A Statewide assessment of Attitudes toward the Handicapped and Community Living Programs

Abstract

Currently, more severely and multihandicapped persons are being moved from institutions to community programs than were involved during the first few years of deinstitutionalization. While com- munity living programs for mildly disabled persons have been shown to be accepted, the change in the populations of community programs might create a change in the acceptance level by the general public. Results from this statewide survey, however, indicated that (a) acceptance of more severely disabled persons is likely; (b) the knowledge about mentally retarded, cerebral palsied, epileptic, and autistic individuals is accurate; and (c) attitudes toward the disabled and community living facilities are positive.