1,846 Comments for Linton State Hospital

Ok tell you did not explain anything. Does it have to do with the writing?

alright..... i have to agree w/ what lynne said. that soap / light fixture thing is different, tho :)

ok its not really about the picture, but ill tell u n e way. its from the Stephen King novel, Cujo. Thats kind of sad guys..... i mean, im 12 and apparently i read more than you guyz, and think about this: im going into 7th grade and ive already read The Stand and Cujo, and am also cracking down on The Shining, bcuz i loved the movie

OK Sam, I can not figure it out, give it up!
ANYONE agrees with me also, She also says to stop teasing and give it up.

as well as ~Me.

Ok Sam, explain what is up in the photo.PPPLLLEEEAAAASSSSEEEE?

I worked for a guy who had polio when he was young and he has an Iron Lung that he still uses today. But he only needs it for when he is asleep or to just lay down.

Lynne,
Hehe you said 'titillated', Hehe.

No seriously, Lynne I have found that your posts have enlighten a few, if not many.
As for Sam, I think he meant what he posted with the utmost respect for Mr. Motts and not to condemn any of us who are posting. Yet, I totally agree with you this is your longest and a true rant but THIS is your best rant ever! Thank you for such.
Kisses blown in your direction!

No problem Lynne, those who have worked or lived inside these places are the only true testament as to what really occurred... the rest of us (including myself) can only read publications and infer as to what happened from the clues amid the ruins left behind. Unfortunately, the positive things are almost impossible to find through these means; but your comments are bound to reach many people and dispel some predisposed opinions they may have.

I can not get over how clean this looks

Sam, if you think Ed and I are off task here, just WAIT till you come across the multiple times that ~Me and I are discussing light fixtures and soap when it has absolutely no relevance at all to the picture at hand. I am sure you will be properly horrified. :-)

However, as someone noted earlier, some of us are just "bonding" as we each explore this site - we aren't even selling anything. Well, Ed and ~Me aren't selling anything. *I'M* trying to sell the concept that anyone who thinks in black-&-white about institutions and what went on there simply by looking at websites and poking through one or two abandoned places isn't going to have the first clue about what happened there, why it happened, or how it happened, and won't be able to stop it from happening again.

Some people seem to come to this website simply so they can be properly shocked and outraged (and titillated, I'm guessing) at the horrible treatment that sometimes occurred at these places and then throw stones at the staff that they seem to believe spent all their days and nights just coming up with new and different ways to torture these people, when in fact the staff were normal people like you and me (well, maybe not like ~Me) who were forced to work under horrific situations with no resources, no support, and pitiful amounts of money.

But if you are looking at it that way then you have missed what it takes to keep it from happening again. As soon as you blame the parents or the staff or the legislature or the scientists who were "in charge" at the time, you are missing that it was an entire culture that allowed this to happen and an entire culture that actually created this by wanting people who were different to be anywhere but in THEIR community or in THEIR schools.

You hire someone and put them into a setting with 30 profoundly handicapped people, give them crappy pay, minimal training, no control, and even less supervision, and then expect them to take care of people who are engaging in fecal smearing, poking their own eyes out, destroying furniture, banging their head, eating anything they can get their hands on, wetting on themselves, screaming for hours on end, and running around naked (and fighting you tooth and nail as you try to dress them). And expect the staff to do it well and be happy with their charges and expect them to have lovely bathroom partitions and pretty beds and curtains everywhere for privacy and tons of stimulating leisure materials (which their charges will possibly break and/or eat, but many will not even look at). And don't turn your back on your group for a minute because one of your people might run away and then you will be in trouble for "not watching them." Or one of them might hit the other over the head with one of the lovely toys you provided for their stimulation and entertainment and cause a concussion and then you will be in trouble for "not watching them." Or one of them might take that lovely set of curtains you put up for privacy and eat an entire curtain panel (while you are breaking up the fight between two others) and the curtain panel gets stuck in their gut and when they have to be rushed to the hospital, YOU are the one who gets in trouble for "not watching them." Hell, the majority of those staff deserved a parade just for showing up for work day after day.

Were there bad staff? Of course! There are bad people everywhere, to the best of my knowledge. Do I condone what people did, even under the terrible conditions they were forced to work under? Of course not! But I sure as hell won't sit here and throw stones at the whole group of them, having worked for many years with these very difficult clients and knowing that, even though there were some cruel and sadistic staff, the majority of them were decent people who cared very much about the people they took care of and spent their own money and free time doing extra things to make these peoples' lives as pleasant as possible under these stark and sterile conditions.

What would I do if I had a tape showing all the stuff you describe as having gone on at Pennhurst? I would think of what it would feel like if that was MY little sister or brother that had been ridiculed and tortured and put on film for eternity to be gawked at buy a bunch of kids who seem to think it was funny enough to hang onto for year after year. And then I would take that tape and call the police and/or a local news station and I would yell and yell until someone was arrested and prosecuted and convicted. Anyone who knows that abuse went on, knows there is documentation of it, and yet does nothing about it is part of the problem. And that's a fact. To stare evil in the face and walk away is to be part of the evil.

However and at the same time, for people to focus solely on the abuse that occurred is to ignore all the positive things that the good staff (who were the majority) did, it makes the families who were told to give up their children feel even worse about having done it, and it makes the people who lived in these places caricatures who exist only so we can have someone to pity and to feel righteous indignation over regarding their bad treatment. They are MORE than that to me and I want them to be seen in their proper context - as human beings who were placed away from others simply for being born different at a time when it was a crime to be different, and who are now getting more rights and training and community experience and all the other things that you and I take for granted.

If you focus only on the ugly parts, soon all you will be able to see is ugliness everywhere you look.

DAMN, ~Me! This was one of my longest rants yet, and this one even qualifies as a true rant! :-)

Em, sorry 'bout that, Motts. Must be them female hormones I done heard about. :-)

Dear sam,

im sure if motts didnt like it, he would let us know

love
anna

Nope, Nothing Wrong Here! if ANYONE can understand that, please post a commentstating that, and what its signifigance is...if no one can figure it out, i will explain in a few days..... and Motts, this DOES have to do with Cerebral Palsy....sort of...

The state usually auctions off equipment when these hospitals close, because they own the place. If it's antiquated or in poor shape they will let it rot away until demoliton begins.

There were quite a few machines that have been removed in this kitchen, and much of the new medical building has been stripped of anything of value by the owner.

guys, im not trying to be a jerk, but lets respect Motts and try and keep this on topic? this is for comments, not a message board. (not that Steely Dan stinks.... but i prefer Metallica and Nirvana!)

sorry, my last post has a lot of typos. delete it please, Motts. Here is the revision:

this is for silkster and Ed: the reason people dont take the stuff and sell it is because these places are "Government Property" and have a strict No Tresspassing rule, with haevy fines. its hard enough to get in and out regualarly, but imagine just carrying one and standing still, let alone carrying that heavy thing out of there without being caught. And i know your thinking: "just bring a truck" , right? no, most of the time, you can only get past the gates and guards on foot. and besides, isnt a truck sitting empty next to a no tresspassing zone kinda suspicious? they would most likely stay there to see who the owner was, and find out what he or she was doing.