Successful Ministry to the Retarded[ETowns] - Elmer Towns

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CONTENTSCHAPTERIntroductionPart I Foundation for Ministry1. What Is Mental Retardation?2. Who Are the Trainable Mentally Retarded?3. How Do the Mentally Retarded Learn?4. Is Salvation for the Mentally Retarded?Part II Successful Ministry5. What Church Program Should Be Used?6. Who Should Teach the Mentally Retarded?7. What Teaching Methods Should Be Used?8. How Should the Family Be CounseledRegarding Problems of Retardation?9. How Should the Retarded Person Be Counseled? Appendix One: HistoricalSurvey of Mental RetardationAppendix Two: Definition of Mental RetardationNotesBibliography
Introduction"Why me, Lord?" The anguished cry springs involuntarily to the heart if not thelips of parents who discover for the first time that their child is mentally retarded.Some engage in soul-searching self-recrimination, seeking a cause withinthemselves, while others plunge to the depths of depression, certain that socialstigma will ostracize them from former contacts. A few are able to quickly adjust towhat they accept as part of the "all things [that] work together for good to them thatlove God."At the very least, the first two courses may well compound the problem.Wrapped in their own cocoon of self-pity, the parents deprive the extra-needy childof the love without which all children fail to realize their potential."For weeks, I couldn't bear to look at my baby," admitted the mother of aMongoloid daughter. "I turned away my head as quickly as I could prop her bottleon a pillow and leave her alone." She faced the problem without the indwellingstrength of faith in God. When that mother's helplessness and need had been usedby the Holy Spirit to lead her to Christ, God's love overflowed into the life of a babywhich at birth had been declared by doctors as "untrainable." Acceptance by theparents led to acceptance by their church. Eight years later the little girl wasreading, to the amazement of her doctors.But even acceptance cannot presuppose knowledge of how to spiritually reachand train a child with any of the varying degrees of mental retardation. Should aparent assume--as even some Christian psychologists have done that such a child isbeyond reach? Can it be taken for granted that the mentally retarded child will byhis handicap be held unaccountable before God--regardless of his grasp of otherknowledge?Clear, documented, workable answers are presented In Successful Ministry ToThe Retarded, which is based on the premise that the church's ministry is twofold:first, a ministry to the retardate himself; and second, a ministry to the family. Notinfrequently the retardate's parents and siblings, led to acceptance and ability tocope with a family problem, have widened their outreach to include a personalministry to other similar families.A second thesis of this book is that the church can structure a program for thementally retarded involving teaching content, building healthy mental attitudes,and developing social and Christian skills. Chapter 5 deals with this aspect ofministry.Third is the thesis that the church can have an active, organized ministry ofevangelism, attempting to win the mentally retarded to Christ. Chapter 4 containsthis discussion. Since there are five million mentally retarded persons in America,
Page 4 and 5: since three hundred mentally retard
Page 6 and 7: probably learn those things which p
Page 8 and 9: age forty, her chances of producing
Page 10 and 11: Professionals are fond of telling t
Page 12 and 13: An accurate definition of the "trai
Page 14 and 15: Teachers can use visual materials t
Page 16 and 17: 6. Positive reinforcement should be
Page 18 and 19: ealize just how desperately these c
Page 20 and 21: However, Ms teacher must deal with
Page 22 and 23: he can perform well. A single perfo
Page 24 and 25: pupils. Teachers must be careful to
Page 26 and 27: in teaching trainable mentally reta
Page 28 and 29: 9. The picture-and-question combina
Page 30 and 31: are able to conceptualize. The auth
Page 32 and 33: PART IISuccessful MinistryChapter 5
Page 34 and 35: their children's handicap." He ment
Page 36 and 37: has never been disciplined not to b
Page 38 and 39: BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENTThe well-pla
Page 40 and 41: 6Who Shall Teach theMentally Retard
Page 42 and 43: Those in special education become a
Page 44 and 45: the media or method through which h
Page 46 and 47: The teacher divests his pupil of ye
Page 48 and 49: Can I set limits, then relax and al
Page 50 and 51: etter lead the person in learning e
Page 52 and 53:
a way that His redeeming love is ev
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The retarded have a low level of co
Page 56 and 57:
Most mentally retarded persons enjo
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8How Shall the Family Be CounseledR
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place, attempting abortion, permiss
Page 62 and 63:
school with a neighboring family, b
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Some will make an adequate adjustme
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church family "has been no problem
Page 68 and 69:
criticize his every deed. Randy is
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If there is any starting point with
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Appendix OneHistorical Survey of Me
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8. Children love repetition.9. Chil
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general intellectual functioning, (
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SOURCE: J. V. Hottel, The Tennessee
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8. Ibid., p. 56.9. Ibid., p. 57.10.
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17. Ibid., pp. 18-22.18. Louis Rose
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24. Ovid. Decroly, La Classificatio
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Cruiksbank, William M. et al. A Tea
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Koenig, Frances. "Implications in t
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UNESCO. Organization of Special Edu
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