Marie Cowling is a mother of two children with severe intellectual and physical disabilities who are now adults. In this short but passionate article she questions who holds the key to the door of acceptance of difference and to the recognition of what we as human beings have in common. She relates some painful examples of exclusion experienced by both her sons and herself. Cowling concludes that, despite the obstacles, 'becoming integrated into the community ... was the best thing that has ever happened to them.' Keywords: Attitudes, Families