Additional Details of Training Events, Primarily Conducted By
Dr Wolf Wolfensberger & Susan Thomas

1) A One Day Event:"Incidents From History in Which Mentally Retarded Persons Have Been Valued, & Lessons That Can Be Drawn From These Incidents for Our Own Day".

Detail: Low intellectuality--what we call today call mental retardation--is not a condition to which people in any age have aspired, or wished their loved ones to attain.   And yet there have been times in history when people of low intelligence were perceived in a valued fashion, because they were seen to embody identities, characteristics, or social roles that were highly valued in the larger culture.  In most cases, such positive valuation of mentally limited people was at least a possibility whenever a culture believed that there were two distinct kinds of intelligence:  moral wisdom & "natural intelligence," & most cultures did hold this belief except for the present culture of modernism.  This belief implied that people might be wise even if they were not smart, and vice versa.  This presentation will present & analyse this phenomenon, and give a number of examples from diverse countries (illustrated with many slides) of specific instances of mentally retarded persons being viewed in a positive light, and accordingly treated well--perhaps even honourably.  The presentation will draw some lessons from these past incidents, especially for people today who want to interpret retarded persons to others in a positive light.
This presentation is of the utmost importance to people trying to deeply understand the nature of mental retardation.   The presentation will therefore be of special interest to those who live or work on an intimate basis with mentally retarded persons, family members of such persons, clergy & others who practice a ministry to them, & anyone interested in understanding the benefits that may be associated with low intellectuality.  This  presentation is also revealing to people with an interest in the history of mental retardation.  Some participants may find a great deal of this presentation very confirmatory of some things they had observed or knew, but for which they may not have had an adequate mental framework or language.
 

2) Evening Event: "The 19th Century 'Moral Treatment' Approach to Human Services, Especially to the Treatment of Mental Disorder, & Lessons For Services of Our Own Day."

Detail:  Around 1800, a movement arose in Europe that soon spread to America, called "moral treatment."  While it arose in asylums for the "insane," it spread to services to mentally retarded, physically handicapped, & other afflicted classes.  It taught an approach to mentally handicapped people which stood in strong positive contrast to the then -prevailing very negative interpretation & treatment of them as menace, or even as sub-human.  It emphasized normative environments, high expectancies, much active engagement in valued routines of life, the minimization of both physical restraints & of drugs, & the importance of not "medacalizing" mental afflictions, i.e., not interpreting them as diseases; some proponents also opposed control of services to such persons by medical personnel.  This movement can be thought of as the 19th century forerunner of what came to be known in our day as normalization & Social Role Valorization.  Although the movement fought an uphill battle against medicine & psychiatry, and the dominant service paradigm to mentally handicapped people, it had spectacular habilitative successes.  It was defeated in the late 19th century by the materialization of psychiatry that spread to all other service domains, and this defeat resulted in a 100 year dark age for mentally afflicted people.  To this day, the mental services especially could learn much from the ideology of moral treatment.  All of this will be detailed in the presentation & illustrated with slides.
 
 

3) One Day Event:"Major Contemporary Obstacles to Human Service Rationality, Morality & Quality,"

Detail: The culture towards which all societies of the Western world (& most of the non-Western as well) today are moving is one that is not capable od sustaining a human service system that is simultaneously rational, moral, & of high quality.  Some of the reasons for this will be ellucidated, especially the following.  (a) Exaltation to an ideal of a self-centered individualism that separates & divides ("decommunitizes") people, demeans unselfish generosity, expects utilitarian return for any good deeds done to & for others, & is unwilling to sacrifice anything substantial for the good of others.   Coupled with an entitlement attitude, this stance is incompatible even with a viable social contract.  (b) The value of humans is increasingly judged on the basis of utilitarian criteria, including their utilitarian value to more priveleged people.  Such an attitude is obviously hostileto people who "cost" more than they contribute, and whose existence constitutes an inconvenience or hardship to others.  (c) As a result of its materialistic mind-set, this culture exalts technology, and looks to it as the answer for virtually any problem whatever.   But materialistic technologies cannot provide answers to all sorts of important questions or problems.  The above developments are major contributors to tremendous complexities, which in many domains have already exceeded the human capacity to understand and manage these.  Such unmanageable complexities, and the breakdowns these create, push people to resort to ever greater formalization & objectification processes--which, instead of being helpful, make things even more complex & less manageable, to the point where it has become practically impossible to do anything right or good anymore in an ever-increasing number of domains of both public & private life, & of human services.
Implications of all this to human services will be explained, & selected action strategies will be pointed to that might be moral & adaptive alternatives for those who perceive the problems with this culture that is becoming dominant the world over, & who wish to stand in contradiction to it.
 

