4,537 Comments for Pennhurst State School

These are great devices to assist someone with limited mobility so they can pull themselves upright to stand at the sink. This gives them the opportunity to use the mirrors and increases their personal image because they aren't limited to a single plane in space - what they can see from a seated level. There is a lot of research that shows that people in wheelchairs (with or without other issues) are not treated the same as people out of wheelchairs because people bend DOWN to look at them. Increasing the person's "height" increases their interaction opportunities and their ability to interact more "normally" in their environment. If you put all the fixtures at wheelchair level you are assuming the person can never leave their wheelchair, and there are LOTS of people who can stand for short periods of time if they have a way to get themselves up and/or down in their chairs.

Of course, if you keep looking long enough for something bad, you're bound to find it. :-)

Someone - shoot me now. :-)

Funny how this particular picture, which we know for certain was drawn by staff, inspires people who know nothing about the world of DD to write in and make comments showing their own bizarre yet naive conceptions about how other peoples' lives are or were.

I'm thinking something or someone needs to be taken with a grain of salt. ;-)

Bad psychopharmacological pun - sorry.

"Another job for Mr Clean"? I remember the old labels on bottles of Mr Clean used to say "Keep Mr Clean away from children"!

These kids were trapped and knew they were trapped. Every passage becomes a dark passage because you know that even if you escape, your playmates and friends won't. This picture encapsulates everything Pennhurst couldn't achieve.

People like Phantom make me laugh. His 'new' suction machine, taken out of that place is like any other old suction machine. The sign pictured above, however, is priceless!

I've always thought that that piping around those sinks and other fixtures were more about preventing a patient from damaging or ripping out a sink than for their ease of movement. I just don't see a viable handhold here or anything that improves mobility.

In any context, a mural such as this seems sad and aspirational. How were those kids supposed to connect with this image? It seems cruelly mocking to surround those who suffer with idealized imagos.

missy its better that pennhurst shut down and now their in homes that are better for them.

i have medical records for most of the patients and it seems like some of them who had worse problems than others didnt recieve any medication. can anyone answer me why? and also if theres anymore information please send it to my email peachesx4269@aim.com along with any questions. im planning on visiting this weekend

I totally agree with Lynne, that we are looking at what this art reflects. For those of us who have spent time with the mentally ill, it speaks deeply and reveals intricate, intimate things.

If you've never spent time with profoundly mentally ill or retarded people, I doubt you can truly connect to the abyss that often appears in their artwork. Standing on the outside of a hospital and looking at it is far different from being on the inside and looking out.

Way to exploit a tragic and inhuman history for your own "artistic" purposes, you sick fuck. You're awesome, dude.

My mom and dad worked there for part of one summer while they were in college back in the late 1970's. My dad's mom also worked there for a bit at the same time and the few stories they told me are quite frightening. I don't know what area they worked in, but my mom told me that there were several times she was terrified of the patients. They would lose thier temper and sometimes hit the workers. She said she saw many patients that had to be sedated b/c of attacking another patient or a worker. My mom quit after working there for a few weeks after she saw another female employee badly attacked by a patient.

i doubt there are many homeless people that stay there b/c there are military gaurds and police that patrol the area b/c the property is now under military control. I know several friends that have had close calls with getting caught tresspassing on the property at night. I've seen some of the former patients of Pennhurst wandering around Royersford.

...phantom lived there

Byberry has been torn down within the last year. I happen to live not too far from that location. I believe the only thing left is the fence and old entrance ways which are covered in brush.