I have a Quaker and she spends almost the whole day out of her cage, and she doesn't scream (except if I yell at the kids then she copies me LOL). She has her wings clipped but can stil fly quite well so she gets plenty of exercise. She has a perch in the lounge room and her cage in the family room. We had house guests including 2 extra kids during the last 2 weeks and she went to her cage when she needed time out. She follows mainly me but does choose to spend time with other members of the family and has learnt different phrases from all of us. Birds need alot of attention and I agree that they are like a 2 year old, mine can be a brat, but I love her to bits.
When I was growing up we had a cockatoo as a pet and he screamed for attention, he was quiet as a mouse when we brought him in the house.
There is a bird trainer that is supposed to have a lot of success with difficult birds. I have not used his methods but they sound interesting
http://www.birdtricks.com
might be worth having a look.