The Case of Mr. K.: Rehabilitation Vs. Institutionalization

Abstract

The author uses the case history of David K., a 65-year-old blind man who came to the Center for Independent Living from a state psychiatric hospital, to illustrate the problem of blind persons confined to mental institutions merely because they have not been taught the skills for living in a sighted world and because no one is concerned enough to get them out of the hospitals and into rehabilitation programs. She also points out that it costs the government considerably less to pay for rehabilitation than to hospitalize someone for a period of years.