History of Disability
Today in class we watched a film entitled "Suffer the Little Children" and discussed the history of disability. In the documentary it mainly focused on the Pennhurst Institution and exposing a lot of the wrongful actions taking place there. The Pennhurst Institute was a home for the mentally disabled that opened in 1908. In the documentary, it was shown that Pennhurst was understaffed, needed major reconstruction of the buildings, and overcrowded. The physicians openly admitted to abusing the children at the institution, some of these children even died. In the documentary it showed children in straight jackets, shackled to the beds, and the cottages being overcrowded. One of the physicians stated that some of the children admitted into Pennhurst weren't initially diagnosed with a mental disability, but being in the institute would make it almost impossible to mentally develop fully. The institution finally closed in November, 1987. The documentary opened my eyes to how ...