A collection of first hand accounts of the experiences and perceptions of people with a disability, across all disabilities, and the barriers and attitudes encountered through all phases of their lives. There is a strong theme of self determination in the stories and advocacy for children to be educated with their peers in mainstream schools. Two chapters recount some positive and negative views of parents. The final chapter is titled "Parents, Practices and Attitudes: the Distance Traveled" and provides a brief summary of the changes in social attitudes, public policy, and parents' views over 30 years in the USA. Keywords: Attitudes, Self Determination. Searchwords: Social change, Advocacy