It all began in 1946...
1940s
- In 1946 Judy Fryd, a mother of a child
with a learning disability, formed 'The National Association of Parents of
Backward Children' - which later became Mencap.
- She wrote to 'Nursery World' magazine
inviting other parents to contact her. Many wrote back to Judy expressing
their anger and sorrow at the lack of services for their children.
The 1950s
- In 1955 the association changed its name
to 'The National Society for Mentally Handicapped Children' and opened its
first project, the Orchard Dene short-stay residential home.
- In 1958, the National Society launched a
ground-breaking project called the Brooklands Experiment. This compared
the progress of children with a learning disability who lived in a hospital
with a group of children who were moved to a small family environment and
cared for using educational activities modeled on those in 'ordinary'
nurseries. After two years, the children in the home-like environment
showed marked improvements in social, emotional, and verbal skills. The
success of the experiment was published around the world.
The life of Judy Fryd
In 1946 Judy Fryd, a mother
of a child with a learning disability, wrote a letter to Nursery World to
highlight the unfairness of her daughter being sent away from a mainstream
school. Little did she know she would start a movement. This is her story.
1960s
- In 1963 Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother
opened the National Society's new hostel and training workshop in Slough,
Buckinghamshire - the first training center of its kind for adults with a
learning disability.
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