A photograph and a thought on current events

A current photo of Donald Triplett, age 77, the first child officially diagnosed with autism by Leo Kanner. Mr. Triplett lives independently in his own home, drives a car, is a retired bank teller, and is an avid golfer.

Had Donald grown up in Pennsylvania, he might have spent the majority of his life (as 10,500 other people with developmental disabilities did) at the Pennhurst State School. Parts of the Pennhurst story can be found here: http://preservepennhurst.com/default.aspx?pg=167

I have tried to read first person accounts of former residents of state schools in the United States. The ones I have found have been gripping and horrifying... and mostly written by persons who were incarcerated "improperly" because they did not have intellectual disabilities.

For some reason, the media always makes great noise about the fact that these authors "should never have been institutionalized in the first place." Should anyone have been incarcerated in state schools for life, regardless of disability?

A haunted asylum has just opened at the Pennhurst State School campus, amidst the protest of the disability rights community. According to the video, it's pretty scary. None of us should ever have gone to Pennhurst; no one should go now.