Thank You Joan. Here in the Midwest, some want to close down group care homes like yours too. They believe in home living, even when no home exists. Several years ago in a suburb of Chicago was Elgin State Hospital. Due to lack of money at the hospital, management decided to release patients to the public, without warning the public... or the state. All of the patients were under some doctor's orders and taking meds. All the patients in that ward were considered dangerous to themselves. Many of these patients found their way to Chicago, using public transportation. None of those release were developmental disabled or retarded, but suffered from other more serious conditions. That weekend that ward caused more Havoc among the population of Chicago and several of them ended up in jail I've also seen personally so many retarded Adults working at fastfood restaurants and doing a very good job. Sometimes, maybe too good. I"ve always felt that it could be done properly for some, under the right conditions. For others, it may be a different story. Thanks For Yours, Best Wishes In a message dated 9/5/2009 1:48:47 P.M. Central Daylight Time, [email protected] writes:
I began working at the State Hospital in 1971 on a ward with 40 children, young adults, and older adults who were all mentally retarded, from mildly retarded to profoundly retarded. They were not abused physically, however because of lack of staff we had to group them together in one bathroom getting them dressed, try and keep track of those who would try to escape, keep the children away from the adults unless they were doing an activity, and then also tried to introduce into the outdoor world. Some of the young adults had never been off of the State Hospital grounds, nor had they ever climbed stairs, taken a van ride, or any of the things that we take for granted.
