ABSTRACT
This chapter presents Sinason within her historical context. Sinason's book, Mental Handicap and the Human Condition (1992), centres around seven case accounts. It has reached a more diverse professional audience, and Sinason's thinking on language and terminology is still as relevant today as ever. At the time Sinason's book was published, a collection of psychotherapy papers outlining different therapeutic approaches was also published. The first motto for the Institute for Psychotherapy and Disability was, "treating with respect". Sinason describes the start of a psychotherapy session with a patient with intellectual disabilities in which the patient is consulted as to his wishes, thereby demonstrating the concept of "treating with respect": The therapist came to greet him at the appointment time. Hollins and Sinason refer to sex as one of the "three secrets" of people with intellectual disabilities. Despite Valerie's work, though, there are many current risks to progress in the care of people with intellectual disabilities.
