the challenge of caring for mentally retarded children and adults. It's also full of hope.

So many people do not understand mental retardation. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry writes the following about mental retardation:

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry wrote in 2004,  "The term "mental retardation" is often misunderstood and seen as derogatory. Some think that retardation is diagnosed only on the basis of below-normal intelligence (IQ), and that persons with mental retardation are unable to learn or to care for themselves. Actually, in order to be diagnosed as a person with mental retardation, the person has to have both significantly low IQ and considerable problems in adapting to everyday life. However, most children with mental retardation can learn a great deal, and as adults can lead at least partially independent lives. Most importantly, they can enjoy their lives just as everyone else.

In the past, parents were usually advised to institutionalize a child with significant mental retardation. This is not done anymore. The goal now is for the child with mental retardation to stay in the family and take part in community life. In most states, the law guarantees them educational and other services at public expense.

Mental retardation may be complicated by physical and emotional problems. The child may also have difficulty with hearing, sight or speech. All these problems can lower the child's potential.

It is very important that the child has a comprehensive evaluation to find out about his or her difficulties, as well as strengths. Since no specialist has all the necessary skills, many professionals might be involved. General medical tests as well as tests in areas such as neurology (the nervous system), psychology, psychiatry, special education, hearing, speech and vision, and physical therapy are useful. A pediatrician or a child and adolescent psychiatrist often coordinates these tests.

These physicians refer the child for the necessary tests and consultations, put together the results, and jointly with the family and the school develop a comprehensive treatment and education plan.

Emotional and behavioral disorders may be associated with mental retardation, and they may interfere with the child's progress. Most children with mental retardation recognize that they are behind others of their own age. Some may become frustrated, withdrawn or anxious, or act "bad" to get the attention of other youngsters and adults. Adolescents and young adults with mental retardation may become depressed. These persons might not have enough language skills to talk about their feelings, and their depression may be shown by new problems, for instance in their behavior, eating and sleeping.

Early diagnosis of psychiatric disorders in children with mental retardation leads to early treatment. Medications are one part of overall treatment and management of children with mental retardation.



The church body to which I belong has an affiliated organization that works closely with the mentally retarded. It's called Bethesda Lutheran Homes and Services. Hundreds of people have been helped to live happy and productive lives through this and similar organizations."