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Responce to a post about seperate schools for children with special needs
Apr 23, 2009 at 7:55 PM
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- monkeymom1013
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I want to start by saying I am not the type of person that gets a kick out of starting drama. Infact I ussually try and avoid it all together. However the post earlier about seperate schools for children with special needs really got me going. For the past 3 years I have woorked with adults with secial needs and I have a nephew who was just recently diagnosed with autisim. He is an incredably smart little boy, for him his problem is his coping skills and noise sencativity and with ocupational therapy and maybe a few other servises will be able to live a completly normal life. Why should he be seperated from his friends that he already has and the many left to make? Ayny ways, having said that here is some info about the special "schools that once existed.

At one time separate "schools" for children, and adults too actuall, were easily accepted. Have you ever heard of the Belchertown State School? This "school" was a place for people with all sorts of special needs. It, and other places like it, were started so that people with special needs wouldn't be exposed to "normal" people. Nowadays we refer to the places like his that once existed as institutions. The people that lived in these places were exposed to forms of neglect and abuse that if you and I did it now we would be put in jail for a very long time. People who were not able totoilet themselves without assistance were left to sit in their own excrement for days on end at times, instead of receiving therapy or proper medications people with behavioral issues were simply "snowed" with drugs that completely incapacitated them. Lobotomiespatients were subjected to several electroshock therapy sessions, all without giving their consent. I have worked with individuals who have lived in institutes like Belchertown and the effects of being in these places are still obvious. For example an 52 year old person who has been out of the institute for 20 years still shovels their food as fast as they can at meal times because in the institute they had 10 minuets to eat as much as they can from a large bowl they shared with several other individuals. These institutes are not as far in the past as you may think. Most of them were not closed until the earlie 90's. I usually do not get so worked up over posts but this one got to me going. I have seen first hand the effects that segregating individuals with special needs can do to them and I am VERY VERY strongly opposed to it. I know that times have changed and services for people with special needs have improved greatly over the past 20 years but there is a reason for that. Bash all you want, I am fully aware that this could cause some drama but I think in this case that's a good thing. have at it girls! I encourage you all to do some research.