Readers of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) sometimes question the accuracy of information reported in published articles. Journal editors cannot independently verify everything an author reports. When a reader questions what an author has said in an article, the best way for an editor to handle this is to invite the reader to write a response for publication in the journal and, under most circumstances, to offer the original author the opportunity to write a rejoinder to the response. Readers then decide for themselves who to believe.
Ann Whitney Breihan published an article on consumer choice that was based on telephone interviews with state developmental disabilities officials in the December 2007 issue of IDD. Richard Jacobs, the director of a California regional center, has questioned the accuracy of Breihan's information on the California service system. Jacobs' response is published in this issue. Breihan's rejoinder follows.
Breihan stands by...