This book illustrates techniques that families have found effective in coping with a family member who has mental retardation. It provides quotations and comments from a number of parents as well as anecdotal accounts and photographs, grouped into four sections. The first section is on the recognition process and recounts how parents have coped with the emotional trauma and imbalance as their feelings change from joy to sorrow and uncertainty when finding out and acknowledging that their child has mental retardation. The second section is on the dynamic process of dealing with fears, fantasies, and facts associated with the effects of the disability on the family dynamics. The third section stresses the working process which is using existing support systems and the exercising of rights when dealing with schools, programs, and placement decisions. The final section is on the future process--ways to prepare and position the family member with mental retardation for a lifetime. (DB)