ABSTRACT
If Peter Mittler was to discover that not all long-stay hospitals were patient-centred or resident-centred, he learned very early that not all schools were pupil-centred. When Mittler graduated from Cambridge, there was no career guidance for him, and no work. He was living in Stoke Newington in London, where an army friend found him a route to employment as a trainee exports-manager in a sector where the product was uninspiring. Mittler's interest in service planning and delivery was further nourished. It took him to meetings across the country where he learnt of what was going on in other long-stay hospitals and about the early days in the development of community services. It also provided his first contacts with government departments. The international dimensions of Mittler's interests are most clearly reflected in his voluntary work with the International League of Societies for Persons with Mental Handicap, a world-wide federation of voluntary organisations, now numbering 130 in 75 countries.
