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Seriously people! Lighten up...it's a joke that Grandpa fell asleep peacefully at the wheel while everyone in the car was screaming...it's called sarcasm....or bete noir. Unless, of course you have personal experience with this sort of thing...then, my apologies...;-)

Children can be diagnosed with EBD (Emotionally Behaviorally Disturbed) as young as the age of 3 yrs. old....they often have RAD (Reactive Attachment Disorder), ODD (Oppositional Defiance Disorder), and OCD..etc... these children often self-mutilate...hitting themselves, biting themselves and others. Sometimes they need to be put into a, "basket-hold" to stop themselves from being hurt...my daughter was diagnosed with these problems when we adopted her at the age of three...if we hadn't taken her, she would have ended up in a facility much like this because foster care has a hard time placing these children....
As sad as we may think these places are for a child, at least licensed professionals are taking care of them and they are not being sent back to Russia to an orphanage... that started the RAD, ODD, etc... in the first place....these children are very hard to raise without medication and a ton of education and understanding of their disorders....thank goodness for the professionals that take care of them in these places!

Nice use of the thesaurus Motts...

Okay, they couldn't take the pictures off the wall before they painted it?

I would imagine the tile/polished blockwork was not only for practical reasons like ease of cleaning, but also longevity and no need for yearly painting and the like. That would save quitte a few dollars over the life (and death) of the buildings.

Wow, that'd be an awfully hard surface if someone is in seclusion-what if the hit their head off the wall?

The tines are spaced too far apart to be a fork....

I worked at Plymouth County Hospital in the late 70's, early 80's... first as a candy striper, then as a nurse's aid while I was in school. Looking at these pictures give me chills and the weirdest feeling. Working there helped me become who I am today... so many patients suffered there in these ten bed wards with no privacy or dignity. The place still haunts me, although I have not gone back to view it in ruins...

I haven't seen a "spit bowl" in years! At our facility we just sold a dental cabinet that matches the one in back in color, but it was a different style.

I would imagine it was part of the decor that would be considered "safe" for residents.

Could have been a dining room, activity room, or maybe chapel ?

Actually, we buy from a state prison that makes and/or acts as a middle man for selling stuff like that. We get huge discounts by buying in bulk. Paint, tiles, even coveralls. They sell to government institutions.

The cage on the sides was to prevent jumping. There are some people that compulsivly jump off anything, even if it is only a chair or stool. If given the chance, they would jump from higher items. We used to have a resident that did that, his feet were totally ruined from being broken so often. Jumping was his "thing" , part of his illness.

It is known as a hopper and they are still used to rinse out soiled bedpans, linens, and clothes.

Even only 50 or 60 years ago, people rarely took home developmentally disabled children. 'When my cousin was 2 years old, he suffered brain damage as a result of a high fever. The doctor told my aunt to just go home and they would put him away for her...she didn't need to worry. She took him home, and today although in a group home, is mid-functioning where if he had been institutionalized he would probably have remained low-functioning and institutionalized his whole life.