ABSTRACT
Cameron did not receive a diagnosis until he was almost a year old. He was not considered “severe” and we felt we could handle any of his problems at home. We loved and enjoyed him so much. We, like many parents, did not consider anything other than keeping him in our home. Of course at this time we did not fully comprehend the vastness of his disabilities. He looked like “normal” babies his age, and it wasn’t until a few years later that you could see his “differentness.” He recognized us early on as an infant, and responded with normal anxiety upon separation when we left him. This and other observations indicated to the professionals that he probably had a “normal” intelligence, which is usually above 84. Borderline IQ is 71–84 [1, p. 296]. Mild retardation is in the 50–55 to 70 range, moderate retardation falls about 35–40 to 50–55, severe is 20–25 to 35–40, profound mental retardation is below 20 or 25 [1, p. 50]. However, more accurate testing would be done when he was older. (His later scores ranged from 78–110.) Although it was a lot of hard work, we are glad we were able to keep him at home. There were benefits for him and for our family. However, we realized that not everyone is able to care for their child at home. We will discuss Placements options in Chapter 9.
