An Ideology That Focuses on No. 1
Eileen M. Gardner did resign as a U.S. Education Department analyst, but not without evoking a nightmarish vision of two film classics, “Island of Lost Souls” and “The Snake Pit.”
Her myopic convictions, where she contended in a 1983 report that handicapped persons are responsible for their conditions, saying that a “person’s external circumstances do fit his level of inner spiritual development” and “funding for the handicapped is counter productive,” dictates a barren life of expensive custodial care for individuals who happen to be handicapped. (I wonder if Gardner has the proverb, “Institution Sweet Institution,” displayed in her home?)
Where is the data to substantiate her views? Moreover, this type of philosophy crushes the pursuit of invention, prevention and just plain old positive thinking. Why should I hope for the success of science and research when Gardner assumes my own child’s destiny is a fait accompli?
I will not submit!
Thank you Sen. Lowell P. Weicker (R-Conn.) for being an ombudsman for all of us.
SASHA STALLONE
Culver City
Stallone is on the board of trustees of the Stallone Fund for Autism Research.
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