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These few examples must suffice to make the point that the shopworn phrase "islands of excellence" is most appropriate in this context, because even in their own country these islands of excellence often remain unconnected to the "mainland of practice." There is for instance a service known as a toy library and consultation center initiated in Sweden by Karen Stensland Junker in the early 1960s. (Her book about her autistic daughter Boel, The Child in the Glass Ball, was published in English in 1964.) Toy libraries are easily set up and can be run most economically -- e.g., one day a week, on Saturday, after school hours, using the school building, a private home, or the public library. It is a service which can bring to parents both reassurance and stimulation in a non-threatening, appealing setting, and can be of great benefit to the child. Yet, until very recently, this significant component of an early intervention program which has been repeatedly reported in the literature was found in any quantity only in Sweden, Norway, Great Britain, and Australia. By the way, a good Parent/Child Toy Lending Library how-to-manual was already produced here in Berkeley by the Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development in 1972. I hope that at least some in this audience have seen this manual and recognized its usefulness in work with families of developmentally disabled children as well as with the non-handicapped children for whom it was prepared.

A vital aspect of the developmental disabilities legislation and its underlying philosophy is the participation of disabled persons and their families in planning and decision making processes. In our country this has been laid down in rather elaborate fashion, both in the statute and in regulations, not only in developmental disabilities law but also in the Rehabilitation Act in general, and in the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 -- Public Law 94-142. Other countries have not developed as elaborate and detailed a statutory approach in this regard, but the principle of greater participation of the handicapped person and his or her family is very much in evidence.

As a matter of fact, already in 1971 the International League of Societies for the Mentally Handicapped held a Symposium on Cooperation between Parents, Clients, and Staff, attended by delegates from 13 countries. One section of the conclusions of this symposium dealt with obstacles on the way to the desired cooperation and their possible solution. This was presented in three segments, one dealing with the parents, one with the personnel, and one with the handicapped people themselves. Since our Conference today deals with the functioning of social workers in the field of developmental disabilities, let me read to you the paragraph concerned with personnel:

The problem for the personnel is that it is difficult for the professionals to accept parents as equal partners in the team. Even so the personnel often feel that parents are too emotionally involved.

The personnel often do not understand the emotional involvement of the parents as a natural and understandable phenomenon and are not able to understand that parents also must go through a certain development.

Insufficient education in many disciplines is a reason for too little knowledge about families with handicapped children. Therefore specific and practical advice and assistance is often needed. (ILSMH, 1971)

Much of this advice has come to professional workers from experienced leaders in the parent movement. Particularly in the Scandinavian countries there developed an attitude of mutual respect between the professional workers and administrators and the parent activists, a respect which permitted much joint planning and joint decision making.

While programs initiated by the parents were gradually given over to the public agencies, this has not been the case with one program area, parent-to-parent counseling. In both Norway and Sweden this activity of the associations is financially supported by the government. In France there developed a nationwide program known as Action Interfamiliale -- Interfamily Action, -- which uses experienced parents to help "new" families and those who have difficulties coping with their handicapped child. Indeed, in France and some other countries there is a distinct trend which goes beyond parent-to-parent counseling to family-to-family interaction, an interesting parallel to family oriented counseling, which is increasingly used by social agencies in this country. Worth noting is a development in Metropolitan Toronto where the interfamilial action, "Extend-a-Family," is neighborhood based and included families with and without a handicapped child.

Significant as is the parent participation in planning and decision making and in counseling, of even greater significance in terms of policy development will be, in the long run, the participation of the persons with developmental disabilities themselves. Exciting things are already happening in this respect in a number of countries. Sweden took the lead, followed by England, Canada, France, and the United States. Tomorrow, an organization of developmentally disabled persons known as PEOPLE FIRST is holding a two-day conference in San Francisco, its first in the Bay Area.