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illegal substance abuse as well as actively involving their family members to
reduce the incidence of recurrence. I have published papers in professional
journals on many of my therapies.
During the Reagan Administration, I was appointed a Member of the National
Advisory Council on Drug Abuse (NIDA) where I used my Psychological and
Clinical Expertise to advise the Council. President George H.W. Bush
appointed me as the Executive Director of the U.S. President's Committee on
Mental Retardation (PCMR). Here, I expanded the operation of PCMR
involving International Experts in this field to devise innovative policy to
provide total care, services, and job opportunities for persons with intellectual
disabilities and to provide equal opportunities and proper safeguards to realize
the potential of each individual. I initiated a Report to the President advising
the President to overhaul the U.S. prison systems where mentally retarded
persons are incarcerated without any psychological evaluation or any
provision for rehabilitation. The Report strongly urged the President to look
into the deplorable environment for the incarcerated mentally retarded
individuals who might have committed crimes without realizing the
consequences because of their inadequate intelligence. It also recommended
that the mentally retarded not receive the death penalty. As the Executive
Director, I was invited to visit India to inaugurate the Rural Projects for the
Mentally Retarded where I addressed the essential roles of parents and the
Media to provide basic services including education, training, job
opportunities and even marriages (especially for the Mildly Retarded). I also
advocated the importance of community involvement to provide equal
opportunities and eradicate discrimination and warehousing of mentally
handicapped and mentally retarded citizens because of societal prejudice
against them. I urged the Government of India to adopt a Bill similar to our
United States’ Americans with Disabilities Act.
Another highlight of my federal career was the Government of India’s
invitation to assist in the Union Carbide Fertilizer Plant’s leak in Bhopal,
India, where tons of the highly toxic and dangerous icocyanite instantly killed
over 20,000 persons and injured hundreds of thousands. It was the worst
man-made disaster in human history. I provided much needed psychological
and mental health related services to Bhopal gas victims. The Mayor of
Washington, D.C.; Maharishi Mahesh Yogi; the Rotary Club; Non-resident
Indian (NRI) Achievement Award; and a host of National and International
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