3,181 Comments Posted by Lynne

Yikes, I love it! The blue sky, the green ivy, and the red stone of the castle are great together.

Wowza! The word "ominous" was invented specifically so it could be used about this picture! That raggedy old castle is looking at us all cross-eyed, and there are stone monks walking along the rims of the castle . . .

This puts me in mind of those "Chessmen" cookies in the specialty cookie section.

All right! Great timing! Here we go! :-)

Andrew - do you mean the entire housing turns around while the two fans are spinning?

Condos? Instead of the stunning Kirkbride architecture?

=8-o

[groan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ]

This is absolutely, really and truly one of my most absolute favorite shots that Motts has ever done.

Er, did I remember to mention that I really like it a lot?

Maybe quest is on a close personal basis with Sir Laurence Olivier and just calls him "Larry"? And don't TELL me he's dead, as everyone but me seems to be on a first name basis with ghosts here.

Well, that's MY best guess . . . I can't find Larry nowheres neither, silk . . . :-(

Hey! Mebbe he said something dirty and Motts erased his message! Of course, that would be AFTER he washed his mouth out with soap from one of them there fancy sink light/soap dispensers . . . .

Quest - thanks. However, I am waiting for poor Motts to tell me to shut up at some point. :-)

~Me - I know you have just been waiting for this opportunity, so take it! ;-)

Yes, infants as young as several days old were placed in institutional facilities back in the days when families were told it was best for them never to see their child. I work with a number of folks who were placed in an institution at under 6 months of age, and several who were less than a month of age at the time of placement. In fact, many places used to have entire buildings of nothing but children and infants even as recently as the 1970s.

Luckily, that does not happen anymore because the states are more responsible about helping families of children with multiple needs stay at home now. That is a VERY recent change in the field and is still a problem in many places with very long waiting lists for families to receive services. For years families were told they would not receive any funding or assistance for their children unless they gave up their rights to them and had them placed, and to keep a child at home with multiple physical disabilities is not only expensive but it is very draining, because you have to have someone right there 24/7. Most institutions now try not to take anyone under 21 if at all possible, and in many states a person cannot be admitted until they are 21+.

I still talk with families who are wracked with guilt years later for having been pressured into placing their child at such a young age. However, I also talk with families who are thrilled that their loved ones were placed in an institutional setting, and are happy with their care, and who would have it no other way. It obviously depends on the era in which you were raised, what resources were available when your loved one was young, and how the institutional experience has been for you and your family. Every time an institution is scheduled to shut, even if there have been horrible abuses documented, the families have generally been the strongest supporters of the institution, either because their specific loved one received excellent care there or because they have seen that similar horrors can also happen in the community.

One thing to say about institutions, especially these days - on every shift every day each client gets a good going over from head to toe by the oncoming shift, and any scratches, bruises, or tiny dings are immediately reported and investigated. This means that at least three times a day each person is looked at and assessed physically, often by multiple staff. It is very difficult these days for abuse to slide by without being reported and/or investigated, because anyone who knows that an injury occurred (whether through abuse or not) and didn't report it can be terminated for neglect. And there are people whose entire job is to analyze the pattern of injuries that occur and investigate any irregularities. As well, there are numerous external agencies who monitor the reports and there are advocates who go through the areas and read all the medical reports every day.

As much as I prefer the overall freedom of community living, I have to admit that they do not have this degree of oversight out there and unless there is a very involved case manager, family, or agency, much can occur that no one knows about because they don't have the same number of eyes looking things over.

As I have said repeatedly, as much as I adore working with this specific population, it can be a very challenging and frustrating group to work with, and since they cannot report if someone hurts them, you have to take an awful lot on faith, much more than I would personally like to take. :-(

The intent, alien as it appears to some, was to treat the so-called "insane" with some modicum of decency and humanity, with compassion and respect, and house them in a beautiful and "humane" environment (and not a "nuthouse") in the hopes that it would help their return to normalcy. This was termed "moral treatment" and actually did a lot of good before the lack of adequate housing for people with mental illness forced the severe overcrowding that led to the infamous abuses that seem to horrify and yet morbidly attract so many to this site. The original builders had compassion for the tenants, which makes me admire them rather than scorn them as it seems you might.

What absolutely stumps me is the condescending attitude and lack of empathy and concern that some people show toward others who are going through a very rough stretch of life. I sincerely hope that if anything ever befalls you or someone you love, you won't have to deal with someone who shows this same lack of concern and respect.

Silk, I know what you mean. Right now I am going all over campus of the place where I work, looking for old books, pix, and miscellaneous items for our 100-year anniversary coming up. We are actually going to set up a museum on grounds, so I don't get the old "itchy fingers" when I see great stuff because I get to collect it now and help decide how we are going to use it in the museum.

But if I were somewhere other than here and found some marvelous items like these that had been left behind, it would be REAL tempting. Luckily for me, the threat of getting caught and going to jail for an old skull clamp is enough to stop the itch when it occurs, because if anyone is EVER going to get caught, it's me. ;-)

Entertainment. We have plays, shows, bands, dances, fairs - you name it. When times are rough for a person or you live apart from others, there is nothing to beat recreation and entertainment. :-)

Since HIPAA has come into effect we have had more training on the various aspects of HIPAA than any other concept that has ever been in the field, I swear to the heavens. :-( It is gruesomely boring and technical, but they threaten you with large fines, so we have to learn it.

As a clinical psychologist I always had to honor confidentiality, both while the person was "under my care" and even after they left, unless they signed a waiver of some sort. But even then you get into the habit of not discussing people who have been in your care such that they could ever be identified, and even when you have permission to discuss a specific case you always alter the details just enough to protect the person's identity.

And kty, you are right - I can't imagine anything more embarrassing than finding myself described in all my glory somewhere by name when my life wasn't working out well. That's why I am tickled and most appreciative that Motts doesn't divulge what he has found in these places. It is excruciatingly difficult to be in such a spot that you need to go (or be taken) somewhere for help, and then to think that people would be reading your personal records years later describing when you were at your darkest point in time - this would be the ultimate humiliation. To me that is much more "abusive" than many of the things that seem to bother people if they aren't familiar with this field.

Are you kidding? Halloween is one of the best holidays at most institutions because of all the food and parties! Just because people live apart from others while they are getting their lives together doesn't mean they give up all the fun activities of "normal" life. At every place I have worked, the folks have enjoyed Halloween and got as big a kick as "outsiders" have with all the dressing up and goodies and parties. Denying them the normal activities the rest of us engage in is what makes them feel different and apart from others.