Toward independent living for the mentally retarded.

The article discusses the experience of a transitional home for mentally retarded adults in transitional institutional care. The central objective of the project was to demonstrate that the integration of the retarded into community life can be a viable alternative to institutional and long-term care. Project Open Door was developed as a transitional living facility for mentally retarded adults. It was located in large house on a residential street near the campus of the University Kentucky, Lexington. The program at Project Open Door was based on the principles of normalization and humanization. The project relied on a model of socialization that incorporated principles of normalization and humanization by providing learning situations through which the resident could develop skills and correct problem behaviors. Numerous implications were drawn from the experience at Project Open Door. In the conclusion the article gives information on the evaluation of mentally retarded individual's ability to live in the community.