Amazing. Not sure my aunt could have handled this sort of program, even if she’d been properly cared for. (Wrote about her two years ago: www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...) But to think we’ve gone from warehousing the disabled to this…! I could cry. www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/20... - ThreadSky

jennifersenior.bsky.social • 20 days ago

Amazing. Not sure my aunt could have handled this sort of program, even if she’d been properly cared for. (Wrote about her two years ago: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/09/disabled-children-institutionalization-history/674763/) But to think we’ve gone from warehousing the disabled to this…! I could cry. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2025/05/10/clemson-university-graduation-hug-grace-clements/

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terry3times.bsky.social•19 days ago

yeah and unfortunately it is heading in a whole different direction where there will be no funding to help individuals with their other abilities. the maga republications(fascists) would like to see elderly, sick, otherly abled and LGBTQ+ citizens die. We drain their funding to billionaires.

pjspassions.bsky.social•19 days ago

So happy!

buzvesu.bsky.social•19 days ago

May she rest in peace. Your aunt’s story is heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time, the best and the worst of what institutions can do for the vulnerable. I wish attaining the knowledge and showing compassion to them hadn’t taken so long. Brilliantly told. Thank you.

rettmama.bsky.social•19 days ago

I have a story for you!

pepnpixwascmconeys.bsky.social•19 days ago

My uncle was born with a cleft palate in the 1920s, my grandmother was strongly encouraged to "send him away". She was such a strong woman. She said, "He's my son, and he's coming home with me." He was held to the same standards as his 6 sibs (needed some extra help). Opportunities are key! ❤️

nimzuk.bsky.social•19 days ago

That was awesome. Proud dad ❤️

carolynpreston.bsky.social•19 days ago

My uncle (Donald Gordon) and cousin (David Gordon) both taught Economics at Clemson.

casual-friday.bsky.social•20 days ago

I was born in 1958, and my younger brother (RIP, who had Down syndrome) was born in 1961. In those days it was common for such children to be institutionalized. /1

casual-friday.bsky.social•20 days ago

At the hospital they asked my parents whether they wanted to bring my brother home and my father said, "We brought the other five home, why wouldn't we bring him home?" He was the light of our lives.

jennifersenior.bsky.social•20 days ago

Amazing.

casual-friday.bsky.social•20 days ago

I'm from an Irish Catholic family and my parents were pretty religious. Not in-your-face religious, but pretty much what you'd expect of Irish Catholics from that time period.

jennifersenior.bsky.social•20 days ago

It fills me with envy, I must say. My grandparents had faith themselves, but for whatever reason, they didn’t feel confident enough to go against the strong recommendations of the medical establishment. Only toward the end of her life did my grandmother express her pain and regret over this.

casual-friday.bsky.social•19 days ago

It could not have been an easy decision. I don't envy them.

andrewrudd1.bsky.social•19 days ago

🙏🙏🙏

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