Kennedy’s National Action to Combat Mental Retardation

President John F. Kennedy had a personal connection to institutionalization – his sister, Rosemary, was born with developmental disabilities and, after a disastrous lobotomy, lived for the rest of her life in institutions. After JFK’s experiences with the stigma around his sister’s condition and the shame his parents exhibited by hiding Rosemary from her siblings after her institutionalization, as President he would bring developmental disabilities into the public eye, and make the reenvisioning of services for people with developmental disabilities a cornerstone of his policies.

1962 Cover to Report from the President’s Panel on Mental Retardation, titled “A Proposed Program for National Action to Combat Mental Retardation” – The President’s Panel on Mental Retardation, October 1962 — 1962 Cover to Report from the President’s Panel on Mental Retardation

In 1961, Kennedy would convene a President’s Panel on Mental Retardation, and in October 1962, that group released a report entitled, “A Proposed Program for National Action to Combat Mental Retardation”.

Newspaper clipping from the Lewiston Daily Sun, October 16, 1962 – Headline: More U.S. Aid For Retarded Is Proposed – President’s Panel Says Three of Every 100 in U.S. Affected – Urge Big Program — Lewiston Daily Sun, October 16, 1962

“It is with these objectives in mind that I am proposing a new approach to mental illness and to mental retardation. This approach is designed, in large measure, to use Federal resources to stimulate State, local and private action. When carried out, reliance on the cold mercy of custodial isolation will be supplanted by the open warmth of community concern and capability. Emphasis on prevention, treatment and rehabilitation will be substituted for a desultory interest in confining patients in an institution to wither away.” – Special Message to the Congress on Mental Illness and Mental Retardation, February 5, 1963

Theme Alert!

Values Check

Who and what do we value in our society? How do we determine someone’s “worth”, and whether they are deserving of help when they need it? Are all people really equal – and do we treat everyone as equally human?

People with developmental disabilities were sent to institutions because they were seen as useless or even dangerous to society. Their value in a place like Pineland rested on their potential for being trained to do menial labor – a Pineland resident could potentially get a furlough or even release from the institution if they could show that they could work.

In general, people with developmental disabilities throughout our history have been dismissed, patronized, and dehumanized. Doctors assumed that people with developmental disabilities didn’t feel pain, caretakers believed that they did not need friendships or hobbies or someone to communicate with, and society saw them as dangerous and unfit.

There were also people and moments in history that shifted our assumptions about the value of people with developmental disabilities – President Kennedy’s experience of loving his sister with disabilities led to huge policy shifts that impacted people with developmental disabilities across our country, and the brave self-advocates who organized a civil rights movement led directly to another president signing the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The question must be posed, what is the value of all potential members of the community, with or without disability, to the very health and fiber of the community?