Developments had been and were being made in the treatment of people with intellectual disabilities. There were three major topics that contributed to this. The first was changing attitudes. Attitudes concerning people who were mentally handicapped were changing for the better. Negative attitudes related to those viewed as degraded human beings who should be put away and kept away from society, were replaced with thoughts that they were people who just needed more help than others. Second was education. Facilities such as Warren became available in the early 1900s. It was proven with research that with specialized attention and appropriate care, some mentally handicapped adults could learn, and institutions were built for this accomplishment. …show more content…
In the late 1950s and 1960s a profound change was occurring in the negative attitudes against the intellectually challenged, due to the Great Depression and the New Deal social programs of the 1930s (Moss and Wilson). These developments formed a new relationship between the US government and its people. Many had suffered without warrant, and the government now had an obligation to protect them from things that happened that were beyond their control. This was a sentiment that eventually changed the public’s attitude toward the mentally challenged after World War II. In the novel, Flowers for Algernon, Charlie is a young, mentally challenged young man who faces many obstacles. Even though it was he was living during a time when there was more understanding about his condition, he was still negatively affected. Charlie’s mother who had been the most important person to support him, still had some shame and it did not go unnoticed to Charlie. Although times were changing for the better for the disabled, Charlie’s mother continued to make excuses when it came to people’s questions about