4) One Day Event,  An Interpreted Pictorial Presentation on the History of Human Services, With Emphasis on the Origins of Our Major Service Patterns & Practices, & Some Universal Lessons Which Can be learned From This History.

Using over 400 slides, this presentation documents the evolution of human services from very early, informal, personal helping, to the highly structured patterns of yoday.  It traces some pre-historic & pre-Christian antecedents of our human services, the patterning of services during the early Christian era, & the evolution of services through the medieval period.  The presentation shows how modern service patterns grew out of practices & beliefs prevailing ca. 1550-1800, & demonstrates that current human services are full of unconscious vestiges or distortions of practices that were originally instituted by highly conscious design, & often from positive values.  It reveals how some of the negative & almost defining features of current human services had their beginnings in noble aspirations, but how they were subtly altered over time, so that in many instances they became utterly perverted.
 

5) One Day Event,  Reflections on Human Service Developments Since the 1950s; What is Still the Same, What Has Gotten Better, What Has Gotten Worse, & What Lies Ahead

Dr Wolfensberger has been a participant, critic, leader & observer of human services to the handicapped for more than 30 years.  From this experience, he will trace service developments from the abysmal conditions that prevailed prior to the reforms begun in the 1950's, up to the present day.  He will review (a) major positive changes, (b) major areas that have not changed to any significant degree, (c) some conditions that have actual gotten worse, & (d) what he believes will confront human services, handicapped people, & their allies in the future.  On several occassions during the day, there will be a panel (including some other people with long experience) which will respond to the various parts of the presentation.

6) Four Day Event: "Crafting a Coherent Moral Stance on the Sanctity of All Human Life, Especially in the Light of Contemporary Society's Legitimization & Practice of All Sorts of "Deathmakings" of Unwanted & Devalued People"
(3 1/2 days, including evening sessions; optional 1/2 day session on last afternoon).

Detail: We believe the issues to be covered in this event to be the most urgent ones in human services today.   Prospective participants should carefully read the description below, so that they do not sign up for the event with major misconceptions about the workshop content or format.
This event is intended for people who (a) perceive that there is gathering momentum in the world that works towards "deathmaking"; (b) are uncomfortable with a pick-&-choose approach that endorses some deatmakings in the world but objects to others; and (c) would like to work toward a more coherent position on the sanctity of human life.  It is especially relevant for any such persons who are on the side of societally devalued people, e.g., as family members, advocates, or service workers.
The event addresses the largely unrecognized, ignored &/or suppressed fact that there is growing societal support for "deathmaking" of devalued people, and that such deathmaking has already begun on a large scale.  "Deathmaking" refers to practices which kill people outright, hasten their deaths, or greatly increase the likelihood that others will hasten their deaths.  Universal dynamics will be outlined which predispose toward devaluation, & then deathmaking, of a devalued group, & it will be shown how our society is moving to actualize these dynamics.  Major forms of deathmaking of devalued people in Western cultures today will be reviewed, including abortion; infaniticide of the handicapped, denial of even elementary life supports to devalued people; massive medical drugging of devalued people, especially those who are already feeble; violence, abuse & life-endangering conditions in families, society, and human services; & others.  There will be a review of evidence of deathmaking, especially when it is directed at the people one serves.
Much of the content of the material is very challenging for most participants, even those who are alarmed by, & opposed to, at least some deatmakings.  During the event, there is an in-depth searching examination of the values of contemporary society & how these lead to deathmaking, which is very wrenching for participants, because almost all participants have embraced at leat some of these modernistic values or lifestyles to at least some degree.  In fact, most participants are apt to experience the event as very discomforting.  Also, action implications--i.e., what a person might or should do--are only offerred at the very end of the event, because they build on all that has been covered previously.  This too has sometimes made participants uncomfotable, impatient, & angry, because many people, especially today, expect & demand immediate gratification, including immediate and facile "answers."  Because they did not understand the sequentiality of the event, participants have sometimes made travel arrangements so they had to leave before the end of the event.  Participants arew urged to make plans to stay for its entirety.  Those who leave early will receive no refund of their registration fee.
At the end of the event, if enough participants indicate that they are willing to stay, there will be two optional presentations, the first on (a) so-called "hospices" & services for those who are said to be "dying"; followed by another on (b) witholding, withdrawing, & refusing life supports.  Each presentation takes about two hours.  An announcement will be made during the workshop whether these presentations will be given.
 
