A Turning Point in the Struggle to Replace Institutions

Published in 1969 Changing Patterns in Residential Services for the Mentally Retarded, which reflected important contributions by Jack Tizard, marked a turning point in North American attitudes towards institutional reform from a simple call for more staff and new buildings to a much more powerful understanding of the limits of institutions and the need for a comprehensive system of supports based on systematic commitments to human dignity, positive models expressing the potential for human development, and an experimental approach to creating a comprehensive system of community supports.