Raymond's Room: Ending the Segregation of People With Disabilities

Thirty years ago, as a young man working at a facility for children with autism, Dale DiLeo was shown a tiny, hot and smelly bedroom. Reserved for up to four young men with autism, those least trusted by staff, this room was locked--from the outside--all night long. It was named after Raymond, the room's perennial resident. Raymond's Room makes a compelling case that today, people with disabilities are still locked away from the rest of society. They may not be necessarily housed in rooms like Raymond's, but they are placed in facilities and programs run by a public monopoly unwilling to change. "People with disabilities are the last minority group in which legal segregation for housing and employment is still routinely provided," writes DiLeo. "And their lives are controlled by one of the last publicly-funded monopolies in America today." Using research, anecdotes, and heartwarming stories, DiLeo takes aim at the billion-dollar "disability industrial complex" that segregates people with significant disabilities from mainstream life. Calling people with disabilities society's "hidden citizens," he describes a system that prevents people from working and living in our communities, despite new techniques and approaches proven effective in helping even those with the most serious challenges to be employed and to have a home to call their own. DiLeo describes the downsides to current practices in the field and then offers up proven alternatives.