 

7) One Day Event:  "The Liberation of Handicapped & Other Devalued People From Bondage & Dependency, Especially on the Human Service System. (9am-6pm)
 

Throughout history there has existed a universal repugnance to being in a state of dependency, & especially, dependency on structures.  The workshop will explain this, the varieties of dependency & even bondage that may exist, & why dependency is viewed & experienced as so onerous.  While human dependency in many forms has always existed, thee is a dramatic rise today in dependency on agency structures--at the same time as these structures themselves are becoming ever more disfunctional & oppressive.  The workshop will also explain this.  The concept of liberation will then be examined, with emphasis on freeing a person so as to be able to function as much as possible outside the agency structures.  Major stress will be placed on the following strategies: competency development; image enhancement; preventing entry into agency dependency; informal, voluntary individual & collective commitments to vulnerable people; & advocacy presence when people have to use formal services.  As time permits, there will also be a review of some common misunderstandings & perversions of these concepts.
 
 

8) One Day Event: "The Historic Idea of Two Kinds of "Intelligence," Incidents From History Where This Enabled the Positive Valuation of People of Low Intelligence, & Some Lessons for Our Own Day

Low intellectuality is not a condition to which people in any age have aspired, or wished their loved ones to attain. Yet there have been times in history when people of low intelligence were perceived in a valued fashion, because they were seen to embody identities, characteristics, or social roles that were highly valued in the larger culture.  In most cases, such positive valuation of mentally limited people was at least a possibility whenever a culture believed that there were two distinct kinds of intelligence: moral wisdom & natural intelligence," & most cultures--except for the present culture of modernism--did hold this belief.  This belief implied that people might be wise even if they are not smart, & vice versa.  This presentation will present & analyze this phenomenon, & give a number of examples from diverse countries (illustrated with many slides) of specific instances of persons of low intellect being viewed in a positive light, & accordingly treated respectfully and/or well.  The presentation will draw some lessons from these past incidents, especially for people today who want to interpret such persons to others in a positive light.
This presentation is of the utmost importance to people trying to deeply understand the nature of limited or low intellectuality.  The presentation therefore will be of special interest to those who live or work on an intimate basis with mentally limited persons, family members of such persons, clergy & others who practice the ministry to them, & anyone interested in understanding the benefits that may be associated with low intellectuality.  This presentation is also revealing to people with an interest in history.  Some participants may find a great deal of this presentation very confirmatory of some things they had observed or knew, but for which they may not have had an adequate mental framework or language.
 

9)One Day Event:Understanding the Contemporary Post-Primary production Economy, & Its Implications to Human Services & to Work Opportunities For Impaired/Devalued People(9am-5pm)

All over the developed world, societies have shifted to economies that are "post-primary production," or PPP, in nature, as fewer & fewer jobs are available in such primary production sectors as agriculture & manufacturing.  Results have included higher levels of unemployment, & a dramatic rise of jobs in sectors that are either non-productive, or outright counter-productive & even destructive.  All this has major implications to human services, including that: There is an increasing demand for formal, organized, paid services; the formal paid service system plays very important but hidden economic functions of  providing employment to an ever-burgeoning service worker sector, keeping human service clients out of the cpmpetitive job market, & creating dependency on the service system.  Much of all of this is both hidden & hard to believe.  The presentation will explain this, & give many examples of how the service system ends up creating need rather than alleviating it.  Implications to adult work roles for impaired or societally devalued people will be spelled out, including: the need for creation of labour-intensive jobs; the socialization of devalued people into a mind-set that values all work; the utilization of private, personal contacts & communalities to secure work niches for devalued people; & the potential benefits of valued but unpaid adult work roles.
 
