October 19, 2011

Today we visited another psycho pedagogical center (adult institution) that was established in 1963 as Cuba's first formal intervention for people with ID. We hear that by the late 60's the facility had embraced a paradigm shift away from custodial care and toward optimizing the capacity of it's participants, and today the facility reports a 'deinstitutionalization' (discharge to family home) rate of 63%.  A Cuban TV crew documents our visit and interviews several members of the delegation.  I was pleased to be interviewed with the hope of increasing visibility of the needs of people with ID and the importance of the work of the people who work for and with the population.  The afternoon was spent with a most prestigious psychiatrist and author of 10 books (#11 will be published in 2013 when she will be 85) who graduated from medial school in 1956.  She provided great insights on the lives of the people before, during, and after the revolution and the immense cultural shifts in viewing gender, disability, and community in Cuba.  Her dialogue with our group was absolutely fascinating.  A continual theme in all our our interactions are the cultural expectations of the role of mothers.  Cuban mothers are purported to be selfless in their devotion to their children and, for children with disabilities. Family support is primarily maternal support, and often consisting of anti depressants, support groups, parent training, and nutritional supports.