Lost in a Desert World: An Autobiography

People who produce autobiographies often have no need that their significance be explained. But unless you are familiar with something called the self-advocacy movement, chances are you have not heard the name Roland Johnson before.

The fact that was central to Roland Johnson's history - and so to the contribution he made during his lifetime - was that he had a disability, what was called during his life - and is still often referred to as - mental retardation.

In the white male Eurocentric world of the last few centuries women and people whose skin happened not to be white were considered somewhat less than fully human - those in control did not expect anything of value to come from either direction.

If in this century those prejudices have begun to disappear, there is still prejudice enough left to fill in.