 

10) One Day Event: "Deeply Embedded Concepts About What We call "Mental Retardation" as Expressed Throughout History in Visual Iconographic & Language, & Implications for Our Day."
Certain Enduring images & concepts have prevailed at virtually all times & in all places as to what the condition that we now call "mental retardation" is & means.  These concepts & images were often deeply embedded in the language, idiom, literature & mythology of a culture, & were also expressed in the visual arts (eg; painting & sculpture).  Some examples are the concepts of slowness, obtuseness (dullness) of the mind, deficiency of speech, "coarseness" of the body & behaviour, & slovenliness of appearance.  This presentation will examine the major recurring concepts about low mentality & their continued expression in language & art, & will show with many slide illustrations how the idea was conveyed that a person portrayed in the visual arts was meant to be perceived as unintelligent.  It will be brought out that there is low likelihood that current efforts to "label away" or suppress such deeply embedded & practically archetypal images & associations will succeed.  The presentation will be relevant not only to those with an interest in mental retardation & mentally retarded persons, but also to those with an interest or background in linguistics, art, & art history.
 

11) 3 1/2- 4 Day Event: Advanced Workshop on Social Role Valorization  For further information and workshop application form see
This will be the FIRST, INAUGURAL event on this topic.  It is hoped that people from many different locales will attend.  Introductory SRV Workshops lasting from 2 days plus evenings to 4 days, have been offerred since 1983.  While many people from many locales have attended such training, often repeatedly, & have attended PASSING training as a follow-up, there has so far been no event that examines all sorts of advanced SRV issues that cannot be addressed in a short introductory event, & which are also not addressed in PASSING workshops, or other post-intro. SRV events.  This event will address some of those issues.  The content is not yet finalised, but topics tentatively invisioned are:advanced issues in role theory; areas of theory & research in psychology & sociology that contribute to SRV; issues in pursuing new valued roles for people vs. valorizing current roles; SRV measures for addressing specific wounds or risks; some disadvantages of valued roles; potential benefits of certain devalued roles for certain people; issues that are apt to be particularly challenging for implementers of SRV, including application to those people devalued because of race, ethnicity, or homosexuality; how to deal with different kinds of SRV conflicts, including conflicts between competing implications of SRV, & conflicts between SRV & other system's; the importance of not assaulting people's phenomenology in attempts to role-valorize certain devalued persons; cultural factors to consider in the role valorization of certain people; how SRV compares with other high level or currently popular approaches or systems; advanced material on some SRV themes, such as elaboration of several issues related to integration; some of the limits or constraints to SRV; common confusions, misunderstandings or even perversions of SRV; objections to SRV often or primarily voiced by people who are mentally competent but physically impaired; selected issues in the history of normalization & SRV.  Thee may be not time to cover all the envisioned tpics; the presenters will decide which topics are most urgent if time runs out.
In order to attend this event, ALL participants MUST first have attended a full-legth introductory SRV workshop in which the "wounds" of devalued people & the themes of SRV were taught.  "Full-length" means at least 2 full days plus evenings of lecture presentation.
Since 1995, the Training Institute has been offerring workshops that elaborate 10 themes of SRV, while most other trainers have been conducting workshops that present 7 SRV themes.  Those people who have attended a 7 theme SRV workshop MUST attend the first half-day of this workshop, in which 3 additional themes will be presented, as well as some more material covered in a 10-theme SRV workshop.  Those participants who have already attended a 10-theme SRV workshop do not have to attend the first half day, but can join on the afternoon of the first day.  However, even these participants may benefit from the first morning, as a review of familiar material.

Contact the Training Institute for Application Forms & Further details at 230 Euclid Avenue
Syracuse, NY 13244-5130
USA
Ph  315/443-4264
Fax 315/443-9680

or contact Joe Osborn e-mail: 015mo@smtp.esc.ips.k12.in.us
For further information and workshop application form see
 

12) One Day Event: The Historical Roots of John Langdon-Down's Ideas About the "Racial Classification of Idiots" & About Mongolian Idiocy.
John Langdon-Down is a famous name in mental retardation.  An Englishman who lived in the 19th century, he described the syndrome named for him (Down's Syndrome), which used to be called "mongolism," "mongolian idiocy," or "Kalmuc idiocy."  This presentation will explain how Down came up with his racial classification of what was then called "idiocy," & what social & cultural influences apparently shaped his thinking, with special emphasis on the role of very popular & widespread exhibits of foreign & exotic peoples, both as popular entertainment & as supposedly scientific education.  These exhibits played into already existing racial stereotypes, as well as (social Darwinistic) ideas about the superiority of certain races over others, and helped to shape such stereotypes.
 

