3,181 Comments Posted by Lynne

Don't forget to read about the Lynchburg Colony if you are covering eugenics. One of the best books out there on the eugenics movement is called "War Against the Weak." I highly recommend it. Also, a great website on the history of the ID/MR/DD field is the Disability History Museum at:
http://www.disabilitymuseum.org

That's me - just a piece of crap! :-) Thank you, soul of a serpent - you are aptly self-named.

Hey - I have a funny thought. Maybe I should work in one of these places to see what it's like. Maybe I'll have a more realistic expectation of what's out there. Maybe I'll learn some pity. Maybe I'll learn to feel sorry for everybody. Maybe I'll learn what's it's like to spend time in a hell hole like this where all these poor, pathetic unloved people just need someone to come and give them a big warm hug, where staff treat them badly and steal their little fuzzy dogs and stuffed bears and then when they throw these people out, they leave their cherished toys behind - just one last cruelty as they spit on those who leave.

Sounds better than the truth - and there's lots more to wallow in. And now there's someone to feel superior to - those cruel staff and the cruel institutions. While folks sit in their nice houses and petition against "those people" moving into their neighborhood and vote against increased taxes so "those people" can have staff who are paid more than a mere pittance and so "those people" can have a better life. Easier to poke at the people who took care of them and kept them alive than to do it yourself.

I am positive you are one of the people who took all the special ed kids under your wings when you were in school and made sure no one ever made fun of them. I am sure you are out there now donating your time and energy to making their lives better, rather than just sitting in front of your computer and feeling superior to those of us who actually do this work. I think you may be looking at the wrong side of the keyboard when you use the term "sterile".

Kewl - thanks!

I think that's a great idea. I do wish the developers would open these places up for some public bidding on any "junk" that's left before they tear the buildings down. I would give my eye teeth for an old chair that I saw, I think it was on this same site.

I mentioned elsewhere that I currently work at an older institution (1911 was the grand opening) and I am working with a group to set up a museum, etc., for our 100-year history celebration. We are looking all over grounds (350 acres) for anything we can salvage for the museum; unfortunately, unlike many of these other sites, the folks where I work have public auctions every year or two and they sell off all the unneeded furniture and equipment as it ages. Brings in a few bucks and gets all the "junk" out of the way. Problem is, what is "junk" today is "retro" in 30 years and "antique" in 75 years. :-(

Em . . . . . .

[Trying real hard to be good, Motts]

You're not a moron - people were just goofing around. I was born in Pittsburgh, PA and wondered why I found the different spellings so many times when I looked up old info on the Internet. My father lived for a short time in Pittsburg (no 'h') California as well as being from the Pittsburgh (with an 'h') Pennsylvania area, which is what got me started on the discrepancy in the first place. However, I had never thought to look it up until you mentioned it here, so I thank you for prompting me to do that.

wolfcry,

Great story, great insights - thanks!

Em, that is to say . . . . . .

=8-o

Em, um, er . . . . . .

[Trying to be good.]

Excellent info - thanks!

Hey, AT -

I have 7 or 8 old vintage ads for Thorazine if you still need any. Plus several hundred other hysterical ones, like, "Benzedrine - for men in combat - when the going gets tough." :-)

Another fantastic ad shows a group of fighter jets and has this text:

"Benzedrine inhaler is available to high altitude flying personnel! Benzedrine inhaler is now an official item of issue in the Army Air Forces. It is available to Flight Surgeons for distribution to high altitude flying personnel, for relief of nasal congestion. Benzedrine inhaler is a volatile nasocontrictor . . . outstandingly convenient, but first and foremost, a highly effective therapeutic agent."

That reminds me - happy belated birthday, Radical Ed!

No, dear heart, just his eyeballs. 8`-)

Oh my God! awyper, have you done went and turned into a man?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! =8-o

Yeah, like a bunch of asshat ghosthunters stumbling around and peeing on their shoes and shrieking when they bump into each other in the dark. 8`-)