You Are Human, You Are Modifiable

Abstract

Many letters arrive at the institute* asking for advice and help. One particular letter included a very peculiar request: Help to fulfill the will of a dying mother concerning her son Joel.† With all her heart she did not want her son to be permanently committed to custodial care in a large institution for people with severely retarded performance and behavioral problems. The boy had already been in and out of custodial care facilities many times. Each time he was released to his mother’s care, Joel would make the family’s life so difficult that he would be sent back to an institution. And yet, with the strong instincts of a mother who wishes to see her child happy, she felt that despite all the odds against the boy, her son could be saved from permanent custodial care.