This essay uses a question-and-answer format to examine issues of concern to persons with mental retardation related to personal assistance or support services. Questions include: "What do people with mental retardation or others in the field of developmental disabilities know about personal assistance?"; "How is personal assistance defined?"; "What aspects of personal assistance are particularly of relevance for people with mental retardation?" (such as user definition and determination of services, the person with a disability as expert, personal determination and family empowerment, and informal or paid services); "What are issues that are not currently well addressed in personal assistance designs?" (includes common flaws in existing personal assistance services and the importance of personal assistance and decision-making support); "What about the issue of entitlement or case subsidies for people who need assistance with decision making?"; "What are some fears of professionals and advocates in the field of developmental disabilities?" (considers the fight over who knows what is best for people with mental retardation, integration of people with mental retardation into an inadequate service system, and rights versus mutuality); and "Where can we go from here?" (DB)