What Have We Accomplished in the Education of Persons with Severe Challenges?

Abstract

This article examines the interpersonal relationships, community participation, and employment of five individuals with severe educational challenges who had exited from public school programs mandated by PL 94-142. Observations of participants in their residences as well as their day activity centers and interviews with key informants formed the basis of the data collected. The results indicated that their lives were oversimplified by rigidly controlled routines and schedules that fostered passivity and dependency. Several unresolved issues emerged: (a) the parameters of appropriate treatment and quality of life, (b) the contrast between serving the letter versus the spirit of the law, and (c) the role of best practices in guiding the content of services for individuals with severe handicaps. Implications for special and regular teacher educators are discussed.