3,181 Comments Posted by Lynne

Stunning shot!

Mmmmmm . . . Great shot!

No, really and truly these are slab tubs.

This is just adaptive equipment, y'all. Nothing wicked or evil about it. We use it all the time in special ed because people like it and are willing to use it because it's fun. It's for recreation and OT/PT. People have fun with it - it is not used for torture or human degradation. It only looks scary when you are looking for something negative and re-interpret this as something frightening - it is used every day across the U.S. and other countries, and people LIKE it.

This particular piece of equipment is called a "ball bath". You fill the piece of equipment with small colorful balls and folks love to sit in it for sensory activities. You have probably even seen it at your local Chuckie Cheese pizza parlor.

[Although, speaking of torture and human degradation, can you imagine working a shift in that humiliating, hot, scratchy Chuckie Cheese outfit? Now there's something I would never admit to MY grandchildren had I ever done it.]

See:
http://www.pct.edu/schools/hs/oc/facilities.htm
http://www.flaghouse.com/Prod_Images/p5338T.jpg
http://www.thechildrenscenteraz.org/Sensory_integration.htm

Lots of facilities, including community-based homes, still use safety belts for people who have poor trunk support or who cannot stand safely and risk breaking their heads open if they try to walk and subsequently hit the floor. However, it is true now as it was then that people, when they are short-staffed, use safety belts as an erstwhile protective restraint because there aren't enough staff there to watch every client as they use the toilet.

Of course, if you watch a client who is using the toilet so that you can be there to assist them when they stand, you are accused of violating their privacy. And since the majority of folks who live in these places do not have the ability to understand that many of them can't stand or walk safely . . .

Looks like staff are damned if they do and damned if they don't, eh? :-)

But it was a good point. And after Motts explained it, it all made sense. I was also wondering why he had said 12 drawers when there looked to be 16.

I'm still going for the textile manufacturing or repairing equipment idea. Don't know the history of this particular place, but most places made everything they could themselves to save money, to give the residents something to do that was useful, and to have a product to sell to bring in some extra money. I know of several states where the institutions still have to buy needed items manufactured by the state correctional facilities first if the cost is comparable - furniture and such.

Actually, it seems to be a sewing machine or piece of textile manufacturing equipment.
But that can be frightening, especially if you have to use it. ;-)

Great! I just found the Eastern State Penitentiary web site a month or so ago as well as some web sites with fantastic shots of the place, and I was thinking the same thing!

Max - I've worked in 5 different institutions across the country and have toured many, many others. I've done this so long (billions and billions of years . . . <G>) that the layouts start to look familiar, as I am sure that Motts and MaDMaN and Radical Ed et al. could tell you. However, I get to work in them while they are still "alive" and you get to know the reasons the specific rooms were used, what types of equipment would be used, etc. Right now I am lucky in that the place I work is half used and half locked up and unused, so I have the luck of talking to people who worked in the buildings while they were still active and get to learn what happened, when, and sometimes why. That's why this site fascinates me so much.
Other than Motts' excellent photography, of course!

[batting eyelashes and blushing]

It's a stripped down tilt-in-space reclining wheelchair for people with more extensive physical disabilities, like cerebral palsy. The arm rests, foot rests, and seat have been pulled off.
http://www.henleymedical.com/manual.htm (bottom chair)
http://www.spinlife.com/critpath/match.cfm?categoryID=156 (all 5)

Maybe Dayton State School had a more liberal milk policy than Linton . . .

I love this shot.

However, I admit that after having taken the laundry out of laundry bags many a night at an institution (helping third shift fold laundry while doing in-service training) I would definitely NOT be waiting in an expectant manner for what comes out of the old laundry chute.

=8-o

Great shot - very interesting composition. But after ~Me got me last time, I shan't make nary a comment about the size of these vessels. :-( [pouting]