The most effective professional--indeed, the person who makes the biggest dif-

ference in one's own life and in others' lives, toomis empowergul~n~l_c_oU_aborative.

Ernpowerful.. To be an empowered person ~to--l~now what you want, t0-ISfiVe

the motivation to "go for it," and to have the knowledge and skills to turn your moti-

vation into effective action, into the realization of a goal.

Collaborative: To be collaborative is to share resources among individuals,

work jointly with others, and create a context that enhances collective action.

Empowerment and collaboration are the keys to our personal lives. As parents

ofJ. T., our 28-year-old son who has mental retardation and autism, we have bene-

fited from his own empowerment, as he has from ours. We have also benefited from

collaboration with many families and professionals.

There was a time, not many years ago, when J. T. had "failed" special education,

the sheltered workshop, and group-home living. The direction of his life was straight

downminto an increasingly deep, dark hole of disappointment, segregation, and

disability.

Today, some seven years later, J. T. works in competitive employment, with sup-

port, at the University of Kansas. He earns enough at his job to pay the principal,

interest, taxes, and insurance on the house he lives in. He lives there with two room-

mates, neither of whom has a disability. He participates in recreation throughout

our community and has become a well-known and welcome customer at bakeries

and restaurants, music hangouts, and fitness centers.

How did all this come about? Because, through his own challenging behavior,

J. T. conveyed that he wanted out of a segregated, low-expectations system. Because

we witnessed what one teacher, Mary Morningstar at Walt Whitman High School in

Bethesda, Maryland, could help J. T. accomplish. Because we believed that J. T.

deserved an enviable life and because he and we dreamed of a different future.

Because, through working with Mary and countless other professionals