ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the dearth of contact which the public have with people with learning difficulties, even when they live in the same neighbourhood. An increasing number of people with learning difficulties expect to live and work in ordinary settings; no longer are they content to be shut away in far-off 'institutions' or 'colonies'. But the chances of antagonistic responses from the general public have increased, especially as a similar re-settlement policy is underway for other disadvantaged groups such as children in care or people with mental illness. The chapter outlines the public's common fears and misperceptions and ways of correcting them. It examines ways of translating people's goodwill into good actions. One consensus from the welter of international research into changing attitudes towards disabled people is the experience for the able-bodied of actively interacting with peers who are handicapped.
