Raymond's Room: Ending the Segregation of People with Disabilities

Thirty years ago, as a young man working at a facility for children with autism, Dale DiLeo was shown a tiny, hot, and smelly bedroom. Reserved for those least trusted by staff, this room was locked–from the outside–all night long. It was named after Raymond, the room’s perennial resident. Raymond’s Room makes a compelling case that people with disabilities are still locked away from the rest of society. They may not be housed in rooms like Raymond’s, but they are placed in facilities and programs run by a public monopoly unwilling to change. Using research, anecdotes, humor, and engaging stories, DiLeo takes aim at the billion-dollar “disability industrial complex” that segregates people with significant disabilities from mainstream life. Calling people with disabilities society’s “hidden citizens,” he describes a system that prevents people from working and living in their communities, despite techniques and approaches that can help even those with the most serious challenges work and have their own home.