Table of Myths:

q Myth #1: “States have a legal duty to institutionalize developmentally disabled people for their own welfare!”

q Myth #2: “The Golins are retirement age and are ‘unable to care for Nancy properly’; they will have to provide for Nancy’s future sooner or later so it might as well be now!”

q Myth #3: “Psychiatric drugs are beneficial to all mentally impaired people, and are perfectly safe!”

q Myth #4: “Nancy is better cared for by trusted state medical professionals that are trained to deal with autism!”

q Myth #5: “Developmentally disabled people should associate with their peers…its good for people to socialize with their peers!”

q Myth #6: “People should be judged by their practical economic value to the greater Society, and developmentally disabled and handicapped people like Nancy clearly have no economic value and should be maintained as cheaply as possible, or not at all!”

q Myth # 7: “Regional centers are genuinely motivated by concern and interest in the plight of the handicapped, and they are merely performing their statutory duty!”

q Myth #8: “Conservators need to have full and exclusive powers in order to exercise their duties!”

q Myth #9: “When developmentally disabled people grow up and reach the age of maturity they should move to a group home instead of burdening their parents!”

q Myth #10: “Nancy needed to be taken to Stanford Hospital, because her parents were not properly caring for her!”

q Myth # 11 (6/14/05): “The Golins were dragging their daughter around living in some kind of nomadic existence living out of the back of a van!”

q Myth # 12 (7/18/05): “That is what conservatorships are for! The State Stepped In!

q Myth # 13 8/21/05):
”The Golins must have scheduled, limited supervised visits with their daughter for the rest of her life because they might kidnap Nancy”.

q Myth # 14 (8/21/05):
“She is no longer the Golin’s daughter. Their parental rights have been terminated by the probate court conservatorship”.