ABSTRACT
Over the last decade or so, there has been increasing acknowledgement of the fact that people with learning difficulties constitute one of the most marginalized and oppressed groups in society. People labelled as ‘mentally handicapped’ have often been denied the right to integrate with others, the right to marry, the right to parenthood, the right to vote, the right to freedom from harassment, violence and abuse (Ryan and Thomas 1987). Many people with learning difficulties are denied paid work, or else are highly exploited in the paid work they do (Wertheimer 1981), and they often experience substantial poverty (Sumpton 1988; Flynn 1989). Their behaviour is often stereotyped in devaluing, negative and often contradictory ways-as child-like, dangerous, promiscuous, volatile or insensible (Wolfensberger 1975). Furthermore, many state policies and institutional practices continue to intensify some of these aspects of oppression (Tyne 1982).