13) One day event: Social Advocacies on Behalf of Disadvantaged & Oppressed People
Advocay is very much needed on behalf of people who are disadvantaged &/or oppressed, such as impaired, elderly, poor, & imprisoned people, & members of other devalued minority groups.  This workshop defines social advocacy, & distinguishes it from other actions & services with which it is often confused.  It reviews some od the essential elements that should characterize genuine advocacy, such as taking the side of the advocatee party, freedom from conflict of interest, & persistence. The crucial role of conflict of interest will be elaborated.  Some of the more common types of advocacy will be sketched, including collective advocacy, generic or public advocacy, ombudsman-type advocacy, so called "in-house" or "staff" advocacy, & one-to-one volunteer advocacy, including Citizen Advocacy, with a brief overview of some of the advantages & disadvantages of each that differentiate these advocacy types from each other.  Also covered will be some universal reasons why certain forms of advocacy are especially needed in comtemporary societies.  There will be a brief review of some adaptive strategies for conducting effective advocacy ie; the do's & don'ts.
This event is especially useful to people who want to be advocates for soecietally devalued person's, to parents & other family members of such persons, & to leaders of voluntary associations on behalf of devalued groups which often act as collective advocates for the group they represent.
 

14) One Day Event: The Philosophy of Personalism as a Foundation For Service Engagements & Relationships With Societally Devalued People
    This workshop presents a sketch of certain philosophical & value traditions that have been called "personalism."  There are a number of such formulations, though they tend to have elements in common , and particularly beliefs about the intrinsic value & dignity of the human (both collectively & individually), & a belief in the importance of humans assuming individual personal responsibility for their moral acts.
    Several schools of personalism arose in response to totalitarian ideologies (such as communism & fascism), & to the depersonalizing oppression of industrialized economies.  The more recent advent of the media controlled society & its computer-driven objectification & depersonalization is once again underlining the relevance of personalistic thinking.
    This workshop will present a simplified sketch of the history & nature of personalism, & then spell out some of the implications of its notions of human dignity & personal responsibility as they apply to a number of service-related issues: (a) taking immediate & direct action in one's personal life to address the needs of others, without waiting for, or perhaps even putting one's hopes in, actions by organizations or the state; (b) forming personal alliances with devalued, rejected & needy persons; (c) assuming personal responsibility for acting morally within the structures to which one belongs, regardless of the sanctions this may draw upon one; & (d) if need be, acting in contradiction or disobedience to authorities when they de-dignify the human or try to destroy personal conscience.
    There will be some elaboration of how to carry these principles into action, as well as how to recruit others to those principles, or at least to actions that are concordant with them.
    There will be several opportunities for questions & discussion throughout the day.
 
 

    15) One Day Event: A Critical Examination of The Current Concept of "Rights" in Contemporary Human Services & Advocacy
    In contemporary human services and advocacy, there is a great deal of talk about "rights" of impaired & other societally devalued people.  More & more human services today see their ultimate purpose as securing the rights of the people they serve, & advocay is widely interpreted as consisting only of pursuing either the rights of the weaker party, or what the party says it wants.  Closely associated with this strong emphasis on rights are concepts of self determination, autonomy, choice, & empowerment.  The presentation will take a critical look at this current human service ideology, examining some of its benefits, but mostly its usually unrecognized & unadmitted weaknesses.  The prsentation will point out different conceptions of rights (eg., as transcendent vs. humanly & legally granted), the problems of relying on legal conceptions of rights, how the problems of rights can displace concepts of justice and mercy, and the need for rights to always be coupled with competency to exercise them & with corresponding obligations, and an adaptive position or stance regarding the rights of all soughts of disadvantaged parties.  The presenation will be cpnducted in lecture stle, with extensive use of overhead transparancies, and some slides.  There are several opportunities for discussion during the day.